________________
will be reborn just once as humans, since human existence is the only one through which one may attain liberation.
Jains believe that rebirth is dependent on the merit and demerit acquired in previous lives, and on the maturing of attached karma to the soul. Humans and five-sensed animals have the possibility of attaining heavenly life in the upper world. The celestials and the infernals are not reborn as celestials. Ascetics, whether Jains or not, who venerate spiritual teachers and their doctrine, wear the insignia of their religion, repeat and teach the scriptures to the laity, and who observe Right Conduct (but do not have Right Faith) can be reborn up to the ninth heaven.
The Middle World The middle world is the region from where the soul can attain liberation. Jain cosmology pictures the middle world as a flat, elliptical disk, one rajju wide and 100,000 yojanas high. It is made up of concentric rings of 'continents' and 'oceans' as diagrammatically shown in figure 3.2. In the centre of the middle world is the Jambu continent with a diameter of a hundred thousand yojanas. A salty ocean (lavana-samudra) of twice the area of the Jambu continent surrounds it. Lavana-samudra contains four vast recepticles (paataala), at the four cardinal points, which function to produce tides along with velamdhara mountains (found in the salty ocean) to regulate the sea. Paataalas are the abode of the kaala and mahaakaala groups of divinities. This ocean is itself surrounded by the dhaataki continent, around which lies the ocean of kaalodadhi samudra and the pushkarvar continent. A range of mountains called manusottar divides this continent. Human beings and animals inhabit jambudvipa, dhaataki and half of the pushkarvar continent. These two and a half continents mentioned in Jain geography are 4.5 million yojanas in diameter. There are more continents and ocean surrounding one another, represented in Jain cosmology as concentric circles, the last one being an ocean of immense size called svayambhuraman.
The eighth concentric ring is the continent of nandisvaradvipa, where, fifty-two eternal Jina temples are situated as shown in figure 4.11, celestials go to worship the jinas at the time of the kalyanakas of the jinas, auspicious events in the lives of the jinas, and atthai mahotsava, an eight-day celebration of rituals and pujaas. The nandhyavarta diagram, an elaborate swastika design, formed from rice grains by most Jains during temple worship, reflects veneration of those holy places. Rare accomplished humans may travel as far as nandisvaradvipa. Occasionally, humans can be found beyond the two and a half continents if celestials take them there, but no human being can experience birth or death beyond these continents.
The Jambu continent is the region we inhabitat. In its centre is Mount Meru, 100,000 yojanas high (1,000 yojanas below the earth and 99,000 yojanas above the earth). Its base-diameter is 100,000 yojanas, which reduces to 1,000 yojanas at its peak. The surface is divided into four terraces at different heights, each terrace having a lush and environmentally pleasing forest, parks full of flowers, trees, forests, palaces and temples and are named after the forest of prosperous trees' (bhadrasal van): 'pleasing' (nandan van), 'flowery' (somanas
201
