Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c18.171

v1.c18.171

Jambudīpa.—One of the four Mahādīpas, or great continents, which are included in the Cakkavāḷa and are ruled by a Cakkavatti (q.v.). They are grouped round Mount Sineru. In Jambudīpa is Himavā with its eighty-four thousand peaks, its lakes, mountain ranges, etc.¹ This continent derives its name from the Jambu-tree (also called Naga) which grows there, its trunk fifteen yojanas in girth, its outspreading branches fifty yojanas in length, its shade one hundred yojanas in extent and its height one hundred yojanas.² On account of this tree, Jambudīpa is also known as Jambu-saṇḍa.³ The continent is ten thousand yojanas in extent; of these ten thousand, four thousand are covered by the ocean, three thousand by the Himālaya mountains, while three thousand are inhabited by men.⁴