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Shri Ashtapad Maha Tirth - II
on the north it is red like a Kshatriya ; and on the west it is black like a Sudra. Four mountains form buttresses to Meru and on each of these stand severally a kadamba tree, a Jambu tree, a peepal tree, and a fig tree. Since the advent of Aryan civilization into India, Tibet and especially the Kailas-Mansarovar Region have been glorified in the Hindu mythology as part of the Himalayas. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata, all the Puranas in general, and Manasa-khandaof Skanda Purana in particular, the glory of Mansarovar. It is the creation of the manas (mind) of Brahma, the first of the Trinity of the Hindu mythology; and according to some, the Maharaja of Mandhata discovered the Mansarovar. Mandhata is said to have done penance on the shores of Mansarovar at the foot of the mountains which are now known after his name. Recently the author has read the description of Achhodasara in Kadambari of Bana Bhatta. He feels that this lake cannot be any other but the celestial Manasa-saras. The description of Acchodasara is extremely interesting although it does not fully coincide with facts. In some Pali and Sanskrit Buddhist works, Mansarovar is described as Anotatta or Anavatapta, Lake without heat and trouble. In its centre is a tree which bears fruits that are 'omnipotent' in healing all human ailments, physical as well as mental, and as such much sought after by gods and men alike. This Anavatapta is described in saying that lotus flowers, as big as the Amitabha Buddha, bloom in the Holy Lake, and the Buddha and the Bodhisattvas often sit on those flowers. Heavenly Rajahansas will be singing their celestial melodies as they swim on the Lake. On the surrounding mountains of the lake are found that Shata-Mulikas or hundred herbs. In Jain literature Kailash is called Ashtapad. Aadinath Rushabhdev, the first Tirthankar of Jains, was said to have attained Nirvana at Kailash. In Mahabharata Mansarovar is also known as Bindusara and in Jain works as Padma Hrada.
2.
The author has secured a manuscript copy of Manas-Khanda from Almora District. Though it claims to be a part of Skanda Purana, in fact it is not. It is not more than two or three hundred years old and is written by some Pandit of Almora. The author intends publishing it with a translation and foot notes.
Tibetan and Hindu Mythology
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