194 Sarat Chandra Das —Buddhist and other legends about Khoten. [N’o. 3, 
ism) was greatly propagated. After Kashyapa had passed away 
from sufferings (mundane existence) his remains were interred in 
the chorten* of Gomasalagandha. On account of its sanctity the sage 
Kharasha and others resided for a long time on the top of the moun¬ 
tain of Li-yul which from that time became a place of pilgrimage. 
Subsequently when unbelievers persecuted them, the sages soared on 
high, and fled to other countries ; so that on the decline of Buddhism, 
Li-yul became a lake. After the lapse of a long time Sakya Muni 
appeared in Aiya Varta where he worked for the salvation of all liv¬ 
ing beings. Before entering into Nirvana he charged the different 
Sramanas (guardians of Buddhism) with the protection of the Bud¬ 
dhist countries. Li-yul was entrusted to the care of Yaisramana,t 
Yaksha and others. The teacher himself together with his followers 
soaring in the sky, visited Li-yul which had turned into a lake. Seated 
on a lotus high above the present site of Ghumtir Vihara which is 
situated on the bank of the river Shel Chhale, he blessed it. Rays 
praises China as the most prosperous of kingdoms, and its rulers as the bene¬ 
factors and civilisers of the world.” Edkin’s Chinese Buddhism, 92. Referring 
to the name of China Mr. Edkins has the following note. 
“ The common Indian name of ‘China’ written in Chinese Chentan, is here 
employed. Another orthography found in Buddhist books is Chi-na. It is clear 
from the use of these characters, that the Indians who translated into Chinese at 
that early period, did not regard the word ‘ China ’ as the name of a dynasty, 
but as the proper name of the country to which it was ai^plied. This leaves in 
great uncertainty the usnal derivation of the term ‘China’ from the ‘Dzin’ 
dynasty B. C. 250 or that of Ts’ in, A. D. 300. The occurrence of the word as the ' 
name of a nation in the ‘ Laws of Mann ’ supposed to date from some between 
B. C. 1000 and B. C. 600, with the use of the term ‘ Sinim’ in the “ Prophecies 
of Isaiah,” indicate a greater antiquity than either of these dynasties extends to, 
Some have supposed that the powerful feudatory kingdom, Dzin, that afterwards 
grew into the dynasty of that name, may have originated the appellation by which 
the whole country subject to the Cheu emperors was known to the Hindus. 
Dzin occupied the north-western tract now called Shen-si and Kan-su. It was 
that part of China that would be first reached by traders coming from Kashgar, 
Samarcand, and Persia. Chen-tan, the other Hindu name of ‘China’ used in the 
Buddhist books, may be the Thinae of Ptolemy. When the first Buddhists reached 
China, the character used for writing the first of these two syllables would be 
called Tin, and soon afterwards Chin. In Julien’s Methode, &c., its Sanscrit equiva¬ 
lent is Chin. This would be somewhat late. Would it not be better, having traced 
the term to India, to make that country responsible for its etymology ? ” 
* Chorten (Chaitya), a Buddhist tope or stupa, it is a shrine intended to hold 
the relics of sanctified persons. 
t One of the four guardians of the world and the lord of the Yakshas. His 
person is white, he sits holding a guitar in his hand. He rules from the eastern 
part of Sawan. 
