ain is a large, beautiful, crystal and
delightful lake called Vindusaras with golden sands (on its beach). There
king Bhagiratha, beholding Ganga (since) called after his own name,
resided for many years. There may be seen innumerable sacrificial stakes
made of gems, and Chaitya tree made of gold. It was there that he of a
thousand eyes and great fame won (ascetic) success by performing
sacrifices. There the Lord of all creatures, the eternal Creator of all
the worlds, endued with supreme energy surrounded by his ghostly
attendants, is adored. There Nara and Narayana, Brahman, and Manu, and
Sthanu as the fifth, are (ever present). And there the celestial stream
Ganga having three currents,[47] issuing out of the region of Brahman,
first showed herself, and then dividing herself into seven streams,
became Vaswokasara, Nalini, the sin-cleansing Saraswati, Jamvunadi, Sita,
Ganga and Sindhu as the seventh. The Supreme Lord hath (himself) made the
arrangement with reference to that inconceivable and celestial stream. It
is there that[48] sacrifices have been performed (by gods and Rishis) on
a thousand occasions after the end of the Yuga (when creation begins). As
regards the Saraswati, in some parts (of her course) she becometh visible
and in some parts not so. This celestial sevenfold Ganga is widely known
over the three worlds. Rakshasas reside on Himavat, Guhyakas on Hemakuta,
and serpents and Nagas on Nishadha, and ascetics on Gokarna. The Sweta
mountains are said to be the abode of the celestial and the Asuras. The
Gandharvas always reside on Nishadhas, and the regenerate Rishis on Nila.
The mountains of Sringavat also are regarded as the resort of the
celestials.

"'These then, O great king, are the seven Varshas of the world as they
are divided. Diverse creatures, mobile[49] and immobile, are placed in
them all. Diverse kinds of prosperity, both providential and human, are
noticeable in them. They are incapable of being counted. Those desirous,
however, of their own good believe (all this). I have now told thee of
that delightful region (of land) of the form of a hare about which thou
hadst asked me. At the extremities of that region are the two Varshas,
viz., one on the north and the other on the south. Those two also have
now been told to thee. Then again the two islands Naga-dwipa and
Kasyapa-dwipa are the two ears of this region of the form of a hare. The
beautiful mountains of Maleya, O king, having rocks like pl