Cosmography and Geography in Early Indian Literature c5.s1.4

c5.s1.4

The *Rgveda* indicates the earth by various words such as *mahī* (the great), *pṛthivī*, *pṛthvī* or *urvī* (the broad), *uttānā* (the extended) and *apārā* (the boundless). The universe was conceived as consisting of either two or three units, i. e. of either the earth and the sky (heaven), or the earth, the air (atmosphere) and the sky. Often each of these constituents was regarded as having three parts or layers, so that there were either six units of three earths and three heavens or nine units of three earths, three atmospheres and three skies.³ The highest of the three earths was believed to have been inhabited by men just as the third or highest heaven was occupied by the gods, the fathers and Soma.⁴ The conception of three earths and of the highest earth is based on the belief about the existence of a nether world. The *Yajurveda* and *Atharvaveda* speak of the earth, air, heaven and the world of light, i.e. the vault of the sky.⁵