Jainism · Acharya Umaswati
The one text accepted by Digambara and Svetambara Jains alike: the whole Jain path in short Sanskrit sutras.
सम्यग्दर्शनज्ञानचारित्राणि मोक्षमार्गः
Awaiting review by a scholar of this tradition. Original texts are public domain; the plain meanings and notes are written by IndiaDigital and are being checked. We describe what each tradition teaches, in its own terms, and never rank faiths. Report a correction
This chapter gives the Jain picture of the lower and middle parts of the universe (loka). Below lie seven hellish earths, where, in Jain teaching, beings experience the results of their karma, the subtle matter bound to the soul by its actions. In the middle world, Jambudvipa, with Mount Meru at its centre, is ringed by oceans and continents, and humans live only inside the Manushottara mountain. It also describes the rising and falling cycles of time in Bharata and Airavata; the Svetambara recension has a much shorter version of this chapter.
रत्नशर्कराबालुकापंकधूमतमोमहातमःप्रभा भूमयो घनाम्बुवाताकाशप्रतिष्ठाः सप्ताधोऽधः
ratnaśarkarābālukāpaṃkadhūmatamomahātamaḥprabhā bhūmayo ghanāmbuvātākāśapratiṣṭhāḥ saptādho'dhaḥ
Below lie seven earths, one beneath another: Ratnaprabha, Sharkaraprabha, Balukaprabha, Pankaprabha, Dhumaprabha, Tamahprabha and Mahatamahprabha, resting on layers of dense water, air and space.
तासु त्रिंशत्पंचविंशतिपंचदशदशत्रिपंचोनैकनरकशतसहस्राणि पंच चैव यथाक्रमम्
tāsu triṃśatpaṃcaviṃśatipaṃcadaśadaśatripaṃconaikanarakaśatasahasrāṇi paṃca caiva yathākramam
In them are, in order, three million, two and a half million, one and a half million, one million, three hundred thousand, one hundred thousand less five, and just five hellish dwellings.
नारका नित्याशुभतरलेश्यापरिणामदेहवेदनाविक्रियाः
nārakā nityāśubhataraleśyāpariṇāmadehavedanāvikriyāḥ
Hellish beings always have increasingly inauspicious leshyas, states, bodies, pains and transformations.
परस्परोदीरितदुःखाः
parasparodīritaduḥkhāḥ
They cause suffering to one another.
संक्लिष्टासुरोदीरितदुःखाश्च प्राक् चतुर्थ्याः
saṃkliṣṭāsurodīritaduḥkhāśca prāk caturthyāḥ
In the earths before the fourth, they are also tormented by malevolent asura gods.
तेष्वेकत्रिसप्तदशसप्तदशद्वाविंशतित्रयस्त्रिंशत्सागरोपमा सत्त्वानां परा स्थितिः
teṣvekatrisaptadaśasaptadaśadvāviṃśatitrayastriṃśatsāgaropamā sattvānāṃ parā sthitiḥ
In these earths the maximum lifespan of beings is one, three, seven, ten, seventeen, twenty-two and thirty-three sagaropamas (a vast measure of time).
जम्बूद्वीपलवणोदादयः शुभनामानो द्वीपसमुद्राः
jambūdvīpalavaṇodādayaḥ śubhanāmāno dvīpasamudrāḥ
In the middle world are continents and oceans with auspicious names, beginning with Jambudvipa and the Lavana (salt) Ocean.
द्विर्द्विर्विष्कम्भाः पूर्वपूर्वपरिक्षेपिणो वलयाकृतयः
dvirdvirviṣkambhāḥ pūrvapūrvaparikṣepiṇo valayākṛtayaḥ
Each is twice as wide as the one before, encircles it, and is shaped like a ring.
तन्मध्ये मेरुनाभिर्वृत्तो योजनशतसहस्रविष्कम्भो जम्बूद्वीपः
tanmadhye merunābhirvṛtto yojanaśatasahasraviṣkambho jambūdvīpaḥ
At their centre is Jambudvipa, round, one hundred thousand yojanas across, with Mount Meru as its navel.
भरतहैमवतहरिविदेहरम्यकहैरण्यवतैरावतवर्षाः क्षेत्राणि
bharatahaimavataharivideharamyakahairaṇyavatairāvatavarṣāḥ kṣetrāṇi
Its regions are Bharata, Haimavata, Hari, Videha, Ramyaka, Hairanyavata and Airavata.
तद्विभाजिनः पूर्वापरायता हिमवन्महाहिमवन्निषधनीलरुक्मिशिखरिणो वर्षधरपर्वताः
tadvibhājinaḥ pūrvāparāyatā himavanmahāhimavanniṣadhanīlarukmiśikhariṇo varṣadharaparvatāḥ
Dividing them, running east to west, are six boundary mountains: Himavat, Mahahimavat, Nishadha, Nila, Rukmi and Shikhari.
हेमार्जुनतपनीयवैडूर्यरजतहेममयाः
hemārjunatapanīyavaiḍūryarajatahemamayāḥ
They are made, in order, of gold, silver, burnished gold, beryl, silver and gold.
मणिविचित्रपार्श्वा उपरि मूले च तुल्यविस्ताराः
maṇivicitrapārśvā upari mūle ca tulyavistārāḥ
Their sides are studded with jewels, and they are equally wide at the top, the middle and the base.
पद्ममहापद्मतिगिञ्छकेसरिमहापुण्डरीकपुण्डरीका ह्रदास्तेषामुपरि
padmamahāpadmatigiñchakesarimahāpuṇḍarīkapuṇḍarīkā hradāsteṣāmupari
On top of them are the lakes Padma, Mahapadma, Tiginchha, Kesari, Mahapundarika and Pundarika.
प्रथमो योजनसहस्रायामस्तदर्धविष्कम्भो ह्रदः
prathamo yojanasahasrāyāmastadardhaviṣkambho hradaḥ
The first lake is a thousand yojanas long and half as wide.
दशयोजनावगाहः
daśayojanāvagāhaḥ
It is ten yojanas deep.
तन्मध्ये योजनं पुष्करम्
tanmadhye yojanaṃ puṣkaram
In its middle is a lotus one yojana across.
तद्द्विगुणद्विगुणा ह्रदाः पुष्कराणि च
taddviguṇadviguṇā hradāḥ puṣkarāṇi ca
The next lakes and their lotuses are each double in size.
तन्निवासिन्यो देव्यः श्रीह्रीधृतिकीर्तिबुद्धिलक्ष्म्यः पल्योपमस्थितयः ससामानिकपरिषत्काः
tannivāsinyo devyaḥ śrīhrīdhṛtikīrtibuddhilakṣmyaḥ palyopamasthitayaḥ sasāmānikapariṣatkāḥ
In them live the goddesses Shri, Hri, Dhriti, Kirti, Buddhi and Lakshmi, each living for one palyopama, with their attendant and council deities.
गंगासिन्धुरोहिद्रोहितास्याहरिद्धरिकान्तासीतासीतोदानारीनरकान्तासुवर्णरूप्यकूलारक्तारक्तोदाः सरितस्तन्मध्यगाः
gaṃgāsindhurohidrohitāsyāhariddharikāntāsītāsītodānārīnarakāntāsuvarṇarūpyakūlāraktāraktodāḥ saritastanmadhyagāḥ
Flowing through these regions are the rivers Ganga and Sindhu, Rohit and Rohitasya, Harit and Harikanta, Sita and Sitoda, Nari and Narakanta, Suvarnakula and Rupyakula, and Rakta and Raktoda.
द्वयोर्द्वयोः पूर्वाः पूर्वगाः
dvayordvayoḥ pūrvāḥ pūrvagāḥ
Of each pair, the first river flows east.
शेषास्त्वपरगाः
śeṣāstvaparagāḥ
The others flow west.
चतुर्दशनदीसहस्रपरिवृता गंगासिन्ध्वादयो नद्यः
caturdaśanadīsahasraparivṛtā gaṃgāsindhvādayo nadyaḥ
The Ganga, Sindhu and the other rivers are each joined by fourteen thousand tributaries.
भरतः षड्विंशतिपंचयोजनशतविस्तारः षट् चैकोनविंशतिभागा योजनस्य
bharataḥ ṣaḍviṃśatipaṃcayojanaśatavistāraḥ ṣaṭ caikonaviṃśatibhāgā yojanasya
Bharata is five hundred and twenty-six yojanas and six-nineteenths of a yojana wide.
तद्द्विगुणद्विगुणविस्तारा वर्षधरवर्षा विदेहान्ताः
taddviguṇadviguṇavistārā varṣadharavarṣā videhāntāḥ
The mountains and regions up to Videha are each double the width of the one before.
उत्तरा दक्षिणतुल्याः
uttarā dakṣiṇatulyāḥ
Those in the north match those in the south.
भरतैरावतयोर्वृद्धिह्रासौ षट्समयाभ्यामुत्सर्पिण्यवसर्पिणीभ्याम्
bharatairāvatayorvṛddhihrāsau ṣaṭsamayābhyāmutsarpiṇyavasarpiṇībhyām
In Bharata and Airavata there is rise and decline through the six periods of the ascending (utsarpini) and descending (avasarpini) half-cycles of time.
ताभ्यामपरा भूमयोऽवस्थिताः
tābhyāmaparā bhūmayo'vasthitāḥ
The other lands stay unchanged.
एकद्वित्रिपल्योपमस्थितयो हैमवतकहारिवर्षकदैवकुरवकाः
ekadvitripalyopamasthitayo haimavatakahārivarṣakadaivakuravakāḥ
The people of Haimavata, Harivarsha and Devakuru live for one, two and three palyopamas.
तथोत्तराः
tathottarāḥ
The same holds for the matching northern regions.
विदेहेषु संख्येयकालाः
videheṣu saṃkhyeyakālāḥ
In the Videha regions, lifespans are of countable years.
भरतस्य विष्कम्भो जम्बूद्वीपस्य नवतिशतभागः
bharatasya viṣkambho jambūdvīpasya navatiśatabhāgaḥ
The width of Bharata is one hundred-and-ninetieth of Jambudvipa.
द्विर्धातकीखण्डे
dvirdhātakīkhaṇḍe
In Dhatakikhanda the regions and mountains are doubled.
पुष्करार्धे च
puṣkarārdhe ca
And likewise in the inner half of Pushkaradvipa.
प्राङ्मानुषोत्तरान्मनुष्याः
prāṅmānuṣottarānmanuṣyāḥ
Humans live only on this side of the Manushottara mountain.
आर्या म्लेच्छाश्च
āryā mlecchāśca
Humans are of two kinds, called arya and mleccha in the text.
भरतैरावतविदेहाः कर्मभूमयोऽन्यत्र देवकुरूत्तरकुरुभ्यः
bharatairāvatavidehāḥ karmabhūmayo'nyatra devakurūttarakurubhyaḥ
Bharata, Airavata and Videha, apart from Devakuru and Uttarakuru, are lands of action (karmabhumi), where people live by work and liberation can be attained.
नृस्थिती परावरे त्रिपल्योपमान्तर्मुहूर्ते
nṛsthitī parāvare tripalyopamāntarmuhūrte
Human lifespan is at most three palyopamas and at least an antarmuhurta (less than forty-eight minutes).
तिर्यग्योनिजानां च
tiryagyonijānāṃ ca
The same is true of animals and other tiryanch beings.
Sanskrit sutras: Sanskrit Wikisource (public domain), with clear digitisation errors corrected and listed in our build notes. Meanings, summaries and Navkar text: IndiaDigital, awaiting review by Digambara and Svetambara scholars. Sutra counts follow the Digambara recension; Svetambara texts number some sutras differently.
Corrections from members of every tradition are welcome at support@indiadigital.org. Last checked: .