Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India c8.13

c8.13

The *Ṣatpañcāśaddeśavibhāga* belongs to that class of works which is called the gazetteer literature in Sanskrit and on which Pandit H.P. Sastri wrote an interesting but short paper in *J.B.O.R.S.*, Vol. IV, pp. 14-25. The work gives an account of fifty-six countries lying in and on the borders of India. The list is drawn from the pilgrim's point of view and most of the localities mentioned are holy places. The majority of the localities are again Śaiva and Śākta Tīrthas and this fact indicates Tantric influence. The importance of the number 56 is, however, not determinable. This number is found adhered to in some other works of the class. The earliest work containing a list of fifty-six countries seems to be the *Candragarbhasūtra* or *Candragabhavaitulya* (translated into Chinese by Narendrayaśas in 566 A.D.)² mentioning them in connection with the Buddha's manifestations in Jambudvīpa. All of them cannot be identified; but 'apparently less than half are within India proper'.³ It has been suggested that the Sūtra was composed or re-edited in Central Asia; it is therefore possible that the importance attached to the number fifty-six is essentially foreign. Similar lists are found in some other medieval Tantric texts; *e.g.*, the *Sammoha Tantra* (composed before 1450 A.D. according to Gode)⁴ gives two lists of fifty-six countries. These two lists are quoted below since they can be compared fruitfully with the list of the *Ṣatpañcāśaddeśavibhāga* under study.