法苑珠林 4.54

4.54

According to the Dīrgha Āgama: "At the beginning of the kalpa, when [the world] was forming, heaven and earth were in great darkness. A great black wind blew upon the waters of the great ocean, opening them up to take the sun to illuminate all under heaven, placing it halfway up Sumeru on the path of the sun. It travels, revolving around the four continents under heaven, illuminating sentient beings." Also, the Qishi jing states: "At that time the world became dark. Then, suddenly, the sun, moon, and various stars and constellations were born, and there were day, night, years, and seasons. At that time the Sun Deva ascended his great palace, emerging from the east and traveling around the waist of Mount Sumeru; after setting in the west, he emerged again from the east. At that time, sentient beings saw the Sun Deva emerging from the east again, and told one another: 'Good sirs, this is indeed the radiant palace of the Sun Deva emerging again from the east. Circling clockwise around Sumeru, it will set in the west.' Having seen it a third time, they also said to one another: 'This is the deva's radiance moving through here.' Hence such names arose." Furthermore, the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra states: "The sun and moon are five hundred yojanas in square and roundness, yet what is seen now is no larger than a fan." Sūtras in various places state that the Buddha said to Ānanda: "What the human eye sees can know four hundred and twenty thousand yojanas." Furthermore, the Lokasthitābhidharma-śāstra states: "What is night? What is day? Because of the sun, there is night; because of the sun, there is day. The Desire Realm is dark by its own nature; because the sun's light is concealed, that is night; because the sun's light is revealed, that is day." Furthermore, the Qishi jing states: The Buddha told the monks, "When the sun is at midday in Jambudvīpa, the sun is just setting in Pūrvavideha, just rising in Aparagodānīya, and it is precisely midnight in Uttarakuru. When the sun is at midday in Aparagodānīya, the sun is just setting here in Jambudvīpa, just rising in Uttarakuru, and it is precisely midnight in Pūrvavideha. When the sun is at midday in Uttarakuru, the sun is just setting in Aparagodānīya, just rising in Pūrvavideha, and it is precisely midnight in Jambudvīpa. When the sun is at midday in Pūrvavideha, the sun is just setting in Uttarakuru, just rising in Jambudvīpa, and it is precisely midnight in Aparagodānīya."