Dear Dr Wujastyk,

The taboo on crossing the ocean was essentially a 19th century social issue, but it does not mean it was not found earlier. The main problem was not so much the crossing per se but the fact that on board one could not follow food regulations. By crossing the sea therefore, one ran the risk of losing one's caste. But again this was an  issue only for those who came back to India, not for those who stayed abroad and outside Hindu society.

I have attempted to synthetize the main aspects of the question of sea travel for the Brill Encyclopedia of Hinduism (Catherine Clémentin-Ojha, “Travel Regulations”, in: Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Edited by: Knut A. Jacobsen, Helene Basu, Angelika Malinar, Vasudha Narayanan. Consulted online on 13 October 2016 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2212-5019_beh_COM_9000000028> First published online: 2012). I can also send a pdf of the same.

As for the ocean itself, we might also recall that according to ancient Indian cosmology the "Indian space" is entirely surrounded by sea.

Best wishes,

Catherine Clémentin-Ojha, Paris

----- Mail d'origine -----
De: alakendu das <mailmealakendudas@rediffmail.com>
À: wujastyk@gmail.com
Cc: indology@list.indology.info
Envoyé: Thu, 13 Oct 2016 18:17:53 +0200 (CEST)
Objet: Re: [INDOLOGY] crossing oceans?

Dr.Wujastyk,

Yes, 'Ocean' has often been used in Ancient Indian texts. The probable reason may be to relate the vastness of our life ,with its myriad of complexities. to the vastness of an ocean. This perhaps is relevant, since the ultimate aim of our life,according to our ancient Indian philosophy ,is to attain enlightenment in life,and thereby bypass all mundane problems ,by way of Realisation of our Self ( i.e.Atmana) .

A quote from Shankaracharya's Vivekchuramani-

Uddharen Atmanam Atmana Magnau Samsar Baridah .

Here the word'Samsar Baridah'implies THIS LIFE-OCEAN depicting the various shades, Crest-nadir,the tumultous multititude of our life-cycle

ALAKENDU DAS