The Geography of the Puranas c8.155

c8.155

The Supārśva country (Kirghistan) is a mountainous region of lower relief than that of the Pāmīrs and where the mountains are more rounded and less indented than those in the latter. The Vṛṣabha mountain, mentioned as one of the mountains of this region, is typical and suggestive of the topography of the Supārśva country while the mountains named as Sahasra Sekhara, Ṣaṭśṛṅga or Mayūra at once bring to one's mind the highly indented ridges of the regions which lie to its west and its south and in which they have been included. It is to be noted that the Purāṇic names of mountains mostly embody their prominent features or their physical appearance, e.g., height, colour or tint, form or profile; bare, forested or snow-covered.