Some Remarks on Śvetadvīpa.

• Published in: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies
• Main Author: Rönnow, Kasten
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1929
• Subjects: History; Cultural Studies; White Island
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0041977x00122682; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0041977X00122682

Svetadvipa, “The White Island,” is the name of an island, situated in the far North, inhabited by Nārāyana and by pious White Men, who worship him. The description of their worship, which can be read in that part of the Śāntiparvan, the twelfth of the Mahābhārata books, devoted to Nārāyana is distinguishable to an obvious degree from the stories of other cults found in the Brahminical literature, and has led researchers of both earlier and more recent date to try certain more or less successful interpretations. The attempt at solving the problem of Śvetadvīpa, which has, during more recent times, attracted the greatest attention, is that of Garbe.