Those secular scholars,who consider everything Indian texts state as ‘Myths’,may check these texts and verify them with facts from their only trusted resources from the West and comment.
I am providing list of ancient names of places and modern equivalentsancient names of places and modern equivalents for easy identification.
List of ancient Indian kingdoms
Taking reference to Indian text, Valmiki Ramayana,I have written on the route taken by Lord Rama in search of Sita.
Here below I furnish the route taken by the Vanaras of Sugreeva,as directed by him,in search of Sita.
Here the Vanaras are given directions to search for Sita. From the ease of Indiafrom Australia, New Zealand,Japan, Indonesia, Thailand and in the passing reference is taken to America.
I had earlier written on how Sugreeva identifies the Nazca Lines of Peru.
The text and translation is from Valmiki Ramayan site. I have provided the Link towards the close of the article.
Some relevant explanations are from
Vedic cafe,an excellent site for information on India’s antiquity.
In fact, this blog provides more of Western sources to prove that these secuarists are either ignorant of these sources or conveniently selective to malign India and it’s Culture.
‘ततो रक्त जलम् प्राप्य शोण आख्यम् शीघ्र वाहिनीम् |
गत्वा पारम् समुद्रस्य सिद्ध चारण सेवितम् || ४-४०-३३
तस्य तीर्थेषु रम्येषु विचित्रेषु वनेषु च |
रावणः सह वैदेह्या मार्गितव्यः ततः ततः || ४-४०-३४
33. tataH = then; rakta jalam = that has – red, waters; shiighra vaahiniim = speedily, drifting; shoNa aakhyam [agaadham = Shona, reputed as, [or a very deep river]; praapya = on getting at; samudrasya = of ocean; siddha caaraNa sevitam = siddha-s, carana-s, adored; such a; paaram = other coast; gatvaa = having gone to; tasya ramyeSu tiirtheSu = at its [Shona river’s, beautiful, ghats [declivities]; vicitreSu vaneSu ca = in amazing, forests [alongshore, also; tataH tataH = there, and there; vaidehyaaH = of Vaidehi; saha = together with – as well as; raavaNaH = Ravana; maargitavyaH = be scouted around; thnen you proceed to Plaksha Island.
“Then, having gone to the other coast of the ocean you reach River Shona, waters of which will be reddish with deep and speedy drift, and which is adored by siddha-s and carana-s. You have to scout thereabout for Vaidehi as well as for Ravana, at those beautiful ghats, say littorals of that Shona River, and in the amazing forests alongshore. Then proceed to an island called Plaksha Island. [4-40-34]..
पर्वत प्रभवा नद्यः सुभीम बहु निष्कुटाः |
मार्गितव्या दरीमन्तः पर्वताः च वनानि च || ४-४०-३५
35. su bhiima = very, vast; bahu niSkuTaaH = with many, [pleasure gardens; parvata prabhavaa nadyaH = from mountain, emerging, rivers; dariimantaH parvataaH ca = cavernous, mountains, also; vanaani ca = forests, also; maargitavyaa = are to be searched; then proceed to Ikshu island.
“On that Plaksha Island very vast rivers emerge from mountains, but alongshore they have many pleasure gardens. You have to search in those gardens and at rivers together with cavernous mountains and forests of that island, and then proceed to Ikshu Island. [4-40-35]
ततः समुद्र द्वीपान् च सुभीमान् द्रष्टुम् अर्हथ |
ऊर्मिमंतम् महारौद्रम् क्रोशंतम् अनिल उद्धितम् || ४-४०-३६
36. tataH = then; su bhiimaan samudra dviipaan ca = extremely, ghastly, ocean’s, [Ikshu islands, also; mahaa raudram = terribly, furious; anila uddhitam = by wind, up-heaved – tempestuous;kroshantam = blaring; uurmimantam = tide-ripped; [ikshu samudram ca = salt ocean, also]; draSTum arhatha = to see, apt of you.
“It will be apt of you to proceed from there and see the terribly furious, tempestuous, blaring, and tide-ripped ocean called ikshu samudra, Salt Ocean, and that ocean’s islands which will be extremely ghastly. [4-40-36]
ततो रक्तजलम् भीमम् लोहितम् नाम सागरम् |
गत्वा प्रेक्ष्यथ ताम् चैव बृहतीम् कूटशाल्मलीम् || ४-४०-३९
39. tataH rakta jalam = from there, red, water; bhiimam disastrous; lohitam naama saagaram = Lohita [Red Ocean, named, ocean; gatvaa = on getting at; bR^ihatiim taam kuuTashaalmaliim = colossal, that one, Kutashalmali tree; prekSyatha = you shall see.
“From there, on going to the disastrous ocean named Lohita, Red Ocean, for its waters are red, you shall see the colossal tree Kuuta-shalmali. This island is called shaalmali dwiipa, Shaalmali Island because oif this tree. [4-40-39]
This kuuTa-shalmali tree in Indian variety is Andersonia Rohitaka, and in Malayan, Malaysian variety, it is Kapok tree, [Ceiba pentandra, the seeds of which are covered with silk cotton. Because it is on Shalmali Island, one among Java, Sumatra etc., islands, it is called kuuTa shalmali tree. The Red Ocean is also called madhu samudra ‘Wine Ocean.’
गृहम् च वैनतेयस्य नाना रत्न विभूषितम् |
तत्र कैलास संकाशम् विहितम् विश्वकर्मणा || ४-४०-४०
40. tatra = there; naanaa ratna vibhuuSitam = numerous, jewels, decorated with; kailaasa sankaasham = to Mt. Kailash, in similarity; vishvakarmaNaa vihitam = by Vishvakarma, ordered [constructed by]; vainateyasya gR^iham ca = Vinata’s son [Garuda’s, mansion, also; [prekSyatha = you shall see.
“On that Shalmali Island in Wine Ocean you will be seeing the mansion of Vinata’s son, namely Garuda, the Eagle-vehicle of Vishnu, which is decorated with numerous jewels, and which in sheen will be like Mt. Kailash, the abode of Shiva. This mansion is a construction of Vishvakarma, the Heavenly Architect. [4-40-40]
तत्र शैल निभा भीमा मन्देहा नाम राक्षसाः |
शैल शृंगेषु लंबन्ते नाना रूपा भयावहाः || ४-४०-४१
41. tatra = thereabout; shaila shR^ingeSu = from mountain, peaks; shaila nibhaa = mountain, similar; bhiimaa = merciless ones; naanaa ruupaaH = with various, shapes; bhaya aavahaaH = horror, bringing – horrifying beings; mandehaa naama raakSasaaH = Mandeha, named demons; lambante = will be dangling [upside down.
“Thereabout horrifying and merciless demons of various shapes and similar to mountains in size, called Mandeha-s, will be dangling upside down from mountain peaks. [4-40-41]
तत्र तत् कोपजम् तेजः कृतम् हयमुखम् महत् || ४-४०-४८
अस्य आहुः तन् महावेगम् ओदनम् स चराचरम् |
48b, 49a. tatra = there; tat kopa jam = that, from anger, originated – originated from the anger of Aurasa; mahat = fantastic one; haya mukham = horse, face; tejaH kR^itam = by refulgent Fire, made – by the anger of Aurasa; sa cara a caram = with, mobile, not, mobile [sessile beings]; mahaa vegam = highly speedy [waves of ocean]; tat = that [water of ocean]; asya odanam aahuH = its [to the Fire,] victuals, said to be.
“There exists a fantastically refulgent Fire in the form of Horse’s Face that originated from the anger of Sage Aurasa. The victuals to that Fire is said to be that highly speedy waves of the ocean, together with all of the mobile and sessile beings of the world at the close of each Era. [4-40-48b, 49a]
Aurasa derives from the word uuru, meaning ‘the thigh.’ The mother of this sage hid him under her thigh when some kings came to kill, as such he got this name. Then with vengeance this sage started to burn the world with his yogic fire, but his manes came to him to pacify and asked him to release his yogic fire in oceanic water. When he did so, that fire remained underwater, ready to emerge from a cavity like that of a she-horse’s mouth, from beneath the ocean from the South Pole. This fire is called vaDaba agni, or baDaba anala , referred here as Horse’s Face. At the time of yuga anta, End of Era, that fire emerges out, and the whole creation, with all its sessile and mobile beings, becomes its fuel, as said in next verse. This episode is detailed in aadi parva , First Canto, Maha Bharata
स्वादु उदस्य उत्तरे देशे योजनानि त्रयोदश |
जातरूप शिलो नाम सुमहान् कनक प्रभः || ४-४०-५०
50. svaadu udasya uttare deshe = soft, water’s [ocean’s northern, province; trayaH dasha yojanaani = three, ten [thirteen,] yojana-s – in spread; su mahaan = hugely, enormous; kanaka prabhaH = golden, in glitter; jaataruupa shilaH naama = Jaataruupa-shila, Golden, Rock, famed as [mountain; aasiit= is there.]
“On the northern province of that soft-water ocean there is a hugely enormous mountain named Jaataruupa-shila, Golden Rock Mountain, which glitters like gold and which spreads across thirteen yojana-s. [4-40-50].
पूर्वस्याम् दिशि निर्माणम् कृतम् तत् त्रिदशेश्वरैः |
ततः परम् हेममयः श्रीमान् उदय पर्वतः || ४-४०-५४
तस्य कोटिः दिवम् स्पृष्ट्वा शत योजनम् आयता |
जातरूपमयी दिव्या विराजति स वेदिका || ४-४०-५५
54. tat = that; nirmaaNam = construction – of golden pylon of palm tree; puurvasyaam dishi = easterly, direction; tridasha iishvaraiH = by celestial, gods kR^itam = it is done; tataH param = there, after – beyond that; hemamayaH = completely golden; shriimaan udaya parvataH = august one, Undaya [Sunrise,] Mountain; is there; tasya = its; jaataruupamayii = completely golden; divyaa = divine one; sa vedikaa = with, pedestals; shata yojanam aayataa = hundred, yojana, in height; koTiH divam spR^iSTvaa = pinnacle, heavens, touching; viraajati = greatly glitters.
“That pylon of palm tree is constructed as the easterly compass by celestials gods, and beyond that a completely golden mountain is there, namely the august Udaya Mountain, the Mt. Sunrise, beyond which it is all west. The pinnacles of Mt. Sunrise will be touching heavens for their height is hundred yojana-s and that divine mountain greatly glitters for it is completely golden, and it is pedestalled with suchlike glittering mountains. [4-40-54, 55]
William’s Vishnu Purana states: ‘here is an interesting reference to the physical phenomena of the apparent diurnal motion of the sun, which sets in the west [America, and reappears again in the east jambu dviipa, the central continent, Asia.
उत्तरेण परिक्रम्य जंबू द्वीपम् दिवाकरः |
दृश्यो भवति भूयिष्ठम् शिखरम् तन् महोच्छ्रयम् || ४-४०-५९
59. divaakaraH = day-maker [Sun]; jambuu dviipam uttareNa parikramya = to Jambu Dwiipa, by north, on circling; mahat ucChrayam tat shikharam = zenithal, that, pinnacle; [praapya = on reaching]; bhuuyiSTham dR^ishyaH bhavati = by far, discernable, he will be.
“The Sun is by far discernable in Jambu Dwiipa when he rises on this zenithal pinnacle Saumanasa, after he had circled the Jambu Dwiipa in a northerly route. [4-40-59]
The sunrises in the East on the peak of this Saumanasa which is on the zenith of Udaya Mountain. Then he traverses above Jambu Dwiipa, Indian Subcontinent, including South-East Asia, and sets in the West on the mountains called asta adri, ‘ the Sunset Mountain.’ Then he courses northerly on the other side of the globe via Mt. Meru in heavens at the other side of Jambu Dwiipa, only to rise again on this Mt. Sunrise. As Jambu Dwiipa, the subcontinent lies southerly to that heavenly Mt. Meru, and down East-South of Saumanasa, this subcontinent can happily see the First Sun, daily. This gives raise to the Indian name of India, that is Bhaarata, bhaa rataH Sun, delights…’ The place where the Sun delights firstly, that is bhaarata…’
अयम् सुदर्शनो द्वीपः पुरो यस्य प्रकाशते |
तस्मिन् तेजः च चक्षुः च सर्व प्राणभृताम् अपि || ४-४०-६१
61. yasya puraH = whose, in front of – in the presence of which illumination; sarva praaNa bhR^itaam api = for all, life, sustaining beings, even; cakSuH ca = eyes, even; prakaashate = will be illuminated – enlightened; tat tejaH = that, illumination – illuminating entity of the universe, namely the Sun; yasmin = where – sun will be sojourning; ayam sudarshanaH dviipaH = this is – that one, that Sudarshana, island.
“In the presence of which resplendence the eyes of all living beings will become enlightened, and whereat that illuminating entity of universe, namely the Sun, will be sojourning, this is that Sudarshana Island, named so because it contains Sudarshana lake. [4-40-61].
Reference and citation.
Kishkindha Kanda Valmiki Ramayana
Some interesting notes.
You strive hard in the island of Yava, which will be splendorous with seven kingdoms, like that even in Golden and Silver islands that are en-wreathed with gold-mines, in and around Yava islands. [4-40-30]
In the same verse two islands are mentioned,the Golden Island and the Silvern – of which the Golden Island isidentified as Sumatra. The ancient Indian name for Sumatra indeed was Swarna Dwipa which translates as- ‘Golden Island’.
Then there is a mention of ‘rapid red waters’ of the River Shona. ‘Shona’ (शोण) means ‘red’ in Sanskrit. (4-40-33). They are told to proceed to an island called Plaksha and further on to Ikshu Island. They will then confront a furious and tempestuous tide-ripped ocean and its islands. Ahead is another ocean named Lohita. (Lohita means ‘yellow’ but the waters are described as a mix of yellow and red. This is most likely the Coral Sea of Australia. .यव द्वीपम् अतिक्रम्य शिशिरो नाम पर्वतः |
दिवम् स्पृशति शृन्गेण देव दानव सेवितः || 4-40-31
ततो रक्त जलम् प्राप्य शोण आख्यम् शीघ्र वाहिनीम् |
गत्वा पारम् समुद्रस्य सिद्ध चारण सेवितम् || 4-40-33
After crossing the sea, the author says, becomes visible the tallest ever ‘Shalmali’ (शाल्मलि) tree on an island. The botanical name for the Sanskrit ‘Shalmali’ is ‘Salmalia Malabaricatralia’ and is also referred to as ‘Bombax Ceiba’. It is native to Asia and Northern Australia. The island mentioned by Valmiki is probably somewhere in the region where the Fraser island of today stands. ‘Shalmali’ are tall trees growing up to a height of 80 feet. The Vishnu Purana refers to Australia as ‘Shalmali Dwipa’.