Digital Dictionary of Buddhism

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由旬

Pronunciations

Basic Meaning: yojana

Senses:

  • A transliteration of the Sanskrit, an Indian measure of distance. Depending upon the source, either seven or nine miles, the distance appropriate for one dayʼs travel for an emperor (according to Iwanami, travel by ox-drawn wagon). According to A.L. Basham, in his The Wonder that was India: The commonest table [of measurements], omitting microscopic measurements was:

    Though most sources give the krośa (in modern Indian languages kos) as of 2,000 daṇḍas the Arthaśāstra gives it as only 1,000, the yojana, which was the commonest measure of long distances in ancient India, being thus of only 4 1/2 miles. It is therefore clear that there were at least two yojanas, and distances as given in texts are thus very unreliable. It would seem that for practical purposes the shorter yojana was more often used than the longer, especially in earlier times.

    However, the Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya estimates one yojana as equivalent to eight krośas. Thus, according to Vasubandhu, the ratio between yojanas and krośas is 1/8. (T 1558.29.62b11). Puguang 普光 estimates one yojana as 25,600 chi尺, or, approximately 8,533 meters (1821.41.193a05) (estimating one 尺 at 1/3 of a meter). Also transliterated as 由延; 兪旬, 揄旬, 踰繕那, and 踰闍那. Yokoiʼs "...either 20 or 27 kilometers (12 or 16 miles)" and the JEBDʼs "160 km. or 120 km. or 64 km." are both clearly way too long. [Charles Muller, Billy Brewster; source(s): Ui, Nakamura, Hirakawa, JEBD, Yokoi, Iwanami]
  • Cf. Karashima (Lokakṣema Glossary): view / hide
      
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    [Dictionary References]

    Bukkyō jiten (Ui) 1068

    Bulgyo sajeon 670a

    Zengaku daijiten (Komazawa U.) 1246d

    Iwanami bukkyō jiten 814

    Japanese-English Buddhist Dictionary (Daitō shuppansha) 333a/370

    Japanese-English Zen Buddhist Dictionary (Yokoi) 829

    Zengo jiten (Iriya and Koga) 17-P12

    Bukkyōgo daijiten (Nakamura) 1378c

    Fo Guang Dictionary 2075

    Ding Fubao

    Buddhist Chinese-Sanskrit Dictionary (Hirakawa) 0842

    Bukkyō daijiten (Mochizuki) (v.1-6)4926a,737b

    Bukkyō daijiten (Oda) 1760-1

    (Soothill's) Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms 197

    Lokakṣemaʼs Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā (Karashima) 596

    Copyright provisions

    The rights to textual segments (nodes) of the DDB are owned by the author indicated in the brackets next to each segment. For rights regarding the compilation as a whole, please contact Charles Muller. Please do not reproduce without permission. And please do not copy into Wikipedia without proper citation!

    Entry created: 1993-09-01

    Updated: 2018-05-14