Jain Journal 1968 10

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 46

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JAIN JOURNAL
but also the siddhaloka is made far far distant from the Earth, the topmost among the lokas, the summit of the Upper Sphere, which should be equivalent to the satya (brahma)-loka of the Hindus. About the bhāvanavāsi in the Jaina model, we have already noted their features and living conditions. Vyantara in the Jaina model should include the species called gandharvas, kinnaras, etc., and these move to a certain extent all the three lokas downwards. Jyotişka in the Jaina model consists of the Sun, the Moon, the Stars and what are called prakirna-tārā (Comets ?). They are ani yatacārī moving sometimes above the sun and the moon and sometimes below. If svar-loka of the Hindus be equivalent to the sura-loka of the Jainas, then the position of the heavenly bodies in the two models is largely comparable. The Jainas also recognise sthira-jyotiska (Dhruva or Pole Star ?) which exists outside human abode. It will be seen that, in both the models, heavenly bodies occupy a very insignificant place in the universe.
Turning next to the details about the Upper Sphere in the Jaina model, the upper world begins at an altitude immeasurably high over the Stars. There, separated from each other by intermedia the different sections of the Upper Sphere lie one above another. These inter-spaces are partly formed by the halls enveloping the Ratnaprabha together with the Central Sphere. The lowest celestial regions (kalpas) Saudharma (Sohamma) and Aisana (Esana) lie on the same level above the viscous water hull. Above them and beyond the viscous wind hull lie the heavens of Mahendra (Mahindra) and Sanatkumara (Sanamkumara). These are present in pairs. According to Umasvati there are no pairs, each heaven lying one above another, Aisana above Saudharma and so on. Above them lie singly, one above another, Brahmaloka (Bambhaloga), Lantaka (Lantaga), Mahasukra (Mahasukka) and Sahassara (Sahassara). Worthy of note is the location of the Brahmaloka which is pretty low in the Jaina model which gives the topmost position to the Siddhaloka ; just the reverse in the Hindu model. And then again in pairs, the four uppermost heavens, Pranata (Panaya) and Anata (Anaya), and Acyuta (Accuya) and Arana (Aruna). By Acyuta and Arana the twelve kalpas end. These kalpas are the abode of kalpotpanna-devatās, who serve the masters, and who come to the Earth if necessary. Above them, there lie the lower, the intermediate and the upper Graiveyaka (gevejja) places, resembling a neck, which are the abode of the kalpātīta vaimānika-devatās who are called ahamindra (I am
1 Digambaras enumarate four more kalpas, viz., Brahmottara, Kapistha, Sukra, and Satara, serially the sixth, the eighth, the ninth and the eleventh, thus totalling sixteen.