Cosmography and Geography in Early Indian Literature c6.s2.13

c6.s2.13

In Buddhist literature, Mount Meru or Sumeru is also called Hemameru, Mahāmeru and Sineru. It is submerged in the sea at the centre of the world to a depth of 84,000 yojanas and rises above also to the same height. The seven circular mountain ranges surrounding it are the Yugandhara, Īśadhara, Karavika, Sudarśana, Nemindhara, Vinataka and Aśvakarṇa. On its top is the Trayastriṃśa and at its foot the Asura-bhavana (10,000 yojanas in extent) while the four mahā-dvipas together with their 200 smaller dvipas are about its middle. Each Cakravāla has its own Meru which is characterised by its unshakability, though a time comes when even the Meru is also destroyed. When the Buddha went to Trayastriṃśa, he covered the distance from the earth (6,800,000 yojanas) in three strides which remind us of the three steps of Ṛgvedic Viṣṇu. The Buddha set his right foot down on the top of the Yugandhara and his left on the Meru while the third step brought him to the Trayastriṃśa.²¹