Candra · the two moons
The moon rides eighty yojana above the sun, moves slower than everything beneath it, and is not a lesser light but the Indra of the whole shining court.
Each moon is a king: its family is one sun, 88 planets, 28 constellations and 66,975 koṭākoṭi stars. In this sky the sun works for the moon.
It travels its own 15 lanes, and it is the slowest mover in the heavens — slower than the sun below it. So the sun gains on it, laps it, and that slow falling-behind is the month: the moon's shapes are not shadow but Rāhu, a dark vimāna sliding across its face, in the account the commentaries give.
Like the sun it is a crystal vimāna carried by 16,000 gods; its light is cool where the sun's is hot, and both shine without burning anything, because the shining is the nature of the gods inside.
Measurements and counts
| Over Jambūdvīpa | 2 |
|---|---|
| Height | 880 yojana — above the sun |
| Lanes | 15 |
| Pace | the slowest of the five classes |
| Family | 1 sun · 88 planets · 28 nakṣatras · 66,975 koṭākoṭi stars |
| Bearers | 16,000 |
| In the human world | 132 |