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92
Tattvarthasutra
[3.7-18]
There is one Meru, seven years, and six year-holders in each department. The essence is that all rivers, fields, mountains, etc., that exist in Jambudvipa are all doubled in Dhātakikhand. The two mountains that divide Dhātakikhand into eastern and western halves are extensive from south to north and are shaped like arrows (straight like a shaft). The six year-holders located in the eastern and western halves can be compared to the spokes of a wheel, and the seven regions, such as Bharat, divided by those year-holders can be likened to the spaces between the spokes. The number of Merus, years, and year-holders in Dhātakikhand is the same as that in Pushkarardh Island; there are also two Merus, fourteen years, and twelve year-holders located in the eastern and western halves divided by arrow-shaped mountains. Thus, in the two and a half islands, there are five Merus, thirty year-holders (mountains), and thirty-five years (regions). Among these thirty-five regions, the five great Videh regions have five Devakurus, five UttarKurus, and one hundred sixty Vijayas. The Inner Island is only in the salt ocean, thus there are fifty-six regions. In Pushkarvardvipa, there is a mountain named Manushottar, which stands round like a fort in the exact center of Pushkarvardvipa, enclosing the human world. Jambudvipa, Dhātakikhand, and half of Pushkarvardvipa form the two and a half islands, and the salt and dark oceans constitute this realm, referred to as 'human world'. The region is called the human world, and the mountain is named Manushottar because outside of it, there is no birth or death for humans. Only learned ascetics or those who have attained supernatural powers can go beyond the two and a half islands, but even their birth and death occur within the Manushottar mountain.
12-13. The region and type of human species: Although humans are indeed positioned in the two and a half islands and two oceans, their existence is not universal. Birth-wise, the human species is confined to the thirty-five regions within the two and a half islands and fifty-six inner islands, but by means of absorption, knowledge, or attainment, one can reside in any part of the two and a half islands and two oceans. Not only this, but one can also dwell at the peak of Meru for those reasons. Nevertheless, this...