Fourteen stops, from the whole universe to the smallest body and back up to the crown — one path for a first visit.
Stop 1 of 14
The whole of it The universe as the texts draw it: a standing figure fourteen rajju tall, with the human world a thin disc at its waist. Everything on this walk is somewhere on this outline.
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 rajju Siddhaśilā no lifespan Sarvārthasiddhi · centre 33 sāgar. Vijaya · east 31–33 sāgar. Vaijayanta · south 31–33 sāgar. Jayanta · west 31–33 sāgar. Aparājita · north 31–33 sāgar. Upper Graiveyaka × 3 29–31 sāgar. Middle Graiveyaka × 3 26–28 sāgar. Lower Graiveyaka × 3 23–25 sāgar. 12 Acyuta 22 sāgar. 11 Āraṇa 21 sāgar. 10 Prāṇata 20 sāgar. 9 Ānata 19 sāgar. 8 Sahasrāra 18 sāgar. 7 Mahāśukra 17 sāgar. 6 Lāntaka 14 sāgar. 5 Brahmaloka 10 sāgar. 4 Māhendra › 7 sāgar. 3 Sanatkumāra 7 sāgar. 2 Īśāna › 2 sāgar. 1 Saudharma 2 sāgar. Madhya Loka humans live here Bhavanavāsī and Vyantara › 1 sāgar. 1 Ratnaprabhā 1 sāgar. 2 Śarkarāprabhā 3 sāgar. 3 Vālukāprabhā 7 sāgar. 4 Paṅkaprabhā 10 sāgar. 5 Dhūmaprabhā 17 sāgar. 6 Tamaḥprabhā 22 sāgar. 7 Mahātamaḥprabhā 33 sāgar. longest life every storey, top to bottom · click any row you are here Open in the interactive atlas → Loka
Stop 2 of 14
The crown Siddhaśilā, the crescent at the very top, where liberated souls rest for ever. The walk ends by coming back here.
1 Saudharma 32,00,000 vimānas · 2 sāgar. 2 Īśāna 28,00,000 vimānas · › 2 sāgar. 3 Sanatkumāra 12,00,000 vimānas · 7 sāgar. 4 Māhendra 8,00,000 vimānas · › 7 sāgar. 5 Brahmaloka 4,00,000 vimānas · 10 sāgar. 6 Lāntaka 50,000 vimānas · 14 sāgar. 7 Mahāśukra 40,000 vimānas · 17 sāgar. 8 Sahasrāra 6,000 vimānas · 18 sāgar. 9 Ānata 400 vimānas · 19 sāgar. 10 Prāṇata shared · 20 sāgar. 11 Āraṇa 300 vimānas · 21 sāgar. 12 Acyuta shared · 22 sāgar. Upper Graiveyaka 100 vimānas · 29–31 sāgar. Middle Graiveyaka 107 vimānas · 26–28 sāgar. Lower Graiveyaka 111 vimānas · 23–25 sāgar. five Anuttara 31–33 sāgar. Siddhaśilā 45,00,000 yojana across · 8 thick at the centre 12 yojana above the Anuttara the five Anuttara, in plan Sarvārthasiddhi Vijaya Vaijayanta Jayanta Aparājita you are here S N trasanāḍī · 1 rajju 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 rajju The twenty-six tiers, in section south to the left, north to the right twins share a level, an Indra and a tally of vimānas heights follow the plan: a third of a rajju to a kalpa 26 12 + 9 + 5 · 84,97,023 vimānas Open in the interactive atlas → Siddhaśilā
Stop 3 of 14
The floor Seven hells stacked beneath the middle world, each darker and colder than the last; the seventh is the bottom of everything.
1 Ratnaprabhā 30,00,000 hells · 13 storeys 1,80,000 yojana thick ≈ asaṃkhyāta yojana · not to scale 2 Śarkarāprabhā 25,00,000 hells · 11 storeys 1,32,000 yojana thick ≈ 3 Vālukāprabhā 15,00,000 hells · 9 storeys 1,28,000 yojana thick ≈ 4 Paṅkaprabhā 10,00,000 hells · 7 storeys 1,20,000 yojana thick ≈ 5 Dhūmaprabhā 3,00,000 hells · 5 storeys 1,18,000 yojana thick ≈ 6 Tamaḥprabhā 99,995 hells · 3 storeys 1,16,000 yojana thick ≈ 7 Mahātamaḥprabhā 5 hells · 1 storeys 1,08,000 yojana thick Khara · 16,000 · Vyantara above, Bhavanavāsī below Paṅka · 84,000 · Asurakumāra and Rākṣasa Ab-bahula · 80,000 · the first hells, in 13 storeys 7,72,00,000 mansions of the Bhavanavāsī ghanodadhi · dense water · 20,000 ghanavāta · dense wind · 20,000 tanuvāta · thin wind · 20,000 you are here trasanāḍī · 1 rajju The seven earths, in section each earth broader than the one above — Tattvārtha 3.1 drawn at equal height; the true thickness is printed on each the gaps between them are asaṃkhyāta and are not drawn to any scale 84,00,000 hells · 49 storeys Open in the interactive atlas → Mahātamaḥprabhā
Stop 4 of 14
The middle world Rings of land and sea, each twice the width of the last, out to an ocean at the edge. Humans live only in the innermost two and a half.
the human world ends here Mānuṣottara · everything before this rung 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Nandīśvara → The sixteen rings width in yojana · each twice the one before 1 Jambūdvīpa 1,00,000 2 Lavaṇa Samudra 2,00,000 3 Dhātakīkhaṇḍa 4,00,000 4 Kālodadhi 8,00,000 5 Puṣkaravara 16,00,000 6 Puṣkaroda 32,00,000 7 Vāruṇīvara 64,00,000 8 Vāruṇoda 1,28,00,000 9 Kṣīravara 2,56,00,000 10 Kṣīroda 5,12,00,000 11 Ghṛtavara 10,24,00,000 12 Ghṛtoda 20,48,00,000 13 Ikṣuvara 40,96,00,000 14 Ikṣuvaroda 81,92,00,000 15 Nandīśvara-dvīpa 1,63,84,00,000 16 Nandīśvaroda 3,27,68,00,000 all sixteen are legible at this scale, and none is honest Nandīśvara is lit — open it each ring is twice the width of the one before · innumerable more lie beyond Open in the interactive atlas → Madhya Loka
Stop 5 of 14
Two and a half continents The whole world where humans are born, now at scripture scale: the readable map has been stretched into the true proportions, and the salt sea alone is twice the disc it surrounds.
Sudarśana Vijaya Acala Mandara Vidyunmālī Jambūdvīpa Lavaṇa Samudra Dhātakīkhaṇḍa Kālodadhi Puṣkarārdha Jambūdvīpa 2 suns · 2 moons Lavaṇa Samudra 4 suns · 4 moons Dhātakīkhaṇḍa 12 suns · 12 moons Kālodadhi 42 suns · 42 moons Puṣkarārdha 72 suns · 72 moons Mānuṣottara no human passes it Each ring is twice the width of the one before it, and every ring is counted on both sides: 1 + 2+2 + 4+4 + 8+8 + 8+8 lakh yojana = 45,00,000 yojana across 5 Merus · 170 lands of action 132 suns · 132 moons · 56 islands 22,50,000 yojana — half the human world N uttara E pūrva S dakṣiṇa W paścima reckoned from Meru you are here Open in the interactive atlas → Aḍhāī-dvīpa
Stop 6 of 14
The innermost disc Jambūdvīpa, a lakh yojana across, back at readable scale: seven regions banded between six ranges, six lakes, fourteen rivers, and Meru at the centre.
MERU Bharat 1/190 · 0.53% · action Himavān 2/190 · 1.05% · gold Haimavat 4/190 · 2.1% · enjoyment Mahāhimavān 8/190 · 4.2% · silver Hari 16/190 · 8.4% · enjoyment Niṣadha 32/190 · 16.8% · red gold Mahāvideha 64/190 · 33.7% · widest band Nīla 32/190 · 16.8% · beryl Ramyak 16/190 · 8.4% · enjoyment Rukmī 8/190 · 4.2% · silver Hairaṇyavat 4/190 · 2.1% · enjoyment Śikharī 2/190 · 1.05% · gold Airāvat 1/190 · 0.53% · action N Aparājita E Vijaya S Vaijayanta W Jayanta you are here Open in the interactive atlas → Jambūdvīpa
Stop 7 of 14
The axis Meru, a lakh yojana tall, with four forest terraces up its sides and the slabs on its summit where every newborn Tīrthaṅkara is bathed.
scale break 1st kāṇḍa 1,000 yoj · stone 2nd kāṇḍa 63,000 yoj 3rd kāṇḍa 36,000 yoj Bhadraśāla Vana on the plain · 4 shrines Nandana Vana 500 yojana up · 500 wide Saumanasa Vana 63,000 up · kāṇḍa boundary Pāṇḍaka Vana 99,000 up · the four śilās Cūlikā 40 yojana of blue beryl –1,000 0 500 63,000 99,000 yojana the summit, magnified · not to scale Airāvat E · E. Videha S · Bharat W · W. Videha Pāṇḍaka Vana in plan · not to scale S Pāṇḍukambalā · N Atipāṇḍukambalā E Raktakambalā · W Atiraktakambalā Heights are compressed between Nandana and Saumanasa; widths are true. The mountain tapers from 10,000 yojana at the ground to 1,000 at the crown. Open in the interactive atlas → Mount Meru
Stop 8 of 14
Where we are Bharat, the southern sliver, cut by a silver range into six divisions; the Tīrthaṅkaras are born in the one we live in.
Tamisrā Khaṇḍaprapātā Ṛṣabhakūṭa VAITĀḌHYA HIMAVĀN — gold, 100 yojana high Padma lake ĀRYA KHAṆḌA 25½ ārya countries GAṆGĀ → ← SINDHU Lavaṇa Samudra · the salt ocean Bharat is 526 6⁄19 yojana north to south — one part in 190. Drawn far deeper than it is, so it can be read. Vaitāḍhya and the two rivers cut it into six khaṇḍas; 110 vidyādhara cities line the mountain’s two faces. Only the southern middle khaṇḍa changes as the ages turn. N E S W you are here Open in the interactive atlas → Bharat Kṣetra
Stop 9 of 14
The wheel of time Twelve spokes, six descending and six ascending, turning without end. We are in the fifth spoke of the descending half.
Suṣamā-suṣamā 4 ×10¹⁴ sāgar. Suṣamā 3 ×10¹⁴ sāgar. Suṣamā-duḥṣamā 2 ×10¹⁴ sāgar. Duḥṣamā-suṣamā 1 ×10¹⁴ less 42k yr Duḥṣamā 21,000 years Duḥṣamā-duḥṣamā 21,000 years Duḥṣamā-duḥṣamā 21,000 years Duḥṣamā 21,000 years Duḥṣamā-suṣamā 1 ×10¹⁴ less 42k yr Suṣamā-duḥṣamā 2 ×10¹⁴ sāgar. Suṣamā 3 ×10¹⁴ sāgar. Suṣamā-suṣamā 4 ×10¹⁴ sāgar. AVASARPIṆĪ ↓ descending · everything diminishes UTSARPIṆĪ ↑ ascending · everything returns KĀLA CAKRA one full turn = 20 crore-crore sāgaropama Bharat and Airāvat only we are here 5th spoke of a descending half c. 2,500 of its 21,000 years gone The twelve spokes are drawn equal. They are not: the first alone outlasts the last two beyond ordinary counting. Open in the interactive atlas → Kāla Cakra
Stop 10 of 14
The smallest instant Samaya, the indivisible moment — and rising from it, the ladder of numbers through the innumerable to nine kinds of infinity.
what one samaya is paramāṇu pradeśa one atom crosses one point of space, at its slowest = one samaya why it cannot be divided A cloth tears in an instant. But each thread parts after the one before it, and each thread is countless fibres. Parting one fibre takes innumerable samaya. counted in samaya 1 Liberation the soul's rise to Siddhaśilā, never turning 1–4 Vigrahagati the passage from one body to the next 8 Kevalī samudghāta a soul fills the whole loka and returns asaṃ. One āvalikā innumerable samaya · ≈ 1/5,800 second 2 → Antarmuhūrta more than an instant, less than 48 minutes the ladder of number 21 kinds · 3 numerable, 9 innumerable, 9 infinite ANANTA the infinite Utkṛṣṭa Anantānanta kevalajñāna knows all of it at once Madhyama Anantānanta the space-points of aloka Jaghanya Anantānanta Utkṛṣṭa Yuktānanta Madhyama Yuktānanta the siddhas · the souls in nigoda Jaghanya Yuktānanta = the number of abhavya souls Utkṛṣṭa Parītānanta Madhyama Parītānanta Jaghanya Parītānanta utkṛṣṭa asaṃkhyātāsaṃkhyāta + 1 ASAṂKHYĀTA the innumerable Utkṛṣṭa Asaṃkhyātāsaṃkhyāta Madhyama Asaṃkhyātāsaṃkhyāta the space-points of the loka fall here Jaghanya Asaṃkhyātāsaṃkhyāta Utkṛṣṭa Yuktāsaṃkhyāta Madhyama Yuktāsaṃkhyāta Jaghanya Yuktāsaṃkhyāta = the samaya in one āvalikā Utkṛṣṭa Parītāsaṃkhyāta Madhyama Parītāsaṃkhyāta Jaghanya Parītāsaṃkhyāta utkṛṣṭa saṃkhyāta + 1 SAṂKHYĀTA the numerable Utkṛṣṭa Saṃkhyāta the four śalākā pits, less one Madhyama Saṃkhyāta Jaghanya Saṃkhyāta = 2 · counting begins here → the four śalākā pits: how the greatest numerable number is fixed Open in the interactive atlas → Samaya
Stop 11 of 14
The smallest body Nigoda, in which infinite souls are born and die together seventeen times in a breath; one body holds more souls than have ever been liberated.
the loka skandha as Jambūdvīpa × asaṃkhyāta aṇḍara as Bharata × asaṃkhyāta āvāsa as Kośala × asaṃkhyāta pulavi as Sāketa × asaṃkhyāta one body as a house ananta souls the nesting — Gommaṭasāra 164–165, the Digambara text's structure each level holds asaṃkhyāta × the loka's space-points of the next the 563 kinds of living being — Jīva-vicāra 22 · 6 · 20 · 303 · 198 · 14 four are nigoda — and hold infinitely more souls than the other 559 one breath: seventeen lives and a fraction, each 256 āvalikā 65,536 in a muhūrta — the teachers say seventeen and a half avyavahāra-rāśi never once trasa · infinite vyavahāra-rāśi been out, come back Siddhaśilā 608 liberated in six months and eight samayas 608 leave the first heap in their place the ledger — the commentators on Gommaṭasāra 197, and the thokaḍā every siddha there has ever been the souls in one nigoda body — infinite times as many, off the frame Nigoda: the smallest body, the most souls a body too small to see, in which infinite souls are born, breathe and die together everywhere in the loka; four of the 563 kinds of living being one body holds infinite times every siddha there has ever been — Gommaṭasāra 196 608 souls liberated, and 608 out of nigoda, every six months and eight samayas Open in the interactive atlas → Nigoda
Stop 12 of 14
The twenty-four The Tīrthaṅkaras of this half-cycle, drawn to their own heights, from Ṛṣabha five hundred bows tall to Mahāvīra, the last, seven hāth.
the third ara, ending the fifth ara begins 3 years 8½ months after him 1 · Ṛṣabhanātha 500 dhanuṣ · 84 lakh pūrva after 50 lakh koṭi sāgaropama 2 · Ajitanātha 450 dhanuṣ · 72 lakh pūrva after 30 lakh koṭi sāgaropama 3 · Sambhavanātha 400 dhanuṣ · 60 lakh pūrva after 10 lakh koṭi sāgaropama 4 · Abhinandananātha 350 dhanuṣ · 50 lakh pūrva after 9 lakh koṭi sāgaropama 5 · Sumatinātha 300 dhanuṣ · 40 lakh pūrva after 90,000 koṭi sāgaropama 6 · Padmaprabha 250 dhanuṣ · 30 lakh pūrva after 9,000 koṭi sāgaropama 7 · Supārśvanātha 200 dhanuṣ · 20 lakh pūrva after 900 koṭi sāgaropama 8 · Candraprabha 150 dhanuṣ · 10 lakh pūrva after 90 koṭi sāgaropama 9 · Suvidhinātha 100 dhanuṣ · 2 lakh pūrva after 9 koṭi sāgaropama 10 · Śītalanātha 90 dhanuṣ · 1 lakh pūrva after 1 koṭi sāgaropama less 100 sāgaropama and 66,26,000 years 11 · Śreyāṃsanātha 80 dhanuṣ · 84 lakh years after 54 sāgaropama 12 · Vāsupūjya 70 dhanuṣ · 72 lakh years after 30 sāgaropama 13 · Vimalanātha 60 dhanuṣ · 60 lakh years after 9 sāgaropama 14 · Anantanātha 50 dhanuṣ · 30 lakh years after 4 sāgaropama 15 · Dharmanātha 45 dhanuṣ · 10 lakh years after 3 sāgaropama less ¾ palyopama 16 · Śāntinātha 40 dhanuṣ · 1 lakh years after ½ palyopama 17 · Kunthunātha 35 dhanuṣ · 95,000 years after ¼ palyopama less 1,000 koṭi years 18 · Aranātha 30 dhanuṣ · 84,000 years after 1,000 koṭi years here the texts stop counting in sāgaropamas and begin counting in years 19 · Mallinātha 25 dhanuṣ · 55,000 years after 54 lakh years 20 · Munisuvrata 20 dhanuṣ · 30,000 years after 6 lakh years 21 · Naminātha 15 dhanuṣ · 10,000 years after 5 lakh years 22 · Neminātha 10 dhanuṣ · 1,000 years after 83,750 years 23 · Pārśvanātha 9 hāth · 100 years after 250 years 24 · Mahāvīra 7 hāth · 72 years past caubīsī ours · the present future caubīsī ‹ 24 of 24 › Open in the interactive atlas → Mahāvīra
Stop 13 of 14
Where a Tīrthaṅkara preaches The samavasaraṇa the gods build wherever a Jina teaches: three ramparts, four gates, twelve companies, and the tree above the throne.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 N E S W conveyances conveyances animals animals who sits where 1 Vaimānika devas asaṅkhyāta 2 Śrāvakas enumerable 3 Śrāvikās enumerable 4 Sādhus enumerable 5 Vaimānika devīs asaṅkhyāta 6 Sādhvīs enumerable 7 Bhavanapati devīs asaṅkhyāta 8 Jyotiṣka devīs asaṅkhyāta 9 Vyantara devīs asaṅkhyāta 10 Bhavanapati devas asaṅkhyāta 11 Jyotiṣka devas asaṅkhyāta 12 Vyantara devas asaṅkhyāta the fourfold saṅgha differs for each Jina eight classes of gods asaṅkhyāta the decks below the animals that came to hear the animals that carried people here The Tīrthaṅkara faces east. Three made images stand in the other directions, so no company sees a back. 1 yojana across · 4 kos the tree above the throne is 3 kos — twelve times the Tīrthaṅkara's height 1 yojana across · 4 kos N uttara E pūrva S dakṣiṇa W paścima Open in the interactive atlas → Samavasaraṇa
Stop 14 of 14
The way up The fourteen stages of the soul, from wrong belief to the motionless omniscient — and past the last rung, the crown where this walk began.
must fall Siddhaśilā the ground the two ladders begin 1 Mithyādṛṣṭi wrong belief held for antarmuhūrta – less than half a pudgalaparāvarta 2 Sāsvādana a taste of right belief, falling held for 1 samaya – 6 āvalikā 3 Miśra mixed belief held for antarmuhūrta 4 Avirata-samyagdṛṣṭi right belief, no vows held for antarmuhūrta – 33 sāgaropama and a human life 5 Deśavirata partial vows held for antarmuhūrta – a little under a koṭi of pūrvas 6 Pramatta-saṃyata full vows, with negligence held for antarmuhūrta 7 Apramatta-saṃyata full vows, without negligence held for antarmuhūrta 8 Apūrvakaraṇa unprecedented effort — the two ladders begin held for antarmuhūrta 9 Anivṛtti-bādara the gross passions thinned held for antarmuhūrta 10 Sūkṣma-samparāya only subtle greed remains held for antarmuhūrta 11 Upaśānta-moha delusion suppressed — the fall is certain held for 1 samaya – antarmuhūrta 12 Kṣīṇa-moha delusion destroyed held for antarmuhūrta 13 Sayoga-kevalī omniscient, still embodied held for antarmuhūrta – a little under a koṭi of pūrvas 14 Ayoga-kevalī omniscient, motionless held for five short vowels Jñānāvaraṇa Darśanāvaraṇa Vedanīya Mohanīya Āyu Nāma Gotra Antarāya still bound ‹ › 4 of 14 · Avirata-samyagdṛṣṭi the destroyers' way The fourteen guṇasthānas durations are Hemacandra's, Triṣaṣṭi appendix 1.3 rungs evenly spaced; the durations are printed, not scaled eight squares: the karmas still bound at that rung Open in the interactive atlas → The fourteen guṇasthānas
That is the walk. Everything else is a click away: the ladder at the left changes scale, the search finds any name, and every place on every map opens.