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Jambudvīpa ((サンスクリット: जम्बुद्वीप)) is the dvipa ("island" or "continent") of the terrestrial world, as envisioned in the cosmologies of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, which is the realm where ordinary human beings live. The word Jambudvipa literally refers to "the land of Jambu trees" where ''Jambu'' is the name of the species (also called Jambul or Indian Blackberry) and ''dvipa'' means "island" or "continent". ==Puranic description as per Hindu cosmology== According to Puranic cosmography, the entire Cosmos is divided into seven concentric island continents (''sapta-dvipa vasumati'') separated by the seven encircling oceans, each double the size of the preceding one (going out from within). The seven continents of the Puranas are stated as Jambudvipa, Plaksadvipa, Salmalidvipa, Kusadvipa, Krouncadvipa, Sakadvipa, and Pushkaradvipa. Seven intermediate oceans consist of salt-water, sugarcane juice, wine, ghee, curd, milk and water respectively.〔Agni Purana 108.1-2.〕〔Matsya Purana 121-122.〕 Continent Jambudvipa (''Indian Blackberry Island''), also known as ''Sudarshanadvipa'', forms the innermost concentric island in the above scheme. Its name is said to derive from a Jambu tree (another name for the Indian Blackberry). The fruits of the Jambu tree are said, in the Viṣṇupurāṇa (ch.2) to be as large as elephants and when they become rotten and fall upon the crest of the mountains, a river of juice is formed from their expressed juice. The river so formed is called Jambunadi (Jambu river) and flows through Jambudvipa, whose inhabitants drink its waters. Insular continent Jambudvipa is said to comprise nine ''varshas'' (zones) and eight significant ''parvatas'' (mountains). Markandeya Purana portrays Jambudvipa as being depressed on its south and north and elevated and broad in the middle. The elevated region forms the varsha named ''Ila-vrta'' or ''Meruvarsha''. At the center of Ila-vrta lies the golden Mount Meru, the king of mountains. On the summit of Mount Meru, is the vast city of Lord Brahma, known as ''Brahmapuri''. Surrounding Brahmapuri are 8 cities - the one of Lord Indra and of seven other ''Devatas''. Markandeya Purana and Brahmanda Purana divide Jambudvipa into four vast regions shaped like four petals of a lotus with Mount Meru being located at the center like a pericarp. The city of ''Brahmapuri'' is said to be enclosed by a river, known as ''Akash Ganga''. ''Akash Ganga'' is said to issue forth from the foot of Lord Vishnu and after washing the lunar region falls "through the skies" and after encircling the Brahmapuri "splits up into four mighty streams", which are said to flow in four opposite directions from the landscape of Mount Meru and irrigate the vast lands of Jambudvipa.〔Geographical Data in the Early Puranas. A Critical Study, Dr M. R. Singh: University of Rajasthan/Jaipur. Punthi Pustak, Calcutta. 1972. p. 5〕 The common names of the dvīpas, having their varṣas (9 for Jambu-dvīpa, 7 for the other dvīpas) with a mountain and a river in each varṣa, is given in several Purāṇas (). There is a distinct set of names provides, however, in other Purāṇas (). The most detailed geography is that described in the ''Vāyu Purāṇa'' (). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jambudvipa」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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