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The intermediate bodies of those destined for the Rupa dhatu are possessed of clothes as are Bodhisattvas and some others, but the majority of beings destined to the Kama dhatu are nude. Such beings can see other beings of the same class, in certain cases of the classes below them. They are possessed of certain magic powers, such as being able to pass through space, and on the death of the previous person the new intermediate body is attracted to the place of its new birth through desire, going there miraculously. Its destiny is fixed. The body destined for human birth never develops into another existence. It partakes of no solid food, but receives its sustenance from smell. The duration of its existence is indefinite, existing until such time as the new body is prepared for habitation, though ordinarily, say some, it lives for only one week or seven weeks. If a male it enters the right side of the mother's womb and faces the back, if a female it enters the left side of the womb and faces front. In the case of twins the child born last is the oldest. Size and Duration of Life of the Various Realms.1 — A word must be said concerning the nature of life in each of the various gati through which sentient beings pass. First as regards their stature. No exact figures are given for the destinies lower 1 A.K. 11-156 ff. ; N.A. 31-21a ff. ; C.P. 142 ; Y.B. 4-14a and 4-146. THE WORLD OF SENTIENT BEINGS 77 than man. In the southern continent (Jambudvrpa) the size of men varies from time to time, but the average size, at least for the present, is 3|- or 4 hasta or cubits. For the eastern continent the average size is 8 cubits, for the western continent 16 cubits, and for the northern continent 32. In the heavens of the Kama dhatu statures are as follows : — 1. Heaven of the four Great Kings . J krosa. 2. Heaven of the thirty- three Gods . \ krosa. 3. Yama heaven f krosa. 4. Tusita heaven .... 1 krosa. 5. Nirmanarati heaven . . 1J krosas. 6. The highest Kama dhatu heaven . \\ krosas. / In the Rupa dhatu statures are as follows : In the first J yojana, in the second 1 yojana, in the third 1 J yojanas, in the fourth 2 yojanas, in the fifth 4 yojanas, and so on, doubling (except for Anabhrakas) so that the highest has 16,000 yojanas for its average stature. In the Arupa dhatu the inhabitants have, of course, no bodies. As regards duration of life there is no constant for the southern continent, as it varies between a asamkhya and ten years ; for the eastern continent, 250 years ; for the western continent, 500 years ; for the northern continent, 1,000 years. In the first Devaloka, the heaven of the four great kings, a day and night is equal to 50 human years. Their months consist of thirty such days, their year twelve such months, and the average duration of life is five hundred such years. In the second heaven a day and night are equal to a hundred human years, a month has thirty such days, a year twelve such months, and the inhabitants live for a thousand such years. In each of the higher realms the numbers are doubled. Thus, in the Yama heaven a day and night are equal to 200 human years, a month contains thirty such days, a year twelve such months, and the inhabitants live for 2,000 such years. Since there is no sun nor moon in these realms, day 78 MANUAL OF BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY and night are marked by the opening and closing of sacred lotuses. In the Rupa dhatus there is neither day nor night, and the duration of life is measured by Kalpas. In the first the average duration of life is one middle kalpa, or J a mahakalpa ; in the second 2 middle kalpas, or | a mahakalpa ; in the third 1 kalpa ; in the fourth 2 kalpas ; in the fifth 4 kalpas ; and so on, doubling in such a way that the number of yojanas for average height is the same as the number of kalpas, the highest being 16,000 kalpas. In the Arupa dhatu, or realm of Formlessness, we have even greater figures. In the first the duration of life is 20,000 kalpas, in the second 40,000 kalpas, in the third 60,000 kalpas, and in the fourth 80,000 kalpas. Finally, the duration of life in the three evil gatis (animals, pretas, and hells) must be taken into consideration. Animals have no fixed duration of life. Some live only for a moment and some for centuries. The greatest span of life is enjoyed by a species of dragon which lives for one middle kalpa. The day of a preta is equal to a human month. Thirty such days make a preta month, twelve such months a preta year, and a preta lives for 500 such years. No exact figures are given for any of the hells, save the hot hells. The whole duration of life of the heaven of the four great kings is equal to a night and a day of Samjiva, and the inhabitants live for 500 years of such days. The duration of life in the next six hells corresponds in a similar manner to life in the remaining five deva heavens. In the seventh hell the duration of life is half a middle kalpa, and in Avici the duration of life is a whole middle kalpa. Nature of Life in other Realms} — A few out of the many other such details of life in the other gatis as found in the Buddhist books are as follows : Every form of sentient being is under the necessity of taking food, though there are four 1 Cf. especially A.K. ll-13a ff. ; Y.B. 4-146 ff. THE WORLD OF SENTIENT BEINGS 79 kinds of food : l (1) corruptible food, i.e. food capable of being digested, which is the food used by all forms of men and by the Devas of the six Kama heavens ; (2) food that is partaken by contact only, which appertains to the upper divisions of the Kama heavens and the lower regions of the Rupa dhatu ; (3) food that is partaken of by contemplation, as is the case with the upper regions of the Rupa dhatu ; (4) food that is partaken of by the knowledge of it. This applies only to the inhabitants of the Arupa dhatu. In all of the heavens save those of the Arupa dhatu clothes are used, though sex remains only in the heavens of the Kama dhatu. There are five ways of satisfying sexual desire : 2 (1) by copulation ; (2) by embracing ; (3) by the holding of hands ; (4) by laughing or smiling at one another ; (5) by looking at one another. Living in contact with the earth, the inhabitants of the heaven of the four great kings and also of the heaven of the thirty-three gods, unite by copulation. In the Yama heaven a single embrace produces a new being. In the Tusita heaven the mutual holding of hands suffices. In the Nirmanarati heaven smiling, and in the highest Kama heaven a single glance constitutes sexual union. Birth (which is apparitional in all the heavens) takes place in the Kama heavens as follows : Shortly before a deva is born one of the devis finds a flower in her hand. She knows by this fact that a child is to be born to her, and accordingly after seven days birth takes place, often, however, by suddenly appearing on her knees. At the time of their birth, the children are as if five to ten years of age. There then appears spontaneously a precious vessel filled with divine food, partaking of which the new-born being grows in size like the rest of the devas, while magic trees provide them with necessary garments. The inhabitants of the Rupa and Arupa dhatus are born fully grown and without the aid of any sort of parent, and in the Rupa dhatu are born fully clothed. We are also informed that the gods of all three realms speak 1 M.Vy. 169. a A.K. 11-126; N.A. 31-16a. 80 MANUAL OF BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY only the Aryan language, a sort of heavenly Sanskrit, which moreover they speak correctly without having to learn it. In the Kama dhatu there are three ways of enjoying pleasurable objects, the first of which applies to men and the four lower deva lokas, and is by ruling over and enjoying the sense pleasures they find around them. The second, which applies to the fifth deva loka, by creating pleasurable objects and then ruling over and enjoying those things which they themselves have created. The third, which applies only to the sixth deva loka, is by ruling over and enjoying the sense objects especially created for their enjoyment by others. Even in the most pleasurable regions (apart from Sukhavati) life must come to an end, and the devas must die here to be born elsewhere. As they begin to grow old five signs of decadence begin to appear.