法苑珠林 4.52

4.52

According to the Qishi jing: "Furthermore, by what cause and condition does heat arise in summer?" The Buddha said, "During the six months when the Sun Deva's palace travels north, it always moves six krośas each day, never departing from the path along which the sun travels. But within it there are ten causes and conditions: all the radiance shines upon and touches those ten mountains, causing them to generate heat. By what cause and condition is there cold? After six months, the Sun Deva's palace gradually travels south, and there are twelve causes and conditions that can generate cold. Between Mount Sumeru and Mount Khadiraka, there is the Sumeru Sea, eighty-four thousand yojanas wide and immeasurable in circumference, completely filled with various flowers of exceeding fragrance. The Sun Deva's light shines upon and touches that sea: this is the first cause and condition of cold. The second is Mount Īṣādhara; the third is Mount Yugaṃdhara; the fourth is Mount Sudarśana; the fifth is Mount Aśvakarṇa; the sixth is Mount Nemimdhara; the seventh is Mount Vināyaka; the eighth is the Great Cakravāla Mountains; the ninth is all the places where rivers flow in Jambudvīpa, which the sun shines upon and touches, so that there is cold; the tenth is that the rivers in Godānīya are twice as numerous; the eleventh is that the rivers in Pūrvavideha are twice as numerous; the twelfth is that the rivers in Uttarakuru are twice as numerous. The sun's light shining upon and touching these twelve flowing river waters produces cold. (Before, the twelve causes generating heat were: besides the previous eight mountains, the ninth is the palaces of yakṣas ten thousand yojanas above the ground in the sky; the tenth is the four continents, the mountains of which combine to make the fourteenth.) Moreover, the Lokasthitābhidharma-śāstra asks: 'Why is it cold in winter? Why is it hot in spring? Why is it cold and hot in summer? In winter, the water element is at its longest and has not yet diminished; grass and trees are still moist and have not withered; the earth element is damp and slippery; the fire element goes downward; the water element rises. How is this known to be so? Deep water is warmest, while shallow water is cold. When the cold season has arrived, the sun's path of travel illuminates and scorches for but a short time. The yang qi is inside, so food digests quickly. For these reasons, it is cold in winter. Why is spring hot? The water element has increased, reduced, and been exhausted; grass and trees wither and dry up; the earth has dried and cracked; the water vapor goes downward; the fire vapor rises. How is this known to be so? Deep water is cold, while shallow water is hot. Winter having passed, the sun travels an inner path and illuminates and scorches for a long time. The fire inside the body is weak, and so spring is hot. Why is it cold and hot in summer? The great earth constantly receives illumination and scorching during the daylight of the eight months; the shower and scattering of rain from great clouds causes the earthly vapor to steam and build up. When the wind blows, after the steam dissolves, it is then cold; if no wind rises, it is then hot. Therefore it is sometimes cold and sometimes hot in summer.' (In the Western regions, four months make one season; they establish only spring, summer, and winter, and do not establish autumn. Thus they establish three-season palaces.) Furthermore, the Qishi jing states: 'By what cause and condition do the various river waters flow in the world?' The Buddha told the monks, 'Because there is the sun, there is heat; because there is heat, there is scorching; because there is scorching, there is steaming; because there is steaming, there is perspiration and moisture; and because of perspiration and moisture, the sweat flowing in all the mountains becomes water, forming the various rivers.'"