जै · The Jain Encyclopedia
Hell 6 of 7

Tamaḥprabhā

तमःप्रभा

The darkness earth. Ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-five hells, and no light of any kind.

Only five short of a lakh. The arithmetic is deliberate: 30 + 25 + 15 + 10 + 3 lakh, then five less than a lakh, then five, and the total is exactly 84,00,000.

The leśyā, the karmic colouring of the soul, is black here. Leśyā darkens steadily from the first earth to the seventh.

Its proper name is Maghavī; Tamaḥprabhā is the descriptive one, naming what the earth is made of or looks like. It holds 3 storeys of hells stacked one below another.

1 Ratnaprabhā30,00,000 hells · 13 storeys1,80,000 yojana thickasaṃkhyāta yojana · not to scale2 Śarkarāprabhā25,00,000 hells · 11 storeys1,32,000 yojana thick3 Vālukāprabhā15,00,000 hells · 9 storeys1,28,000 yojana thick4 Paṅkaprabhā10,00,000 hells · 7 storeys1,20,000 yojana thick5 Dhūmaprabhā3,00,000 hells · 5 storeys1,18,000 yojana thick6 Tamaḥprabhā99,995 hells · 3 storeys1,16,000 yojana thick7 Mahātamaḥprabhā5 hells · 1 storeys1,08,000 yojana thickKhara · 16,000 · Vyantara above, Bhavanavāsī belowPaṅka · 84,000 · Asurakumāra and RākṣasaAb-bahula · 80,000 · the first hells, in 13 storeys7,72,00,000 mansions of the Bhavanavāsīghanodadhi · dense water · 20,000ghanavāta · dense wind · 20,000tanuvāta · thin wind · 20,000you are heretrasanāḍī · 1 rajjuThe seven earths, in sectioneach earth broader than the one above — Tattvārtha 3.1drawn at equal height; the true thickness is printed on eachthe gaps between them are asaṃkhyāta and are not drawn to any scale84,00,000hells · 49 storeys
The seven earths, in section — Tamaḥprabhā highlighted

Measurements and counts

Position6th earth down
Proper nameMaghavī
Thickness1,16,000 yojana
Hells in it99,995
Storeys3
Shortest life17 sāgaropama
Longest life22 sāgaropama
Leśyākṛṣṇa — black

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समयं गोयम! मा पमायए

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

Uttarādhyayana Sūtra 10