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According to other accounts, there are two such mountains, one separated a short distance from the other by a space reaching down to the circle of water in which are found some of the most dismal of the hells. The Great Oceans.1 We have already seen that between each of the rocky circles 1 A.K. 11-36; N.A. 31-3a ; F.T. 32-9a = Y.B. 2-76. = (M.B. 12; K.I. 183 for South). 54 MANUAL OF BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY is an ocean. The salt ocean, or that between Nimimdhara and the outer circle, is the ocean in which are placed all the inhabited continents, and so is the only one known to mankind. All of the first seven oceans are 80,000 yojanas deep. Their diameter has been given above. The depth of the salt ocean has also been stated. Its width is 322,000 yojanas. The circumference of the whole earth or Cakravala, and therefore the outer circumference of the salt ocean, is 3,610,350 yojanas. Incidentally the figures for the diameter of the earth may be of interest. The Abhidharma Kosa gives the following enumeration. Mem having a diameter of 80,000 yojanas, its radius is 40,000. From the outermost point of Meru to the outermost point of Nimimdliara is 158,750 yojanas (79,375 being land, and an equal amount water). Across the salt ocean it is 322,000 yojanas, or more exactly 322,312 yojanas, so that the total diameter of the earth is 1,042,124 yojanas. According to some accounts, the interior seas are filled with various kinds of perfumed waters. The Abhidharma Kos*a, however, merely says that their waters possess the eight magic qualities : (1) purity, (2) coolness, (3) sweetness, (4) softness, (5) lightness, (6) fragrance, (7) while drinking it does not injure the mouth, (8) when drunk it does not injure the stomach. Various reasons are given for the saltness of the eighth or great ocean. The following are the most frequent : (1) In the middle of the sea is a great fish, whose pollutions cause the salt taste ; (2) in the ancient days a Rsi used his magic powers to effect the brackishness ; (3) the salt taste is caused by the earth's impurities, which have been washed away into the sea. The ocean does not overflow in spite of the water constantly being added by the rivers, because there are four jewels at the bottom of the ocean, which absorb all the surplus water. These change the water into various things, which eventually disappear, leaving no residuum. The tides were explained COSMIC GEOGRAPHY 55 by the theory that the water at stated periods flows in and out of the palace of the Naga king, situate at the bottom of the sea. The Four Great Continents.1 Located in the eighth, or outermost, or salt ocean, and outside Nimimdhara or the seventh rocky circle are the four great continents, one on each side of the world. 1. On the North, 8,000 yojanas in extent, is the ideal continent, Uttarakuru, square in shape, like a chair or the lid of a box having four equal sides, each side 2,000 yojanas long.2 2. On the East, 7,500 or 7,000 yojanas in extent, is Purva- videha, in the shape of a half-moon. According to the Abhi- dharnia Kos*a, it has three sides of 2,000 yojanas each, and a fourth of 350 yojanas. 3. On the West is Aparagodanlya or Godaniya, in shape round, like the full moon, 7,500 or 7,000 yojanas in circumfer ence, with a diameter of 2,500 yojanas. 4. On the South there is the great continent Jambudvlpa, in shape like a triangle (with the point facing south), having a circumference somewhat over 6,000 yojanas. The Abhidharma Ko£a states that three of its sides are 2,000 yojanas long, and a fourth only 3J. Most accounts further add that in the vicinity and on each side of these four continents there are two large islands or sub-continents (i.e. one on each side), making in all twelve large inhabited portions of the world. Connected with the northern continent are the islands Kurava and Kaurava ; with the eastern continent Deha and Videha ; with the western continent Satha and Uttaramantrina ; with the southern continent Camara and Aparacamara. All are inhabited by some species of man, though, according to one account, Camara is inhabited only by raksas or demons. 1 A.K. ll-4a ; F.T. 32-86 ; Y.B. 2-76 ; M.Vy. 217. 2 For Ceylon amplifications M.B. 15, for the North D.A. 94 ff. 56 MANUAL OF BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY In the early stages of Buddhist cosmology, Jambudvlpa consisted only of India and the immediately surrounding countries, the other portions of the world being unknown. Later, when Japan, China, Central Asia, etc., came to be known, they were likewise counted as part of the same continent. Still later, Europe, Africa, and even America were put in the same category. A great many mythical details were added to the Buddhist descriptions of Jambudvlpa, chiefly with reference to the principal mountains, lakes, rivers, and forests.1 With these, however, we need not concern ourselves, and may rest content with referring the curious to the principal original authorities. Buddhist Astronomy.2 All schools of Buddhism taught that attached to each Cakravala there is a sun and moon, as well as a multitude of stars, all comparatively small bodies which move in their orbit around Mount Meru, causing the division into days, nights, months, years, etc. Both the sun and the moon were supposed to be about 40,000 yojanas above the level of the sea or the same height as Yugamdhara, the first of the rocky circles, so that this circle and Meru itself hid their rays from the continents lying on the other side from which the sun and moon happened for the moment to be. Both sun and moon continually revolve around Meru, the path of their orbit being between Nimimdhara and the outer circle, or, in other words, above the great salt ocean. Consequently, when it is day in the southern continent it is night in the northern continent, sunset in the eastern continent, and sunrise in the western continent. The Abhidharma Kosa states that the disc of the sun is 51 yojanas in diameter, that of the moon 50. The sun is composed of gold and crystal ; the moon of silver and lapis 1 For Ceylon amplifications M.B. 15 ff. ; for the North D.A. 93 ff. 54 A.K. 11-86; N.A. 31-12a; F.A. 32-16a. Cf. M.B. 20, showing differences of Southern accounts, where sun = 50 yoj. and moon = 40 yoj. COSMIC GEOGKAPHY 57 lazuli. According to some accounts, the sun is really square, and only its movement and its distance make it seem round. In the sun is the palace of the sun god, Surya, and in the moon that of the moon god, Candra. Each palace is 16 yojanas high, and 8 yojanas square. Frequent mention is made of the two-fold path or marches of the sun, the northern and the southern.1 For the six months of the southern march the sun gradually passes 5J yojanas beyond the southern limit of the southern continent Jambudvipa, and shines directly over the sea, while during the northern march its orbit is such that the sun shines directly upon the continent itself. For this reason the days are colder in winter, since the rays of the sun fall upon the ocean rather than upon the continent itself, while for the inverse reason it is warmer in summer. For 'the same reasons, when the orbit of the sun gradually passes to the south the days little by little become shorter and the nights longer, while during the period when the sun swings to the north the days are longer and the nights shorter. At the time when the days are longest, out of the thirty muhurtas into which the day and night are divided, the days have eighteen muhurtas and the nights twelve, and vice versa when the orbit is changed. During the middle course the days and nights have fifteen muhurtas each. The rays of the sun are always the same, neither increasing nor decreasing in heat. The seeming difference in their intensity is due to the change in orbit, the intervention of clouds which act as a screen, to mists that arise from the ground, and to the actions of Rahu the great Asura, who occasionally eclipses the sun by swallowing it. With regard to the moon, several reasons are advanced to account for its phases. Most important, however, is the fact that when it is near the sun the overpowering light of the latter prevents its own light from being seen, etc. While it 1 According to M.B. 21, the Ceylonese count three paths instead of two marches.