བསླབ་པ་ལྔའ་ཕན་ཡན་གྱ་མད notes.20

notes.20

20. Pali Suṃsumāragire, Skt. Śuśumāragiri, Tib. chu srin byis pa gsod kyi ri (“makara/crocodile mountain/hill”). In the literal Tibetan translation of Pali susumāra (Skt. śiśumāra), meaning “child killing,” the word chu srin (Skt. makara) is tautological. A makara is a mythical sea creature, but the term may also mean crocodile (cf. Mvy. Sakaki 4832: śiśumāraḥ = chu srin byis pa gsod). The Pali has the variants susumāragiri in the Chaṭṭasaṅgāyana edition (which is the more regular development from Old Indo-Aryan śiśu; cf. Oberlies 2019, p. 97) and the Pali Text Society edition suṃsumāragiri. See DPPN vol. 2, p. 1173: “It is said […] that the city was so called because when it was being built a crocodile (suṃsumāra) made a noise in a lake nearby.” The Pali and Sanskrit giri means “hill” or “mountain.”