The Artha System
For as long as space endures, and for as long as living beings remain, until then may I too abide to dispel the misery of the world.
-Shantideva
Tenzin and Norbu did not standardise the naming practices of the various heavenly bodies in this body at first, and so a multitude of systems in a multitude of languages were used. It was not until Vũ Quang Kim, an accomplished amateur astronomer in her own right, entered the chairperson's office. By her direction the following terminology was established.
From innermost to outermost:
Artha: Our system's M-type sun is named after the Sanskrit term for material wealth, and for good reason. The red orb of fire in the sky brings the wealth that allows the sustenance of life in the system.
Gandhara: The first planet from Artha, a heat-baked, rocky, barren world, is named for the ancient heartland of Greco-Buddhist culture during the Hellenistic age, a time when Buddhism spread as far west as Greece itself.
-Milinda: Gandhara's inner moon is named for one of the most notable Indo-Greek kings, a great patron of Greco-Buddhism, whose name is perhaps better known to people of Euro descent in Greek as Menander.
-Kanishka: Gandhara's outer moon is named for perhaps the greatest of Buddhist rulers of the Kushan Empire, a large and powerful state which ruled over parts of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India for a protracted time while the Roman Empire dominated the west.
Takshasila: The rather hot and quite geologically active second planet is named after Taxila in Pakistan, one of ancient India's capitals, and, by some reckonings, the location of Earth's first university.
-Sakala: The inner of Takshasila's two small moons, Sakala is named after the ancient Indo-Greek city, which eventually became Sialkot in Pakistan.
-Patala: Takshasila's outer moon is named after another ancient Indo-Greek city, a major port town located on the banks of the Indus in Sind.
Kama: The third world from Artha is the lush garden world that is the centre of our new home. It is named for the Sanskrit term for pleasure - after all, a life without pleasure is a life wasted and without purpose.
-Kushinara: Kama's innermost moon is named for the place in Uttar Pradesh where, it is said, the Buddha passed away and attained nirvana-after-death.
-Bodh Gaya: Kama's second moon is named for the place in Bihar where the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment, under the shade of the Bodhi Tree.
-Lumbini: Kama's outermost moon is named for perhaps one of the most important places in all Buddhism - Gautama Buddha's birthplace.
Nalanda: The fourth planet from Artha, Nalanda is named after the ancient center of Buddhist learning, or by some definitions, a university, located in Bihar.
-Pataliputra: Nalanda's innermost moon is named for the ancient megalopolis located on latter-day Patna, which served as the capital for multiple Indian empires.
-Anuradhapura: Nalanda's outer moon is named for the historical capital of Sri Lanka, and an important historical Buddhist center in itself.
Borobodur: Artha's fifth planet is named for the great Buddhist temple on Java, perhaps the greatest Buddhist temple to exist in all the world.
-Bamiyan: Borobodur's innermost moon is named for the site in Afghanistan were two great statues of the Buddha were built, though sadly demolished by the Taliban in the early 21st century. They would be restored with support and funding from the Apaurusheya phyle in the second half of the century.
-Lhasa: The middle moon of Borobodur is named for the capital and major city of Tibet, and where Tenzin and Norbu both were born.
-Hōryū-ji: Borobodur's outermost moon is named for the temple in Nara, Japan, which dates from the seventh century and is perhaps the oldest wooden structure surviving.
Angkor: Artha's large, gaseous sixth planet is named for, naturally, one of the greatest cities of medieval Earth, the historical centre of the Khmer Empire, and its religious centre as well.
-Ayutthaya: Named for the historical Thai city, the political and religious centre of a powerful kingdom that shares the name.
-Pagan: Named for the great religious centre of Burma, which during medieval times was home to thousands of Buddhist temples, and was also the centre of a powerful kingdom with the same name, the first state to unify all Burma.
-Penang: The name of a region of Malaysia that is the most predominantly Buddhist. This moon was so named because most of the Malay members of Suon claim to hail from there.
-Luoyang: Named for the Chinese city that is home to White Horse Temple, the site that is considered the cradle of Buddhism in China.
-Ikh Huree: Mongolian for "big monastery," this was the name of one of Mongolia's most important Buddhist centres before the 20th century.
-Haeinsa: Named after one of the most famous Korean Buddhist temples.
-Vincennes: Angkor's outermost moon is named for the Paris park whose 20th century pagoda would become a great centre of Buddhism in Europe over the course of the next several centuries.
Yasodhara: This ice giant, the seventh world in the system, is named for the princess who would become Siddhartha's wife.
-Jayavarman: Named for the great twelfth/thirteenth-century Khmer emperor who established Buddhism as the primary religion of his realm.
-Xuangzang: Named for the seventh-century Chinese monk who journeyed to India, providing the inspiration for Journey to the West centuries later.
-Quảng Đức: Named for the monk who self-immolated in Saigon in the mid-20th century to protest Ngo Dinh Diem's authoritarian regime, and provided the inspiration for Rage Against the Machine decades later - music which continues to be influential and pervasively popular here, in Suon.
-Rahula: Yasodhara's fourth and largest satellite, a smaller ice giant in itself, is named for the child of the Buddha and his wife Yasodhara.
I sort of guessed the planetary descriptions based on classification; if they're wrong, I guess just account that to an in-universe lack of knowledge on Suon's part.
