जै · The Jain Encyclopedia
Lands of action

Karmabhūmi

कर्मभूमि

The 170 regions where work is necessary, religion exists, and liberation is possible.

Five Bharats, five Airāvats and 160 vijayas. Nowhere else in the universe can a soul end its rebirths.

The defining feature is not comfort but effort. In a land of action food must be grown, disputes must be settled, and a person can choose to renounce. Because choice exists, karma can be shed. In a land of enjoyment everything is provided and nothing can be renounced, so nothing changes.

170 is therefore the maximum number of Tīrthaṅkaras that can exist at one moment in the entire universe — one per land of action.

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 — Karmabhūmi highlighted

Measurements and counts

Total170
Bharats5
Airāvats5
Vijayas160
Maximum Tīrthaṅkaras at once170

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समयं गोयम! मा पमायए

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

Uttarādhyayana Sūtra 10