Jain Journal 1968 10

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

Page 48

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JAIN JOURNAL
encircling it is the Kalodadhi-samudra (Cane-juice-sea) with black and thick water and behind it the continent called Puskara-dvipa. The Puskara-dvipa is divided throughout by the Manusattara Mountain that provides a strict demarcation of the world inhabited by men (manusya-kşetra). At this point terminate all human institutions including chronology (samaya), because of which its alternative name is samayakşetra. Even atmospheric phenomenon like lightning, thunder, rainfall, etc., cease at this point and fire, minerals, darkness and even astronomic occurrences do no longer appear. Beyond this point there is hardly anything of human interest and if still a few more islands and seas are mentioned, it is to complete the picture of the Central Sphere. These are Puskara-samudra (Wine-sea), Varunavara-dvipa, Varnuvara-samudra (Ghee-sea), Ksiravara-dvipa, Ksiroda-samudra (Milk-sea), Ghrtavaradvipa, Ghrtoda-samudra (Butter-milk-sea), Iksuvara-dvipa, Iksuda-samudra (Sweet-water-sea). Here the writer in the Vişnupurāņa stops. The Jajna Cosmographers go a step further to tell of Nandisvaradvipa, Nandisvaroda-samudra, and so on till the final ones are Svayambhuramana-dvipa and Svayambhuramana-samudra. And there the Central Sphere ends. Of the gods belonging to the central world, the only one are the star-gods including the moons, the suns the planets, the nakşatras and the prakirņa tārās. The suns and the moons are considered their princes. Interesting enough, all the stargods scarcely show any personal trait, though they are magnificent and powerful gods; and they do not move of their own strength. Movements of the star-gods are restricted to the samaya-kşetra, beyond it, i.e., beyond the Manusottara-parvata, all the star-gods are fixed and have no movement. As regards the suns and the moons, they are many in number. Even on the Jambu-dvipa where with open eyes we see one sun and one moon, according to the Jaina view, there are two of each, one following the other at an angle of 180. The scientific argument that is advanced is that in the course of 24 hours, the sun can complete not more than half its circle round Mount Meru. But when it is day over the northern sphere, there is also day in the southern sphere ; correspondingly there is night both in the eastern and the western spheres. This duplication is not restricted to the princes alone, it extends to the entire retinue of star-gods, given of Jambu-dvipa alone 56 nakșatras, 176 planets and 133950 prakirņa tārās over it. The Lavana-samudra has four moons and four suns and other star-gods correspondingly double. The process continues as one moves to further islands and seas, excepting that Dhataki-khanda has 12 suns and 12 moons, Kalodadhi 42 each and Puskara-dvipa 72 each. In the sphere in which the celestial bodies can move, well, over islands, they move round Mount Meru ; but in the case of the seas, they lack any such central point.