Earth.]
That part of the earth which is inhabited consists of seven circular
islands, or continents each of which is surrounded by a different ocean.
The island in the centre, where we dwell, is surrounded by a sea of salt
water, the second island is surrounded by a sea of sugar-cane juice, the
third island is surrounded by a sea of spirituous liquors, the fourth is
surrounded by a sea of clarified butter, the fifth is surrounded by a
sea of sour curds, the sixth is surrounded by a sea of milk, the seventh
is surrounded by a sea of sweet water.
In all the worlds above ours are mansions where the gods reside. In the
third is the heaven of Indra. This is the heaven to which it is said the
widow goes, after she has burned herself to death on the funeral pile of
her husband Its palaces are of the purest gold. And such are the
quantities of diamonds, and jasper, and sapphire, and emerald, and all
manner of precious stones there, that it shines with a brightness
superior to that of twelve thousand suns. Its streets are of the
clearest crystal, fringed with gold. In the seventh, or the highest of
the upper worlds, is the heaven where Brumha chiefly resides.
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