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3.1-6]
Description of Naraka
The universe is divided into three parts: below, middle, and above. The lower part is considered to be below the flatness of Meru Mountain and extends nine hundred yojanas deep, resembling an upside-down bowl in the sky, meaning it spreads out widely at the bottom. The middle world lies below and above this flatness, totaling eighteen hundred yojanas with each region being nine hundred yojanas in size, shaped like a strand of beads with equal length and width. Above the middle world is the upper world, which is shaped like a pakhavaj (a special kind of drum).
The residences of Naraka are located in the lower world, where the lands are called 'Naraka Bhumi.' There are seven lands that do not lie side by side but are stacked one beneath the other. Their dimensions (length) and breadth are not equal, but the dimensions of the lower lands increase; that is, the length and breadth of the first land are greater than the second, and the second is greater than the third. In this manner, the dimensions from the sixth to the seventh land also increase.
All seven lands are one beneath the other, but they are not completely touching; there is a significant gap between them. In this gap lie Ghanodadhi, Ghanavata, Tanavata, and Akasha in succession, meaning Ghanodadhi is below the first Naraka land, below it is Ghanavata, below Ghanavata is Tanavata, and below Tanavata is Akasha. After Akasha is the second Naraka land. The same arrangement of Ghanodadhi and others also exists between the second and third lands. Following this pattern, until the seventh land, all lands have Ghanodadhi and others beneath them in the same order.
According to the Bhagwati Sutra, the nature of the world's position is described very clearly as follows: "The foundation of living beings such as insects and animals is the Earth, the foundation of the Earth is the ocean, the foundation of the ocean is the air, and the foundation of the air is the sky. How can the ocean stay grounded on the air, and the Earth on the ocean?" The clarification of this question is as follows: A person can inflate a leather pouch by filling it with air. Then, they tie the mouth of the pouch with a leather strap. This creates two sections of air within the pouch, making it sound like a drum when shaken. Then, by opening the mouth of the pouch and letting the air escape from the top section and replacing it with water, and then closing the mouth again and releasing the intermediary binding, it will appear that the water filled in the top section stays above; that is, it will remain above the air, cannot sink because the water in the upper section is supported by the air in the lower section. Just as water remains above in the pouch due to the air's foundation, so too do the Earth and others remain established based on air. See Bhagwati Sutra, Shataka 1, Uddeshaka 6.