The Geography of the Puranas c15.1

c15.1

1 On the number 'seven', see also 'Christomathie arabe' of M. de Sacy, Vol. II, p. 250. 2 Book 1, Ch. XXII. 3 *Nat. Hist.* of Pliny, Bk. VI, last chapter. 4 M. Reinaud, *Geographie d' Aboulfeda*, Vol. II (Paris, 1848), p. 11. 5 *Ibid.*, p. 9. 6 *Zend Avesta*, Vol. 1, Pt. 2, p. xxx; Vol. II, pp. 357, 363, 409 (Bombay edn.). 7 Masūdī adds in *Kitāb-al-Tanbīh* that the name of Khommneretz was also used by the Chaldeans and Assyrians. This name is written by him as Khanrath and elsewhere as Khibuth. 8 M. Reinaud and Langles, *Relations des voyages des Arabes et des Persans dans l'Inde et a la Chine* (Paris, 1845), Vol. I, p. 81. 9 Masūdī, *Muruj al-Dhhāb* (Ed. Barbier de Meynard, Paris, 1861-77), Vol. I, p. 70. 10 *Foe-kou-ki*, p. 82. 11 This is discussed in the next chapter. 12 W. E. Clarke, *Sakadwipa and Swetadwipa*, *JAOS*, Vol. 39, 1919, pp. 209-42. 13 So named in the Mahābhārata (6, 6, 13) and by unanimous Purāṇic tradition which in spite of the development of an enlarged theoretical geography kept this older concept as the basis for the description of Jambū Dwipa. 14 For the four oceans, see Hopkins, *JAOS*, 1910, p. 371, and *Epic Mythology*, p. 122. Compare Harivaṁśa, 220 (2, 370), 70 (1, 303), where four oceans are referred to along with four castes, four ages and 'quatres holocausts' 44 (1.205). Varuna is described as surrounded by the four oceans. 15 See 143 (2.88); 148 (2.115); 149 (2.120). 16 Seven dwipas, 4 (1.26); 33 (1.154-5, 157), 149 (2.120), 188 (2.115); 'Seven Dwipas and Seven Seas', 30 (1.136). Are the seven dwipas and seven seas of the Harivaṁśa merely conventional, or is the Purāṇic geography implied? For the conventional use of 'seven' in the Mahābhārata, see Hopkins, *JAOS*, 1910, pp. 378-81. 17 See Hardy, *Manual of Buddhism*, pp. 3, 4, 12 and *Legends and Theories of the Buddhists*, pp. 80 (especially p. 85). 18 Translated by Burgess and Whitney, *JAOS*, 6.390. 19 *Indian Antiquary*, 30, 243-4. 20 Colebrook, *Essays*, II, p. 200, notes that Videha is divided into two parts, eastern and western (Pūrva and Apara). Compare with this the Pūrvavideha of the Buddhists and see Weber, IA, 30, 243. The name of the northernmost region (Airāvata) agrees with the name of the northernmost region of Mahābhārata (6.6. 37-9).