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CHAPTER THREE
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that down below a hellish ground dense ocean etc. lie arranged in the order in question?. The further down a hellish ground is situated the less thick it is—that is, the lesser distance separates its top level from its bottom level. Thus the thickness of the first hellish ground is 180,000 yojanas, that of the second 132,000 yojanas, that of the third 128,000 yojanas, that of the fourth 120,000 yojanas, that of the fifth 118,000 yojanas, that of the sixth 116,000 yojanas, that of the seventh 108,000 yojanas. The seven rings of ocean that are situated below the seven hellish grounds are all equal in thickness—that is, they are all 20,000 yojanas thick. On the other hand, the seven rings of dense air and the seven of rarefied air that are thus situated are each asankhyāta yojanas thick but they are not mutually equivalent; for the number asankhyāta measuring the thickness of the rings of dense air and rarefied air situated below the second ground is
1. In the Bhagvatīsūtra the nature of the elemental arrangement pertaining to loka has been very clearly described as follows:
“The support of all the living beings—whether mobile or static-is earth, the support of the earth is ocean, the support of the ocean is air, the support of the air is ākāśa. But how can the ocean stand supported by air and the earth supported by ocean? The question is to be answered thus. Let a leather-bag be filled with air and thus expanded in size. Let the mouth of this bag be tightly tied with a leather ribbon; let the 'middle part of this bag be similarly tied. As a result of this the air filling the bag will be divided into two parts and the bag will look like a dugdugi. (a small musical instrument). Next, let the mouth of the bag be opened and air expelled from its upper part; then let this upper part be filled with water and the mouth of the bag be tied once more. Lastly, let the tie occurring at the middle part of the bag be loosened aside. Now it will be found that the water filled in the upper part of the bag remains fixed in that very part that is, it stays in the part situated above that carrying air, in other words, it stays above air without ever reaching a point situated below it. This will happen because the water situated in the upper part of the bag stands supported by the air situated in its lower part. That is to say, just as in the leather bag the water stays in the upper part it being supported by air similarly earth etc. stand supported by air." Sataka 1, Uddeśaka 6.
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