The Geography of the Puranas c9.21

c9.21

This belief is not peculiar to the Purāṇas only. The Chinese for instance represented the Tarim and Hwangho as one river. Huan Tsang says, “This river (Sītā-Tarim) on the east enters the sea. Passing through the salt lake Yen-Tse (Lop Nor) it flows underground and emerges at the Tsih-Shi mountains (west of Lao-Chou?). It is the origin of our (Yellow) river.” The Persians and the Arabs borrowed the same idea from the Purāṇas as is evident from the following passage. ‘Another river Wajakh rises on the eastern side of the said mountain Mawisa at the extreme limit of the desert. It skirts the towns of Thajakh, Bariha and Kuskan, flows on through the province of Khotan and while passing through the region of Shachoer forms a swamp (Lake Lop Nor). Thence it flows down to the limits of Kucha, then passes through the province of Kursh and the province of Farjakali and empties itself into the Eastern Ocean.’