Ghanavāta
Dense wind: the second of the three envelopes on which every earth rests and which wrap the whole lower world.
Tattvārtha 3.1 says the seven earths rest on dense water, dense wind, thin wind and space — ghanāmbu, vāta, ākāśa. This is the second of those, a wind so thick it bears the water above it.
Round the outside of the lower world the three envelopes run together as one wall, each 20,000 yojana thick, from the base of the universe up to one rajju of height. Beside the seventh earth, at the flanks, this one thins to 5 yojana.
How deep it lies beneath each earth the texts do not number. It is asaṃkhyāta, innumerable, and so are the gaps between the earths that the three of them fill. That is why this atlas draws the earths at equal height with break marks between them rather than pretending to a proportion. Outside this lies the thin wind.
Measurements and counts
| Of | dense wind |
|---|---|
| Wall thickness | 20,000 yojana |
| At the flanks of the seventh earth | 5 yojana |
| Beneath each earth | asaṃkhyāta |
| Order | second of three, then thin wind, then space |