जै · The Jain Encyclopedia
The mountain past humanity

Mānuṣottara

मानुषोत्तर

A single unbroken ring-mountain drawn around the middle of Puṣkaravara. Its name says exactly what it does: beyond-humans.

It is 1,721 yojana high and shaped like a lion seated — sheer on the far side, sloping on the near side. It has no pass and no gate.

The rule it enforces is absolute: no human is born beyond it and no human dies beyond it. Even a god carrying a person across would find that person could not be reborn there. Charanas and vidyādharas with the power of flight stop here.

It is also where the sky changes. Inside the ring, suns and moons move, and their movement is what makes days, months, seasons and years. Outside it, the celestial bodies are fixed in place and shine without moving. Nothing measures time out there because nothing turns.

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 — Mānuṣottara highlighted

Measurements and counts

Height1,721 yojana
Width at base1,022 yojana
Width at top424 yojana
Shapea seated lion
Radius from centre22,50,000 yojana
Passes through itnone

Connected

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समयं गोयम! मा पमायए

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

Uttarādhyayana Sūtra 10