________________ 238 TATTVARTHA SUTRA breadth, which would work out to about 42 miles; and that is ridiculously low. That was partly due to the fact that scriptural texts conceive of a smooth arc from Saurashtra to Orrisa as the coastal line forming the southern boundary of Jamboodweep. That arc would pass through south Gujarat, Vidarbha and north Vijayvada. Jain concept thus virtually ignores the existence of peninsular India and treats that area along with Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal as the outer rim of Lavan sea. The entire area of Indian Ocean and Southern Ocean constituted the parts of the said sea. Distances of the stellar bodies from the surface of Jamboodweep also present a problem. They are believed to be moving around Mt. Meru. The stars are supposed to move at an altitude of 790 Yojans, suns at 800, moons at 880, constellations at 884 and planets at 888 to 900 Yojans. Irrespective of their relative positions, these distances are far shorter than their known distances from the earth. There are, however, several features of Jain concepts that can give credit to the ancient seers. For instance, Bharat Kshetra is said to have the east-west length of 14471.32 Yojans and north-south breadth of 526.32 Yojans. On the basis of its location at the southern end of Jamboodweep disc, the proportion between the length and the breadth is mathematically accurate. That could not have been arrived at without the adequate knowledge of algebra and geometry. Their knowledge of mathematics is also evident in the formula for circumference and area of a circle presented in Laghu Sangrahani. It states: "Vikkhambhvaggadahgun-karani, Vattassa Parirao Hoi; Vikkhambhpayagunio, Parirao Tassa Ganiyapayam' It means that the circumference of a circle is equal to the Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org
