Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Srimad Bhagavatam 1.16.12

bhadrasvam ketumalam ca

bharatam cottaran kurun

kimpurushadini varshani

vijitya jagrihe balim

SYNONYMS

bhadrasvam -- Bhadrasva; ketumalam -- Ketumala; ca -- also; bharatam -- Bharata; ca -- and; uttaran -- the northern countries; kurun -- the kingdom of the Kuru dynasty; kimpurusha-adini -- a country beyond the northern side of the Himalayas; varshani -- parts of the earth planet; vijitya -- conquering; jagrihe -- exacted; balim -- strength.

TRANSLATION

Maharaja Parikshit then conquered all parts of the earthly planet -- Bhadrasva, Ketumala, Bharata, the northern Kuru, Kimpurusha, etc. -- and exacted tributes from their respective rulers.

PURPORT

Bhadrasva: It is a tract of land near Meru Parvata, and it extends from Gandha-madana Parvata to the saltwater ocean. There is a description of this varsha in the Mahabharata (Bhishma-parva 7.14-18). The description was narrated by Sanjaya to Dhritarashtra.

Maharaja Yudhishthira also conquered this varsha, and thus the province was included within the jurisdiction of his empire. Maharaja Parikshit was formerly declared to be the emperor of all lands ruled by his grandfather, but still he had to establish his supremacy while he was out of his capital to exact tribute from such states.

Ketumala: This earth planet is divided into seven dvipas by seven oceans, and the central dvipa, called Jambudvipa, is divided into nine varshas, or parts, by eight huge mountains. Bharata-varsha is one of the above-mentioned nine varshas, and Ketumala is also described as one of the above varshas. It is said that in Ketumala varsha, women are the most beautiful. This varsha was conquered by Arjuna also. A description of this part of the world is available in the Mahabharata (Sabha 28.6).

It is said that this part of the world is situated on the western side of the Meru Parvata, and inhabitants of this province used to live up to ten thousand years (Bhishma-parva 6.31). Human beings living in this part of the globe are of golden color, and the women resemble the angels of heaven. The inhabitants are free from all kinds of diseases and grief.

Bharata-varsha: This part of the world is also one of the nine varshas of the Jambudvipa. A description of Bharata-varsha is given in the Mahabharata (Bhishma-parva, Chapters 9 and 10).

In the center of Jambudvipa is Ilavrita-varsha, and south of Ilavrita-varsha is Hari-varsha. The description of these varshas is given in the Mahabharata (Sabha-parva 28.7-8) as follows:

nagarams ca vanams caiva

nadis ca vimalodakah

purushan deva-kalpams ca

naris ca priya-darsanah

adrishta-purvan subhagan

sa dadarsa dhananjayah

sadanani ca subhrani

naris capsarasam nibhah

It is mentioned here that the women in both these varshas are beautiful, and some of them are equal to the Apsaras, or heavenly women.

Uttarakuru: According to Vedic geography the northernmost portion of Jambudvipa is called Uttarakuru-varsha. It is surrounded by the saltwater ocean from three sides and divided by Sringavan Mountain from the Hiranmaya-varsha.

Kimpurusha-varsha: It is stated to be situated north of the great Himalaya Mountain, which is eighty thousand miles in length and height and which covers sixteen thousand miles in width. These parts of the world were also conquered by Arjuna (Sabha 28.1-2). The Kimpurushas are descendants of a daughter of Daksha. When Maharaja Yudhishthira performed a horse sacrifice yajna, the inhabitants of these countries were also present to take part in the festival, and they paid tributes to the Emperor. This part of the world is called Kimpurusha-varsha, or sometimes the Himalayan provinces (Himavati). It is said that Sukadeva Gosvami was born in these Himalayan provinces and that he came to Bharata-varsha after crossing the Himalayan countries.

In other words, Maharaja Parikshit conquered all the world. He conquered all the continents adjoining all the seas and oceans in all directions, namely the eastern, western, northern and southern parts of the world.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness