Divine Realm of the Mahabharata
The Ocean
समुद्र
Varuna's realm, the western sea of Dwaraka and Prabhasa that swallowed Dwaraka at the end
The Ocean: Varuna's realm, the western sea of Dwaraka and Prabhasa that swallowed Dwaraka at the end, located at coordinates 15.00°N, 70.00°E.
Key Facts
| Type | Divine Realm |
|---|---|
| Sanskrit name | समुद्र |
| Coordinates | 15.00°N, 70.00°E |
| Identified as | The sea at the edge of the earth, above all the western sea off Dwaraka and Prabhasa |
| Significance | Varuna's realm, the western sea of Dwaraka and Prabhasa that swallowed Dwaraka at the end |
About The Ocean
The sea that girdles the earth, personified in the epic as Ocean, lord of rivers and home of makaras, and ruled by Varuna, lord of the waters, who keeps his court beneath it. It is the western sea on whose shore Krishna built Dwaraka and at whose edge Prabhasa stands; the sea that rose over Dwaraka as Arjuna led the last Yadavas away; the sea Agastya drank dry so the gods could strike the Kalakeyas hiding in its depths, and that Utathya dried up to win his wife back from Varuna. The churning of the Ocean of Milk is told of Kshira Sagara, which has its own page.
Why it matters: Varuna's realm, the western sea of Dwaraka and Prabhasa that swallowed Dwaraka at the end
Rulers and Custodians
- Varuna, lord of the waters
Details
- Lord
- Varuna keeps his court beneath the waters; Ocean himself comes in a body to receive Balarama at Prabhasa
- Dwaraka
- As Krishna foretold, it flooded the golden city the moment its last people had left
- Agastya
- Agastya drank it dry so the gods could reach the Kalakeyas hidden on its floor
- Churning
- The Samudra Manthan belongs to Kshira Sagara, the Ocean of Milk
On the Map
The Ocean sits at 15.00°N, 70.00°E.
View on the full mapEvents at The Ocean
- Kadru and Vinata's WagerYear -990Kadru and Vinata make a wager about the color of the divine horse Ucchaihshrava's tail. Kadru wins by deceiving Vinata, making her a slave.
Stories Set at The Ocean
Garuda and the Amrita
The Great Bird's Quest
Krishna at Sandipani's Ashram
The Fee Paid to Death
Krishna and the Flying City
The Fall of Saubha
The Fire in the Sea
Revenge the dead never asked for
The Arm on the Bird's Shoulder
The strongest flier in the worlds, taught his size
The Wager Over the Horse's Tail
How the serpents and the birds became enemies
The War Beneath the Sea
The fee Indra charged for the divine weapons
The Ocean and the Reed
Why the rivers bring down the great trees and spare the slender one
The Sage Who Drank the Sea
Utathya, Bhadra, and the day Varuna came up on foot
The Elephant and the Tortoise
Two brothers who could not divide a house
The Wind Answers the Thousand-Armed King
Kartavirya boasts, and an invisible voice begins to argue
The Mace That Turned Back
Varuna's gift to a river's son, and the one rule he forgot
The Omens of Dwaraka
A City Watches Its Own Death Approach
Balarama Returns to the Sea
The Serpent Leaves by the Mouth It Came From
The Fire That Loved a Princess
Why no army could take Mahishmati
What the Blind King Was Told
Duryodhana's inventory of the rajasuya, and the quarrel it started
The Princes the Earth Hid
What was left of the Kshatriyas after the axe
Bali in the Nooses of Varuna
The prisoner who would not be mocked, and the god who let him be
The Four Shares of a Sin
Who agreed to carry a quarter of Indra's guilt, and what it cost them
Three Balls of Mud
The Boar invents the rite for the dead, and has no one above him to offer it to
The Horse-Headed Voice in the Deep
How the Vedas were sung back out of the hands of thieves
Garuda's Map of the World
The four directions described from a bird's back
The Ascetic Who Would Not Be Carried
A thought Garuda never spoke aloud costs him his wings
The Promise Made in the Kamyaka Woods
The allies arrive, and Draupadi asks Krishna what her friendship is worth
Rudra's Share and the Sinking Earth
Two quarrels over what may be given away, on the Kalinga shore
The Council at Prabhasa
The Yadavas find the exiles on the shore and argue about ending the exile by force
The Map of the Worlds
A priest naming the four quarters of the cosmos from a mountain shoulder
The Fire That Resigned
Two gods each insisting the other keep the office
The Bird With the Burnt Wings
A search that ended at a cliff, and the brother of Jatayu
Arjuna Empties Dwaraka
One bowman escorts a dead city inland, and the sea walks behind him
The Lords of the Waters and the Treasures
Balarama walks the Sarasvati past the fords where Varuna, Kubera, Indra and Surya won what they hold
The Islands Beyond Jambudvipa
Sanjaya measures the seven islands, the world elephants and the sun
The Tribes Beyond the Pale
Bhishma names the peoples of the borders and dates them to the ending of the first age
The Curses of the Rishis
Krishna names the marks that Brahmanas left on gods, seas and mountains