Shannavati Tarpanam · Tarpana Sankalpam · Why this mapping?
Sapta-dvīpa geography in Saṅkalpam
Traditional cosmology and modern-continent correspondences — what is classical, what is a diaspora workaround, and why schemes disagree.
1. The Saṅkalpa formula
The phrase “Jambūdvīpe, Bhārata-varṣe, Bhārata-khaṇḍe…” is the geographic-cosmic address recited in the saṅkalpa before Vedic ritual. It locates the performer within the cosmos before the specific ritual intent is stated, moving from the widest frame down to the narrowest.
| Level | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Dvīpa | Continent — one of the seven ring-shaped landmasses (e.g. Jambudvīpa). |
| Varṣa | Sub-region within a dvīpa. Jambudvīpa has nine: Bhārata, Kimpuruṣa, Harivarṣa, Ilāvṛta, Ramyaka, Hiraṇmaya, Kuru, Bhadrāśva, Ketumāla. |
| Khaṇḍa | Sub-region within a varṣa. Bhārata-varṣa has nine khaṇḍas; Bhārata-khaṇḍa is the one traditionally understood as the inhabited Indian subcontinent. |
2. Structure of the seven dvīpas
The Bhāgavata Purāṇa (5th Skandha), along with parallel accounts in the Viṣṇu, Brahma, and Matsya Purāṇas, describes the earth as seven concentric ring-shaped continents (dvīpas), each encircled by a distinct ocean and each twice the width of the one inside it. Jambudvīpa sits at the center, with Mount Meru — the golden axis-mountain — at its own center.
Bhārata-varṣa, the traditional name for the Indian region, is one of nine varṣas within Jambudvīpa — not a dvīpa in its own right.
| # | Dvīpa | Named for | Surrounding sea |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jambudvīpa | Jambu (rose-apple) tree | Salt water (Lavaṇa Samudra) |
| 2 | Plakṣadvīpa | Plakṣa (fig) tree | Sugarcane juice (Ikṣu Samudra) |
| 3 | Śālmalidvīpa | Śālmali (silk-cotton) tree | Wine (Surā Samudra) |
| 4 | Kuśadvīpa | Kuśa grass | Ghee / clarified butter (Sarpi Samudra) |
| 5 | Krauñcadvīpa | Krauñca mountain / cranes | Curds (Dadhi Samudra) |
| 6 | Śākadvīpa | Śāka (teak) tree | Milk (Kṣīra Samudra) |
| 7 | Puṣkaradvīpa | Puṣkara (lotus) | Fresh water (Jala Samudra) |
3. Matching the dvīpas to modern continents
There is no single accepted or textually mandated mapping between the seven dvīpas and today’s continents. The dvīpas are drawn as concentric rings of doubling size, separated by rings of different liquids — a symbolic cosmological scheme, not an empirical map. Modern identifications are later interpretive overlays, and different authors across different eras disagree substantially. Three commonly circulated schemes are compared below.
The one point of broad agreement across nearly every scheme is that Jambudvīpa corresponds to Asia, centered on India. Every other identification shifts depending on the author and period.
| Dvīpa | Scheme A — Wilford (colonial-era) | Scheme B — Bangera-type (popular) | Scheme C — alternate popular variant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jambudvīpa | India | Asia (incl. Bhārata) | Asia |
| Plakṣadvīpa | Asia Minor | South America | South America |
| Śālmalidvīpa | Eastern Europe | Australia | Australia |
| Kuśadvīpa | Region between Mesopotamia & India | Oceania | Oceania (excl. Australia) |
| Krauñcadvīpa | Germany | Africa | Africa |
| Śākadvīpa | British Isles | Europe | Europe |
| Puṣkaradvīpa | Iceland | North America | North America |
4. Why the schemes disagree
- Symbolic, not empirical geography — the dvīpas are structured as idealized concentric rings of doubling size, unlike the irregular geography of actual continents.
- Colonial-era scholars (e.g. Col. Francis Wilford, 18th century) tried to fit the dvīpas into a Eurocentric frame radiating outward from India, yielding country- and region-scale identifications (Germany, British Isles, Iceland) rather than full continents.
- Later 20th-century Hindu commentators reinterpreted the same dvīpas as full modern continents (Africa, Australia, the Americas), producing a second, incompatible layer of identifications.
- Because the source texts never intended a one-to-one geographic mapping, any such table — including the ones above — should be read as interpretive tradition, not as settled doctrine.
5. Diaspora priestly usage — saṅkalpa outside Bhārata-varṣa
Beyond the interpretive continent-matching schemes above, a separate and more practical adaptation has emerged among priests conducting saṅkalpa outside India, particularly in North America and the UK. This is a live ritual practice, not a scholarly mapping, and it remains unsettled and inconsistent across lineages.
None of the diaspora substitutions below carry established scriptural authority. They represent practical, priest-by-priest solutions to a ritual formula that presumes performance within Bhārata-varṣa, and different lineages currently disagree on which substitution — if any — is correct.
5.1 Krauñcadvīpa for North America
Several diaspora sources document priests substituting Krauñcadvīpa for Jambudvīpa and Aindra-khaṇḍa for Bhārata-khaṇḍa when performing saṅkalpa in the United States, with the varṣa given as Ramaṇaka. This convention appears on temple calendars and is used by practicing pandits, but it is a working adaptation rather than a scripturally attested identification. Drikganita’s North America default follows this widely cited temple line.
5.2 No scriptural basis cited
Discussion among practitioners acknowledges directly that no pramāṇas (scriptural citations) support either the Krauñca-for-America substitution or the renamed varṣa and khaṇḍa terms used in the USA — these are priestly conventions developed to fill a gap the source texts never addressed, since the Purāṇas assume the ritual is always performed within Bhārata-varṣa.
5.3 A competing convention — Puṣkaradvīpa
Not all lineages agree on Krauñca. At least one documented guideline for US pūjā argues that America should instead be identified as Puṣkaradvīpa with Ramyaka-varṣa, treating the Krauñca convention as a mistaken substitution rather than a valid one. This means two incompatible priestly conventions currently coexist for the same purpose.
5.4 An alternative — reorienting Meru instead of renaming the dvīpa
A third approach sidesteps continent-renaming altogether. Some traditional teaching holds that Mount Meru is understood to lie at the northernmost point of the earth, which would place every other location on earth — America, Australia, even the poles — to its south in the same sense that India is. Under this reading, the standard Indian saṅkalpa phrase placing the practitioner “south of Meru” remains technically valid anywhere on earth, and no dvīpa needs to be renamed at all. Some priests instead adjust only the directional phrase (e.g. describing the location as west of Meru rather than south of it), leaving the dvīpa name unchanged.
5.5 Śālmalidvīpa for the UK
A UK priestly line uses Śālmalidvīpa with Airopa-khaṇḍa, Vindya-northwest digbhāga, Samudra-madhyasthitā, and Bṛhadāraṇya-kṣetra. Drikganita’s Europe & UK default follows that Śālmali line; the variant dropdown also offers the Bangera-type Śākadvīpa · Udaya · Airopa · Meru-northwest formula (with optional आंग्ल-भूमौ) and a Meru-only Jambu–Bhārata option. Ask your ācārya which convention to recite.
Quick reference summary
Jambudvīpa (center, Asia/India) → Plakṣadvīpa → Śālmalidvīpa → Kuśadvīpa → Krauñcadvīpa → Śākadvīpa → Puṣkaradvīpa (outermost), each separated by its named sea, with Bhārata-varṣa and Bhārata-khaṇḍa nested inside Jambudvīpa as the specific region invoked in ritual saṅkalpa.
FAQ
- Is Krauñcadvīpa for America in the Purāṇas?
- No. It is a diaspora priestly convention used by some temples in the United States. Competing lineages use Puṣkaradvīpa, and some teachers keep Jambu–Bhārata everywhere.
- Why does Drikganita still show a dvīpa for Europe or Australia?
- So reciters abroad have a ready chant line. Each non-Asia continent offers its Panchāṅga default, a Bangera-type scholarly alternate where one exists (e.g. Plakṣa for South America, Krauñca for Africa, Śālmali for Australia), and Meru-only Jambu–Bhārata. Pick the line your ācārya uses.
- Can I keep saying Jambūdvīpe outside India?
- Yes — that is the Meru-only approach: keep the classical Bhārata geography and only adjust (or keep) Meru direction. Confirm with your ācārya.