________________
IIO
CHAPTER THREE
yojanas high. The second is sixty-three thousand yojanas high, its ground composed of gold, crystal, anka, and silver. The third part is thirty-six thousand yojanas and is composed of slabs of gold.246 Its gleaming peak is made of cat's-eye. Its height is forty yojanas, its diameter at the base is twelve yojanas, eight at the middle, and four at the top.
At the base of Meru is a grove Bhadraśāla resembling a surrounding wall. At five hundred yojanas from Bhadraśāla, on a terrace is Nandana, five hundred yojanas wide. At sixty-two thousand five hundred yojanas (above), on the second terrace is the grove Saumanasa, the same size. At thirty-six thousand yojanas above the grove Saumanasa is Sundara on the third terrace. On the peak of Meru is the garden Pāņďaka in the shape of a circle, four hundred and ninety-four yojanas wide.
Jambūdvīpa (566–618) Now, there are seven zones here in Jambūdvipa: Bhārata, Haimavata, Harivarşa, Videha, Ramyaka, Hairanyavata, and Airavata, from south to north. Dividing these are mountain-ranges bounding the zones : Himavat, Mahāhimavat, Nişadha, Nila, Rukmin, and Sikharin with equal diameter at the base and top. Of these, the Himavat Mts., buried in the ground twenty-five yojanas, made of gold, are one hundred yojanas high. The Mahāhimavat Mts. are twice that size, made of silver. Then, the Nişadha Mts., twice their size, made of gold; Nila Mts., the same size as Nişadha, made of cat's-eye; Rukmin Mts., the same size as Mahāhimavat, made of silver ; Sikharin Mts., the same size as the Himavat Mts., made of gold. A11 abound in various jewels on their slopes.
On Kșudrahimavat (=Himavat) is a large lake named Padma, one thousand yojanas long and half as
244 557. These three parts and the divisions in the three worlds are not the same. The Middle World is 900 yojanas below and above the earth's surface.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
