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| 0045 |
Southern Tibet : vol.1 |
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OCR Text
CHAPTER I.
SOUTH-WESTERN TIBET IN INDIAN ANTIQUITY.
To the Hindus and their ancestors South-Western Tibet has been known since
thousands of years, and indeed we are here moving on ground which was classic
when the foundation stone of Rome was laid. Their knowledge has, however, been
very superficial, and the few glimpses of actual geography we obtain from their
ancient books almost disappear in interminable epic songs, in legends and in tales.
But there is at any rate a certain foundation of reality, which proves that the peoples
of India knew the existence of the very high and extensive mountains to the
north, as well as Mount Kailas, the lakes Manasarovar and Rakas-tal, and the
regions in which the great Indian rivers have their sources. As an introduction to
the geographical investigation of South-Western Tibet I will therefore use some quota-
tions from old Indian books.
In the Buddhist world-system Mount Meru or Sumeru, the Ri-rab of the Ti-
betans, the great venerable Olympus, rises from the axis of the earth, and forms
the centre and foundation of the universe. Its four sides consist of gold, crystal,
silver and sapphire. In concentric circles Mount Meru is surrounded by seven seas
and seven rings of golden mountains. In the ocean around this King of Mountains
are the four great continents or world-islands with their satellites. Three of these
continents are fabulous, and only the fourth, the one to the south, Jambudvipa, has
a real geographical foundation, and corresponds to the world as far as it was known
to the Indians, namely, the Indian peninsula, with the Bodhi-tree of Budh Gaya in its
centre. »It is shaped like the shoulder-blade of a sheep, this idea being evidently
suggested by the shape of the Indian peninsula which was the prototype of Jambu-
dvipa, as Mount Kailas in the Himalayas and N.E. of India was that of Mount
Meru.» ¹
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