________________
138
TATTVĀRTHA SŪTRA
Himayat, Mahāhimavat, Nişadha, Nila, Rukmin, and śikharin. 11.
In the continent Dhātakīkhanda the number of mountains and regions is double that of those in the Jambūdvipa. 12.
The same is true of the inner half of the continent Puskaradvīpa. 13.
The human beings are to be found only upto the mountain Mānusottara. 14.
These are either arya or mleccha. 15.
The entire regions Bharata, Airāvata and Videha barring the sub-regions Devakuru and Uttarakuru are Karmabhūmis (lit. fields of action). 16.
In the case of the human beings the maximum lifeduration is 3 palyopamas, the minimum a period measuring less than a muhūrta. 17.
The same is true of the animals. 18.
Continents and Oceans :
It has already been said that the shape of the middle lokaportion is like that of a jhālara (a cymbal like musical instrument); the same is here elucidated through an account of the continents and oceans.
In the middle loka-portion there are situated asankhyāta continents and oceans. They are so arranged that there first lies a continent, surrounding this continent an ocean, surrounding this ocean a continent, surrounding this continent an ocean, and so on and so forth. All of them bear but auspicious names. In the present context information is conveyed about three things related to them—viz. their diameter, their relative arrangement, their shape. Knowing this one comes to know the shape of the middle loka-portion.
Diameter :
The extent of the continent Jambūdvīpa. is 1 lac yojanas in
Jain Education International
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
