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7 Question: What is the foundation of the Lok (universe)?
Answer: **Vānavāya**, **Nidā**, and **Anuśatana**, these three **Vātavalaya** are the foundation of the Lok. Just as bark surrounds a tree on all sides, so too do these three **Vātavalaya** surround the Lok on all sides.
Similar to three layers, first is the **Ghanodadhi Vātavalaya** with the color of cow urine. After that is the **Ghan Vātavalaya** with the color of mung beans, and after that is the **Tanu Vātavalaya** with many colors. In the lower part of the **Lokākāśa**, in both lateral parts, from below to a height of one **Rāju**, that is, up to the five **sthāvara**, below the seven **narakabhūmi** (earths) and the eighth earth called **Īṣatprāgbhāra**, all three **Vātavalaya** are twenty thousand yojanas thick each.
In both lateral parts, above one **Rāju**, near the seventh earth, in all eight directions, the three **Vātavalaya** are 7, 5, and 4 yojanas thick respectively. Then, decreasing in order, in the eight directions of the **Madhyaloka**, they are 5, 4, and 3 yojanas thick. Then, increasing in order, in the eight directions of the **Brahmaloka**, they are 7, 5, and 4 yojanas thick. Then, decreasing in order upwards, in the lateral part of the **Lokāna**, they are 5, 4, and 3 yojanas thick. These three **Vātavalaya** at the peak of the Lok...