जै · The Jain Encyclopedia
Glossary · 142 terms

Every Sanskrit word, once

Every term the encyclopedia uses, with a one-line meaning and the entry it lives in — so each word leads to a map.

The atlas is written in a Sanskrit and Prakrit vocabulary that no reader is expected to arrive with. This page lists every term once, glosses it in a line, and points to the entry that owns it, which is where the full account and the map are. Spellings follow the IAST transliteration used throughout.

Distances are in pramāṇa yojana and are never converted; where the two traditions differ the Śvetāmbara figure is used and the other marked.

A

Abhiṣeka śilā अभिषेक शिला
The consecration slabs on Meru's summit where a newborn Tīrthaṅkara is bathed. lives in → The four abhiṣeka śilās
Aḍhāī-dvīpa अढ़ाईद्वीप
The two and a half continents: the whole of the world where humans are born. lives in → Aḍhāī-dvīpa
Adholoka अधोलोक
The lower world: the seven hells and the homes of the lower gods. lives in → Adho Loka
Āgama आगम
The scriptures, what has come down: forty-five texts for the Mūrtipūjaka, thirty-two for the Sthānakavāsī. lives in → The Canon
Aghātiyā अघातिया
The four karmas that do not harm the soul, only house it; their end is mokṣa. lives in → Aghātiyā
Airāvaṇa ऐरावण
The god who becomes Śakra's elephant, and whose form is the tally of the heavens. lives in → Airāvaṇa
Airāvat ऐरावत
The northernmost region, Bharat's mirror. lives in → Airāvat Kṣetra
Aloka अलोक
The non-universe: empty space beyond the loka, where nothing can be. lives in → Loka
Ananta अनन्त
The infinite; the atlas draws its nine ranks on a ladder. lives in → Ananta
Anantakāya अनन्तकाय
A plant body of infinite souls — onion, root, bulb, moss — which a Jain layperson does not eat. lives in → Bādara nigoda
Aṅga अङ्ग
A limb of the canon: twelve, shaped by the gaṇadharas, eleven surviving. lives in → The twelve aṅgas
Antardvīpa अन्तर्द्वीप
The fifty-six islands in the salt sea off Himavān and Śikharī. lives in → Antardvīpas
Antarmuhūrta अन्तर्मुहूर्त
Any span longer than an instant and shorter than a muhūrta. lives in → Antarmuhūrta
Anudiśa अनुदिश
Nine heavens counted only by Digambara texts; this atlas notes them and does not draw them. lives in → The nine Anudiśa
Anuttara अनुत्तर
The five highest heavens; a god born there is liberated in one more human life. lives in → The five Anuttara
Ārā आरा
A spoke of the wheel: one of the six ages of a half-cycle. lives in → Kāla Cakra
Ārya khaṇḍa आर्य खण्ड
The one of Bharat's six divisions where the Tīrthaṅkaras are born. lives in → Ārya Khaṇḍa
Asaṃkhyāta असंख्यात
The innumerable: beyond counting, but finite; the space-points of the loka fall here. lives in → Asaṃkhyāta
Aṣṭāhnika अष्टाह्निका
The eight days, three times a year, when the gods worship at Nandīśvara. lives in → Aṣṭāhnika
Aṣṭāpada अष्टापद
The eight-stepped mountain where Ṛṣabha reached mokṣa and Bharata built the temple of the twenty-four. lives in → Aṣṭāpada
Āvalikā आवलिका
The smallest measurable unit of time: innumerable samayas, about a six-thousandth of a second. lives in → Āvalikā
Avasarpiṇī अवसर्पिणी
The descending half of the wheel, in which everything worsens; we are in its fifth spoke. lives in → Avasarpiṇī
Avyavahāra-rāśi अव्यवहार राशि
The heap of souls that have never once left nigoda; one leaves it for every soul liberated. lives in → The two heaps

B

Baladeva · Vāsudeva · Prativāsudeva बलदेव · वासुदेव · प्रतिवासुदेव
The nine triads of a half-cycle: the gentle brother, the warrior brother, and the adversary he kills. lives in → The nine Baladevas
Bāvan Jinālaya बावन जिनालय
A temple of fifty-two shrines: Nandīśvara's count, built on earth. lives in → Bāvan Jinālaya
Bharat Kṣetra भरत क्षेत्र
The southernmost region of Jambūdvīpa, and the one we live in. lives in → Bharat Kṣetra
Bhavanavāsī भवनवासी
The mansion-dwelling gods of the lower world, ten kinds. lives in → Bhavanavāsī and Vyantara
Bhogabhūmi भोगभूमि
A land of enjoyment: wishing-trees supply everything, nobody works, nobody is liberated. lives in → Bhogabhūmi

C

Caitya चैत्य
A shrine, or a sacred tree; Mahāvīra preached at the Pūrṇabhadra caitya outside Campā. lives in → Pūrṇabhadra Caitya
Caitya-vṛkṣa चैत्यवृक्ष
The tree above the throne in a samavasaraṇa, twelve times the Tīrthaṅkara's height. lives in → Caitya-vṛkṣa
Cakravartī चक्रवर्ती
A universal emperor, who conquers all six divisions of Bharat with the fourteen ratnas. lives in → Cakravartī
Caubīsī चौबीसी
A set of twenty-four Tīrthaṅkaras: past, present and future. lives in → Caubīsī
Chedasūtra छेदसूत्र
A text of monastic discipline; six, the Kalpasūtra among them. lives in → The 6 chedasūtras
Cūlikā चूलिका
The crest of Meru, forty yojana above the summit forest. lives in → Cūlikā

D

Deva देव
A god: four orders, Bhavanavāsī, Vyantara, Jyotiṣka and Vaimānika. lives in → Bhavanavāsī and Vyantara
Devakuru देवकुरु
The best land of enjoyment, south of Meru; Uttarakuru is its northern twin. lives in → Devakuru
Dhātakīkhaṇḍa धातकीखण्ड
The second continent, with two Merus. lives in → Dhātakīkhaṇḍa
Digvijaya दिग्विजय
The conquest of the directions: the emperor's march round the six divisions. lives in → The digvijaya
Draha द्रह
A summit lake on a boundary range; the great rivers rise from the six. lives in → The six lakes
Dṛṣṭivāda दृष्टिवाद
The twelfth aṅga, lost, which held the fourteen pūrvas. lives in → Dṛṣṭivāda
Duḥṣamā दुःषमा
Sorrow: the name of the hard ages; ours is the fifth spoke, duḥṣamā. lives in → Duḥṣamā
Dvīpa द्वीप
A continent: a ring of land between two ring-oceans, each twice the width of the last. lives in → Madhya Loka

G

Gajadanta गजदन्त
The four elephant-tusk mountains that curve out from Meru to enclose the kurus. lives in → The four Gajadanta
Gaṇa · kula · śākhā गण · कुल · शाखा
The branches of the monastic order: a gaṇa opens into śākhās and kulas. lives in → Gaṇa, kula, śākhā
Gaṇadhara गणधर
A chief disciple of a Tīrthaṅkara, who shapes his teaching into the aṅgas; Mahāvīra had eleven. lives in → The eleven gaṇadharas
Ghātiyā घातिया
The four karmas that harm the soul's own qualities; their end is omniscience. lives in → Ghātiyā
Graiveyaka ग्रैवेयक
The nine heavens at the neck of the cosmic figure, above the kalpas. lives in → The nine Graiveyaka
Guṇasthāna गुणस्थान
A stage of the soul's ascent: fourteen, from wrong belief to the motionless omniscient. lives in → The fourteen guṇasthānas

I

Indra इन्द्र
The ruler of a heaven or an order of gods; sixty-four in the Śvetāmbara count. lives in → The Śvetāmbara reckoning

J

Jagatī जगती
The rim wall round Jambūdvīpa, eight yojana high. lives in → Jagatī
Jambūdvīpa जम्बूद्वीप
The innermost continent, a disc a lakh yojana across with Meru at its centre. lives in → Jambūdvīpa
Jina जिन
The conqueror — of the passions; the name from which Jain comes. lives in → Tīrthaṅkara
Jīva जीव
A soul, a living being; the Jīva-vicāra counts 563 kinds. lives in → The 563 kinds
Jyotiṣka ज्योतिष्क
The shining gods: suns, moons, planets, constellations and stars, circling Meru. lives in → The Jyotiṣka

K

Kalā कला
An art: seventy-two Ṛṣabha taught to Bharata, sixty-four of women. lives in → The seventy-two arts
Kālacakra काल चक्र
The wheel of time: twelve spokes, six descending and six ascending, turning without end. lives in → Kāla Cakra
Kālodadhi कालोदधि
The black-water ocean, the second ring-sea. lives in → Kālodadhi
Kalpa कल्प
One of the twelve lower heavens, ruled by Indras; above them the kalpātīta, without rulers. lives in → Ūrdhva Loka
Kalpasūtra कल्पसूत्र
The text read every Paryuṣaṇa: the lives of the Jinas, the elders, and the monks' rules. lives in → The Sthavirāvalī
Kalpavṛkṣa कल्पवृक्ष
A wishing-tree: ten kinds supply everything in the lands of enjoyment and the first ages. lives in → The Wishing-Trees
Karma कर्म
Matter that clings to the soul and shapes its rebirths; eight kinds. lives in → Karma
Karmabhūmi कर्मभूमि
A land of action: where people work, and where liberation is possible. lives in → Karmabhūmi
Kāyotsarga कायोत्सर्ग
The standing meditation posture, arms hanging free of the body. lives in → Kāyotsarga
Kevalajñāna केवलज्ञान
Omniscience: knowledge of everything at once, reached at the thirteenth stage. lives in → 13 · Sayoga-kevalī
Kevalī केवली
One who has kevalajñāna, omniscience; Jambū was the last of this half-cycle. lives in → Jambū Svāmī
Kṣetra क्षेत्र
A region of a continent: Jambūdvīpa has seven, banded between six mountain ranges. lives in → Bharat Kṣetra
Kṣullaka-bhava क्षुल्लक भव
The shortest possible life: 256 āvalikā, seventeen and a fraction in a breath. lives in → Kṣullaka bhava
Kulācala कुलाचल
The six boundary ranges that band Jambūdvīpa into seven regions. lives in → The six Kulācala
Kulakara कुलकर
A patriarch of the third age, who kept order as the wishing-trees failed; seven in the Śvetāmbara count. lives in → The seven kulakaras

L

Lāñchana लांछन
The emblem carved beneath a Tīrthaṅkara's image, by which it is known. lives in → Lāñchana
Lavaṇa Samudra लवण समुद्र
The salt sea round Jambūdvīpa, with a wall of water standing at its middle. lives in → Lavaṇa Samudra
Loka लोक
The universe: everything that exists, shaped like a standing figure, fourteen rajju tall. lives in → Loka

M

Madhyaloka मध्यलोक
The middle world: the disc of continents and oceans where humans live. lives in → Madhya Loka
Mahāvideha महाविदेह
The central region, where Tīrthaṅkaras are always alive and liberation is always possible. lives in → Mahāvideha Kṣetra
Mānuṣottara मानुषोत्तर
The ring-mountain past which no human is born or dies. lives in → Mānuṣottara
Meru मेरु
The axis mountain at the centre of Jambūdvīpa, a lakh yojana tall. lives in → Mount Meru
Mleccha khaṇḍa म्लेच्छ खण्ड
The five outer divisions of Bharat, beyond the Gaṅgā, the Sindhu and Vaitāḍhya. lives in → The five Mleccha Khaṇḍas
Mohanīya मोहनीय
The deluding karma, the longest-lived and the hardest to end. lives in → Mohanīya
Mokṣa मोक्ष
Liberation: the soul's release from karma and rebirth. lives in → Mokṣa
Muhūrta मुहूर्त
Forty-eight minutes; thirty to a day and night. lives in → Muhūrta
Mūlasūtra मूलसूत्र
A root text, the first a new monk learns; four. lives in → The 4 mūlasūtras

N

Nakṣatra नक्षत्र
A constellation: twenty-eight to each moon. lives in → The nakṣatras
Nandīśvara-dvīpa नन्दीश्वर द्वीप
The eighth continent, where the gods keep fifty-two eternal shrines. lives in → Nandīśvara-dvīpa
Naraka नरक
A hell: seven earths below the middle world, each darker and colder than the last. lives in → Adho Loka
Nidhi निधि
One of the emperor's nine inexhaustible treasures. lives in → The nine nidhis
Nigoda निगोद
The lowest form of life: a body too small to see in which infinite souls are born and die together. lives in → Nigoda

P

Palyopama पल्योपम
A span measured by analogy: the time to empty a pit of hairs one hair a century. lives in → Palyopama
Paramāṇu परमाणु
The indivisible atom of matter. lives in → Paramāṇu
Pātāla-kalaśa पाताल कलश
The four great vessels under the salt sea whose breathing makes the tide. lives in → The four Pātāla-vessels
Pradeśa प्रदेश
One point of space: the room one indivisible atom takes up. lives in → Pradeśa
Prakīrṇaka प्रकीर्णक
A miscellany: ten short texts the Sthānakavāsī leave aside. lives in → The 10 prakīrṇakas
Prāṇa प्राण
One breath, as a unit of time. lives in → Prāṇa
Prātihārya प्रातिहार्य
The eight attendant wonders wherever a Jina preaches: tree, throne, umbrellas, halo, drum, fly-whisks, flowers, sound. lives in → The eight prātihārya
Pudgala-parāvarta पुद्गल परावर्त
The largest span of all: the time for a soul to take up and shed every particle of matter in the universe. lives in → Pudgala parāvarta
Pūrva पूर्व
As a unit: 84 lakh × 84 lakh years. As a book: one of the fourteen lost texts inside the Dṛṣṭivāda. lives in → Pūrva also The fourteen pūrvas
Puṣkarārdha पुष्करार्ध
The inner half of the third continent, the last where humans live. lives in → Puṣkarārdha

R

Rāhu राहु
The dark vimāna that travels beneath the moon and eclipses it. lives in → Rāhu
Rajju रज्जु
The cosmic unit of distance; the loka is fourteen rajju tall and its volume is reckoned in cubic rajju. lives in → The rajju
Ratna रत्न
One of the emperor's fourteen treasures, seven living and seven not. lives in → The fourteen ratnas
Ratnaprabhā रत्नप्रभा
The first hell-earth, in whose upper layer the middle world and the lower gods also sit. lives in → Ratnaprabhā

S

Sāgaropama सागरोपम
Ten crore-crore palyopama; the unit the ages of the wheel are measured in. lives in → Sāgaropama
Śalākā शलाका
The four pits of counting-sticks by which the greatest numerable number is defined. lives in → The four śalākā pits
Śalākāpuruṣa शलाकापुरुष
The sixty-three illustrious persons of a half-cycle: 24 Tīrthaṅkaras, 12 Cakravartins, 9 triads. lives in → The sixty-three
Samavasaraṇa समवसरण
The assembly the gods build wherever a Tīrthaṅkara preaches: three ramparts, four gates, twelve companies. lives in → Samavasaraṇa
Samaya समय
The indivisible instant, the smallest unit of time. lives in → Samaya
Saṃkhyāta संख्यात
The numerable: any number that could in principle be counted. lives in → Saṃkhyāta
Samudghāta समुद्घात
The omniscient's expansion of the soul through the whole loka in eight samayas, to even its karma. lives in → Kevalī samudghāta
Samudra समुद्र
An ocean: the ring of water round each continent, each with its own taste. lives in → Lavaṇa Samudra
Samyagdṛṣṭi सम्यग्दृष्टि
Right belief: the fourth stage, from which the soul's release is certain. lives in → 4 · Avirata-samyagdṛṣṭi
Sarvārthasiddhi सर्वार्थसिद्धि
The topmost vimāna of all, twelve yojana below Siddhaśilā. lives in → Sarvārthasiddhi
Saudharma सौधर्म
The first heaven, whose Indra, Śakra, attends every Tīrthaṅkara's birth. lives in → Saudharma
Siddha सिद्ध
A liberated soul: freed of all karma, resting at the crown of the loka for ever. lives in → Siddhaśilā
Siddhaśilā सिद्धशिला
The crescent at the crown of the universe where liberated souls rest. lives in → Siddhaśilā
Siṃhaniṣadyā सिंहनिषद्या
The hall on Aṣṭāpada's summit with the twenty-four images in their own sizes and colours. lives in → Siṃhaniṣadyā
Śīrṣaprahelikā शीर्षप्रहेलिका
The largest countable span of years, a number of 194 digits. lives in → Śīrṣaprahelikā
Śreṇī श्रेणी
The ladder from the eighth stage: suppressing delusion and falling, or destroying it and rising. lives in → Kṣapaka-śreṇī
Śrutakevalī श्रुतकेवली
One who holds the whole scripture, all fourteen pūrvas; Bhadrabāhu was the last. lives in → Bhadrabāhu
Sthavira स्थविर
An elder of the order; the Sthavirāvalī is the Kalpasūtra's list of them in succession. lives in → The Sthavirāvalī
Stūpa स्तूप
A memorial mound; a hundred stand on Aṣṭāpada for Ṛṣabha's sons and monks. lives in → The pyres and the stūpas
Suṣamā सुषमा
Happiness: the name of the good ages; the first spoke is suṣamā-suṣamā, the best of all. lives in → Suṣamā
Svayambhūramaṇa स्वयम्भूरमण
The last continent and the last ocean, at the edge of the middle world. lives in → Svayambhūramaṇa
Śvetāmbara · Digambara श्वेताम्बर · दिगम्बर
The two traditions; where their figures differ, this atlas follows the Śvetāmbara and marks the other. lives in → The Śvetāmbara reckoning

T

Tīrtha तीर्थ
A ford: a sacred crossing-place, and, by extension, the fourfold order the Tīrthaṅkara founds. lives in → Māgadha-tīrtha
Tīrthaṅkara तीर्थङ्कर
A ford-maker: one who reaches omniscience and founds the fourfold order anew; twenty-four in each half-cycle. lives in → Tīrthaṅkara
Trasa-nāḍī त्रसनाडी
The mobile channel: the one-rajju column through the loka where beings with two or more senses can live. lives in → Trasa-nāḍī

U

Upāṅga उपाङ्ग
A secondary limb of the canon, twelve in all; the cosmological texts this atlas draws from are among them. lives in → The 12 upāṅgas
Ūrdhvaloka ऊर्ध्वलोक
The upper world: the heavens, tier on tier, up to Siddhaśilā. lives in → Ūrdhva Loka
Utsarpiṇī उत्सर्पिणी
The ascending half of the wheel, in which everything improves again. lives in → Utsarpiṇī

V

Vācanā वाचना
A council at which the canon was recited and settled: Pāṭaliputra, Mathurā and Valabhī, Valabhī. lives in → The three councils
Vaimānika वैमानिक
The gods of the upper world, who live in vimānas. lives in → Ūrdhva Loka
Vaitāḍhya वैताढ्य
The silver range across the middle of Bharat, home of the vidyādharas. lives in → Vaitāḍhya
Vakṣaskāra वक्षस्कार
The dividing ranges that split Mahāvideha into its thirty-two provinces. lives in → Vakṣaskāra mountains
Vana वन
A forest terrace of Meru; there are four, from the ground to the summit. lives in → Bhadraśāla Vana
Velandhara वेलन्धर
The gods who hold back the salt sea's wall of water. lives in → The Velandhara
Vidyādhara विद्याधर
The people of Vaitāḍhya's terraces, who hold the vidyās, the powers of flight and form. lives in → Vidyādharas
Vigrahagati विग्रहगति
The soul's passage between one body and the next, at most four samayas. lives in → Vigrahagati
Viharamāna विहरमान
A living Tīrthaṅkara: twenty preach in Mahāvideha now. lives in → The 20 Vihārmān Jinas
Vijaya विजय
A province of Mahāvideha, one of thirty-two, each with its own Tīrthaṅkara in turn. lives in → The 32 Vijayas
Vimāna विमान
A flying palace of the gods; the heavens are counted in them. lives in → Vimānas
Vinītā विनीता
Ayodhyā: the city Śakra built for Ṛṣabha, and Bharata's capital. lives in → Vinītā
Vyantara व्यन्तर
The wandering gods of the middle world, sixteen kinds in the Śvetāmbara count. lives in → Bhavanavāsī and Vyantara

Y

Yojana योजन
The unit of distance in the middle world; the cosmological yojana is never converted into any modern unit. lives in → The yojana

समयं गोयम! मा पमायए

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

Uttarādhyayana Sūtra 10