Suns and moons
132 suns and 132 moons circle Mount Meru inside the human world. Beyond Mānuṣottara they hang still.
They are counted ring by ring and the numbers are exact: 2 above Jambūdvīpa, 4 above the salt ocean, 12 above Dhātakīkhaṇḍa, 42 above Kālodadhi, 72 above Puṣkarārdha. That comes to 132 of each.
Two suns over Jambūdvīpa means each takes a half circuit, and the two of them together produce one day and one night. There is no single sun rising and setting over a spinning ball here — there are two lamps circling a mountain.
Each moon travels with a fixed retinue: 28 nakṣatras, 88 grahas and 66,975 crore stars. The gods who are these bodies are the Jyotiṣka, the lowest and most visible class of celestial beings.
Past Mānuṣottara the whole apparatus stops. The lights are still there, but stationary, so there is no day, no month and no year in that space.
Measurements and counts
| Suns | 132 |
|---|---|
| Moons | 132 |
| Over Jambūdvīpa | 2 and 2 |
| Over Lavaṇa | 4 and 4 |
| Over Dhātakīkhaṇḍa | 12 and 12 |
| Over Kālodadhi | 42 and 42 |
| Over Puṣkarārdha | 72 and 72 |
| Per moon | 28 nakṣatras, 88 grahas |