Imagine the Bhu-mandala or the Earth chain to be the pericarp of a lotus. Imagine there are seven sheaths immersed in it — the seven Dvipas. The central sheath is Jambu Dvipa. It is Niyut Yojanas in area (Niyut= 1,000,000 But Śridhara Svâmi here explains Niyuta as meaning one laksha or 100,000. So according to Śridhara the area of Jambu Dvipa is 800,000 miles). Jambu Dvipa is round like the lotus leaf. There are nine Varshas in Jambu Dvipa, each nine thousand Yojanas in area completely divided by eight mountain ranges. (Bhadrasva and Ketumala form exceptions, for they extend over 34,000 Yojanas. Some take nine thousand Yojanas to be the expanse between the Nila and Nishadha ranges. The Vayu Purâna describes the position thus: — Two Varshas are situated like two bows north and south. Four are placed longways. Ilâvrita is as it were with four petals. _Śridhara_. This gives 7 x 9000 + 34000 = 97000). ILAVRITA IS THE CENTRAL VARSHA. Sumeru is situated in the navel of this Varsha. This king of mountains is gold all through. It is a laksha Yojanas high. If the Earth chain be taken to be a lotus, this Meru is its pericarp. It is 32,000 Yojanas as the top and 16,000 Yojanas at the foot and 16,000 Yojanas under the ground. (By saying 16000 Yojanas at the foot, 84000 Yojanas are left out. Thus the Vishnu Purâna says — the Meru is 84000 Yojanas over the ground and 16000 under the ground, at the top 32000 and at the foot 16000. _Śridhara_. 16000 + 84000=100000). On the north of Ilâvrita are the three mountain ranges Nila, Sveta and Śringavan in order. They are respectively the boundary ranges of Râmayak, Hiranmaya and Kuru. They spread east and west up to the salt ocean. They are two thousand Yojanas wide. In length, each succeeding one is a little over one tenth part shorter than the preceding one. (There is no difference in height and in width. _Śridhara_). So on the south of Ilâvrita are the three ranges Nishadha, Hemakûta and Himalaya spreading east and west like the preceding ones. They are 10,000 Yojanas in height. They are the boundary ranges respectively of Harivarsha, Kinpurusha and Bharata. (This — 10,000 Yojanas — is also the height of Nila, Sveta and Sringavnâ. The width of these ranges again is that of Nila, and others. By Bhârata we are to understand Nabhi. On the west of Ilâvrita is the Malyavat range and on the east lies the Gandha Madana range, These ranges extend north up to the Nila range and on the south up to the Nishadha range. They are two thousand Yojanas wide. They are the boundary ranges of Ketumala and Bhadrasva respectively. (East and west there is the Meru surrounded by Ilâvrita, then there are the two ranges Malyavat and Gandha Madana, and the two varshas Bhadrasva and Ketumala and nothing besides). North and south, there is the Meru then Ilâvrita, 6 mountain ranges and 6 Varshas, 3 on each side and nothing else.