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128/JAIN STUDIES AND SCIENCE
2.2. Tamaskaya
Its description as available in Thanam Agam is as follows --
“Arunavar Island is separated by innumerable intervening islands from the Jambu Island. At the outermost periphery is situated Arunavar ocean. Travelling 42 thousand Yojans in this ocean towards the edge, there raises a layer of apkaya pudgals (fine particles predominantly containing water) which expands after rising around 1721 yojans. These layers rising from all around the outer edge look like lotus leaves and extends up to the region of Krishnarajji. Encompassing four pantheons (devlok) including Saudharma, Tamaskaya reaches up to the Rishta limit of the fifth devlok. Fine matter forming the Tamaskaya is abounding in dark characteristics. No other matter in lok is darker than the Tamaskaya. Its darkness stuns even the deities of heaven and they abstain from these regions of Tamaskaya fearing the entrapment. It is like an imprisonment for them. Jains believe that the stars are vehicles of heavenly deities and Tamaskaya is so dark that its eddy currents can engulf even biggest stars. This brings us to a very interesting possibility of comparing these Jain cosmic entities of Krishna-rajji and Tamaskaya with the modern concept of black holes.
Krishna-raj
Tamaskaya
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