Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s18.354

v1.c3.s18.354

Div, ‘sky.’ The world as a whole is regarded as divided into the three domains of ‘earth,’ ‘air’ or ‘atmosphere,’ and ‘heaven’ or ‘sky’ (div),¹ or alternatively into ‘heaven and earth’ (dyāvā-pṛthivī),² which two are then considered as comprising the universe, the atmosphere being included in the sky. Lightning, wind, and rain belong to the atmosphere, solar and similar phenomena to the sky. In some passages³ the vault (nāka) of the sky is added after the usual triad, and before the celestial light (svar, jyotis).