________________ 236 TATTVARTHA SUTRA Jamboodweep Prajnapti is the basic source of information about Jamboodweep. Sthanang and Samavayang, the third and fourth original Agams, do contain the information about the subject. They are, however, in the form of numerical series of various aspects. The compilation thereof was continuing for a long time and additions were made from time to time. Jamboodweep Prajnapti therefore remains the original source. That was composed a couple of centuries after passing away of Lord Mahavir. As such, its particulars do not necessarily conform to what Lord Mahavir or revered Ganadhars could have said. Those particulars should therefore be taken as reflecting the concepts of geography as prevalent when the said text was composed. It is obvious that on the basis of 8 miles a Yojan, the sizes given in the texts are exaggerated. Since the exaggeration varies from illustration to illustration, it is difficult to generalize the extent thereof. Moreover, the concepts of Meru, Vaitadhya or Tamisra-Khandprapata сaves cannot be related to any geographical areas. As such, it is not possible to arrive at the level of exaggeration for any of them even separately. That also applies to the size of Ayodhya, because the present size of the city is fairly small and we have no idea of its actual size in ancient times. There are, however, two aspects where we can gauze the extent of exaggeration. One pertains to the time of different places. We know that the time of a place depends upon its longitude and that the distance between two adjacent longitudes makes a difference of 4 minutes. Since the circumference of the earth in the tropical zone, where India is situated, is about 24000 miles, and since it takes 24 hours to complete one rotation, it can be said that in that area every 1000 miles makes a difference of one hour. The Jain concept stipulates two suns moving over the surface Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org
