Historical Geography of Ancient India c6.563

c6.563

Meru.—This mountain otherwise known as Hemādri and Svarṇācala (Hultzsch, S.I.I., I, 166), is identical with the Rudra Himalaya in Garhwal (Therīgāthā Commy., p. 150) where the Ganges takes its rise (Law, Geography of Early Buddhism, p. 42). It is near the Badarikāśrama and is probably the Mount Meros of Arrian. On the western side of this mountain stand Niṣadha and Pāripātra; on the southern side stand Kailāsa and Himavanta, and on the northern side stand Śṛṅgavān and Jarudhi (Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Vaṅgavāsī Ed., p. 240). The great sage Sālaṅkāyana meditated on this mountain (Kūrmapurāṇa, 144. 10).