佛祖統紀 32.16

32.16

The author remarks: In discussing the utmost limits of heaven and earth, none compares to the Buddhist scriptures. Their description of Mount Sumeru and the four continents makes our world seem like a single grain of millet in a great granary. As for Jambudvīpa, it is merely the southern continent among the four continents. The sūtras state that it is seven thousand yojanas in length and breadth, and its perimeter encompasses 280,000 li, calculated at forty li per yojana. Traveling west from Liaodong, exiting Yangguan, crossing the Pamir Mountains, passing through the Five Indias, and reaching the limits of the Western Sea; or traveling north from the Southern Sea, exiting Yanmen, crossing the extremes of the desert, and reaching the Northern Sea—both its breadth and length measure roughly ninety thousand li. Yet worldly people lack comprehensive understanding; the flourishing extent of the four borders during the Han dynasty did not exceed ten thousand li, and for this reason, upon hearing this explanation for the first time, none can believe it. One must realize that this land lies in the east, while Tianzhu lies in the center. From this land west to Tianzhu is forty-five thousand li; from Tianzhu west to the edge of the Western Sea is likewise forty-five thousand li. Thus, that this land is the eastern region of Jambudvīpa is indeed true! Secular Confucians call this land the 'Middle Kingdom', yet they merely base this on their own land to assert the center of the four directions. When Confucians discuss the earth, they only reach ten thousand li, and thus do not know the prosperity of the Five Indias or the boundless reaches of the Western Sea. When Daoists discuss heaven, they only reach the Three Realms of Purity, and thus do not know the loftiness and distance of the Six Heavens of Desire, the Four Dhyānas, and the Four Formless Realms, nor the infinity of the Formless Realm. How much less could they know of the tens of billions of Sumeru worlds in the great trichiliocosm? How much less could they know of the Lotus Treasury World, all-pervading and established like Indra's net? Therefore, in discussing the utmost limits of heaven and earth, unless one relies on the Buddhist scriptures, it is impossible to exhaust its profound truth.