On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v2.c18.4

v2.c18.4

The Fang-chih repeats the statement here made, but in the Life, which does not mention the large town, the distance from Kusinagara to Varaṇāsi is given as only over 500 *li*, the direction not being given. Fa-hsien calls the country Kāśi and the capital P'o-lo-na (Baraṇā or Varaṇā),¹ and this distinction is observed by other writers. We also find these two names occasionally treated as convertible, but in Buddhist books Kāśi is seldom found as the designation of the city, and is generally applied to the country. Thus the fine cotton stuffs for which the Benares district was famous are called "Kāśi cloth". The sacred city is generally called Varaṇā or Vārāṇasi or Vārāṇasī, and sometimes the district is included in this name. The latter form is the only one which Yuan-chuang seems to have known and, in his usual manner, he makes it include the city and the country.