जै · The Jain Encyclopedia
Continent · the second ring

Dhātakīkhaṇḍa

धातकीखण्ड

A ring of land 4,00,000 yojana wide carrying two complete copies of Jambūdvīpa's geography, back to back.

Two straight mountain walls called Iṣvākāra run north and south across the ring like the spokes of a wheel, splitting it into an eastern and a western half. Each half is a full Jambūdvīpa: seven regions, six boundary mountains, six lakes, fourteen rivers, its own Meru.

The two Merus are named Vijaya in the east and Acala in the west. Both stand 84,000 yojana tall — shorter than the original.

Because the land is a ring rather than a disc, the regions cannot be parallel bands. They radiate outward like segments of an orange, narrow at the inner shore and wide at the outer.

It is named for the dhātakī tree that grows across it.

SudarśanaVijayaAcalaMandaraVidyunmālīJambūdvīpaLavaṇa SamudraDhātakīkhaṇḍaKālodadhiPuṣkarārdhaJambūdvīpa2 suns · 2 moonsLavaṇa Samudra4 suns · 4 moonsDhātakīkhaṇḍa12 suns · 12 moonsKālodadhi42 suns · 42 moonsPuṣkarārdha72 suns · 72 moonsMānuṣottarano human passes itEach ring is twice the width of the one before it,and every ring is counted on both sides:1 + 2+2 + 4+4 + 8+8 + 8+8 lakh yojana= 45,00,000 yojana across5 Merus · 170 lands of action132 suns · 132 moons · 56 islands22,50,000 yojana — half the human worldNuttaraEpūrvaSdakṣiṇaWpaścimareckoned from Meruyou are here
The two and a half continents — Dhātakīkhaṇḍa highlighted

Measurements and counts

Ring width4,00,000 yojana
Halves2, east and west
MerusVijaya (E), Acala (W)
Meru height84,000 yojana
Regions14
Boundary mountains12
Suns / moons12 / 12

Connected

Open in the interactive atlas →

समयं गोयम! मा पमायए

Do not be heedless, Gautama, for even a single samaya.

Uttarādhyayana Sūtra 10