Ūrdhva Loka
The heavens: tiers of celestial abodes stacked from just above Mount Meru's summit to the roof of the universe.
Gods are not liberated. They are souls enjoying an extremely long, extremely pleasant birth, and when the merit runs out they fall back into the cycle like anyone else. Height in the heavens tracks detachment, not power.
The lowest tier are the twelve kalpa heavens, where rank, hierarchy and an Indra still exist: Saudharma, Īśāna, Sanatkumāra, Māhendra, Brahmaloka, Lāntaka, Mahāśukra, Sahasrāra, Ānata, Prāṇata, Āraṇa, Acyuta. Digambara texts split four of these into pairs and so count sixteen; see twelve or sixteen.
Above the kalpas, hierarchy stops. The nine Graiveyaka abodes sit at the throat of the cosmic figure, and above them the five Anuttara, the highest of which, Sarvārthasiddhi, is one birth from liberation. Digambara texts insert nine Anudiśa between the two; this map follows the Śvetāmbara reckoning and does not.
Above everything is Siddhaśilā, which is not a heaven at all.
Measurements and counts
| Kalpa heavens | 12 |
|---|---|
| Vaimānika Indras | 10 |
| Graiveyaka abodes | 9 |
| Anuttara | 5 |
| Tiers in all | 26 |
| Vimānas in all | 84,97,023 |
| Digambara count | 16 kalpas, plus 9 Anudiśa |
| Highest | Sarvārthasiddhi |