Chapter 11 - Country of Kie-ling-kia (Kalinga)

This country^[1] is 5000 li or so in circuit; its capital is 20 li or so round. It is regularly cultivated and is productive. Flowers and fruits are very abundant. The forests and jungle are continuous for many hundred li. It produces the great tawny^[2] wild elephant, which are much prized by neighbouring provinces, The climate is burning; the disposition of the people vehement and impetuous. Though the men are mostly rough and uncivilised, they still keep their word and are trustworthy. The language is light and tripping,^[3] and their pronunciation distinct and correct. But in both particulars, that is, as to words and sounds, they are very different from Mid-India. There are a few who believe in the true law, but most of them are attached to heresy. There are ten saṅghārāmas, with about 500 priests, who study the Great Vehicle according to the teaching of the Sthavira school. There are some 100 Deva temples with very many unbelievers of different sorts, the most numerous being the Nirgranthas^[4] (Ni-kin followers).

In old days the kingdom of Kaliṅga had a very dense population. Their shoulders rubbed one with the other, and the axles of their chariot wheels grided together, and when they raised their arm-sleeves a perfect tent was formed.^[5] There was a Rishi possessed of the five supernatural powers,^[6] who lived (perched) on a high precipice,^[7] cherishing his pure (thoughts). Being put to shame (insulted) because he had gradually lost his magic powers, he cursed the people with a wicked imprecation, and caused all dwelling in the country, both young and old, to perish; wise and ignorant alike died, and the population disappeared. After many ages the country was gradually repeopled by emigrants, but yet it is not properly inhabited. This is why at the present time there are so few who dwell here.

Not far from the south of the capital there is a stūpa about a hundred feet high; this was built by Aśoka-rāja. By the side of it there are traces where the four past Buddhas sat down and walked.

Near the northern frontier of this country is a great mountain precipice,^[8] on the top of which is a stone stūpa about a hundred feet high. Here, at the beginning of the kalpa, when the years of men's lives were boundless, a Pratyeka^[9] Buddha reached Nirvāṇa.

From this going north-west through forests and mountains about 1800 li, we come to the country of Kiao-sa-lo (Kosala).

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The frontier line of Kaliṅga cannot have extended beyond the Godāvarī river on the south-west, and the Gaolivā branch of the Indrāvati river on the north-west (Cunningham). For an account of the Kaliṅga deśa, see Sewell, op. cit., p. 19. The chief town was probably Rājamahendri, where the Chalukyas perhaps established their capital. Either this place or Koriṅga, on the sea-coast, agrees with the bearing and distance given in the text. If, however, we accept Mr. Fergusson's hypothesis that the capital of Konyodha was near Kaṭak, and calculating the li to be one-seventh of a mile, we shall have to seek for the capital of Kaliṅga near Vijayanagram. For a notice respecting Rājamahendri see Sewell, Lists, etc., vol. i. p. 22.

[2]:

The same word is used in the previous section; see n. 60.

[3]:

This description of their language will appear natural to those who have had Kling boys about them.

[4]:

Digambara Jainas, ante, vol. i. p. 145, n. 74.

[5]:

I.e., by stretching out their arms one to another, so close were they, there would be a continuous tent formed.

[6]:

Explained by Julien as referring to the pañchābhijñās.

[7]:

Julien translates "gan" by "cavern;" but it means "a rocky or precipitous mountain."

[8]:

Perhaps Mahendragiri.

[9]:

A Pratyeka Buddha is one who has reached enlightenment "for himself alone;" that is, he is not able to enlighten others by preaching or guiding. In Chinese it is rendered "tuh hioh", "a solitary Buddha," for the same reason.