Cosmography and Geography in Early Indian Literature c6.s2.7

c6.s2.7

In the Pali literature, the expression Cakravāla-parvata is sometimes used to indicate ‘the world’s end’ and Cakravāla-rājya ‘the whole world’. A Cakravāla is a vast circular plane covered with water with Mount Meru or Mahāmeru (Pali Sineru) standing at the centre.¹⁸ There are seven Kulācalas or concentric circles of rock around Meru. Beyond these on the north, east, south and west lie the four great dvipas or continents and the whole is encircled by the Cakravāla-parvata. There are many Cakravālas scattered through the space in infinite numbers and each of them has its own sun and moon. The Cakravālas are arranged in groups of three, which touch each other, the triangular space in the centre of each group being occupied by the hell called Lokāntarika.¹⁹ The height of Meru is 84,000 yojanas and its base is inhabited by the Asuras, its summit being the heaven of the Trayastriṃśa gods.