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X When the monarch Dutthagdmini was near death, the assembled priesti- hood chaunted a hymn, imd from the six d^wa-l<5kas, as many d^was came in six chariots, each entreating him to repair to his own Mka ; but the king silenced their entreaty by a signal of his hand, which implied that they were to wait BO long as he was listening to the bana. That his meaning might not be mistaken by those around, he threw wreaths of flowers into the air, that 26 A MANUAL OF BlTDfllSM. 800 jears ; and as they live 8000 of these jears, their age is equal to 2,304,000,000 of the years of men. 6. Paranirmita Wasawartti, in which one day is equal to 1,600 years ; and as they live 16,000 of these years, their age is equal to 9,216,000,000 of the years of men. The rdpa-brahma-ldkas are 16 in number,* rising above each other in the following order, the figures denoting the number of liSkas. t9%f ▼■ Mftha kalpM . 1. Brahma Parisadya one-third 9. Subhakimnaka . . 64 2. Brahma Purohita . one-half 10. W^happala . . . 500 3. Maha Brahma . . 1 11. Asanyasatyaf 500 4. Parittdbha .... 2 12. Awiha . 1000 5. Apramiina .... 4 13. Atappa 2000 6. Abhassara .... 8 14. Sudassa .... . 4000 7. Parittasubha ... 16 15. Sudassi .... 8000 8. Appramanasubha . . 32 16. Akanishtaka . . . 16,000 The ardpa-brahma-ldkas^ are four in number, and the inhabi- tants live according to the number of maha kalpas here enumerated : — 1. Ak&sdnanchilyatana .... 20,000 2. Winy&nanchdyatana. . . . 40,000 3. Akinchannydyatana .... 60,000 4. N6w^bannyana8annydyatana . 80,000§ Thus if the ages in the six d^wa-ldkas and twenty brahma- Idkas be added together, it will give a total of 231,628 maha kalpas, 12,285,000,000 years. attached themfielTes to the chariots and remained pendent. He then aaid to a priest, " Lord, which is the most delightful d^wa-l<$ka ? " The priest im- plied, " It has been held by the wise that Tusitapura is a dehghtiul d^wa- t(5ka. The all-compassionate Bodlusat, MaitH, tarries in Tnsita, awaiting hia adyent to the Budhaship." — ^Tumour's Mahawanso, cap. xxxiy. * In the rupa-hrahma-Idkas there are no sensual pleasures, and there is no pain, the enjoyments being intellectual, although there is bodily form, re- sembling in some measure that which St. Paul may mean by " a spiritual body." — Gk)gerlj, Essay on Budhism ; Joum. Ceylon Branch Royal As. Soc. t The inhabitants of this world remain during the full period of their existence in the l($ka in a state of unconsdouB existence. — GK>gerly, Joum. Oeybn Branch Boyal As. Soc. X The inhabitants of these worlds haye no rdpa, no bodily form, § The inhabitants of this world are in a state neither fully conscious nor yet altogether unconscious. It is the last of the spiritual worlds, and the nearest approximation to nirw&na. Gogerly, ib. I. THE SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 27 11. The Narakas, There are eight principal narakas, or places of torment : — 1. Sanjiwa. 2. Kalastitra. 8. Sanghata. 4. Rowrawa. 5. Maha Rowrawa. 6. T4pa. 7. Pratdpa. 8. Awichi. They are each 10,000 yojanas in length, breadth, and height. The walls are nine yojanas in thickness, and of so dazzling a brightness that they bnrst the eyes of those who look at them, even from the distance of a hundred yojanas. Each hell is so enclosed that there is no possibility of escape from it. There are in all 136 narakas, and the whole are sitaated in the interior of the earth.* Under the great b6-tree, at the depth of 100 yojanas,t is the roof of Awichi, the flames from which burst forth beyond the walls, and rise to the height of 100 yojanas. There are 16 narakas called Osupat, exterior to Awichi, four on each side. The distance from the centre of Awichi, to the outermost part of the Osupat narakas is 19,400 gows, and at this part they verge upon the great sea. By the power of the beings who suffer in Awichi, the doors of the Osupat narakas are continually opening and shutting. The flames proceeding through the doors, when they are thus thrown open, burst upon the waters of the sea, to the distance of many yojanas, and thus cause a vacuum. Towards this vacuum the water of the sea is continually drawn, in a power- ful manner, and with great noise and tumult, so that any ship coming near would be undoubtedly destroyed.^ This naraka is • The nameB by which the place of pnniBhment for the wicked Ib most frequently designated, are in themselves evidence that the locality to which the? refer was supposed to be situated within the earth, or in some place con- cealed ; as, sheol, hades, infemum, hell. Among the Celtic Druids the abyss whence the waters burst forth at the deluge of Ghwyn, and the abode of the eril principle, was called annwn, the deep. And it was in " bottomless per- dition " that Milton's place of doom was situated, where " Hope never comes That comes to all : but torture without end Still urges, and a fiery deluge, fed With eyer-buminff sulphur unconsumed." t Homer makes the seat of hell as far beneath the deepest pit of earth as the heaven is above the earth, II. viii. 16. Virgil makes it twice as far, Mn. vi. 577 ; and Milton thrice as far, Par. Lost, i. 73. — ^Bishop Newton's Milton. X The position of these heUs, and the effect produced by their flames, remind us of the molten sea that is regarded by geologists as existing in the interior of the globe. The flames issuine forth from a volcanic crater, with irregular intermissions, bear some resemblance to the rise and rolling, in un- equal masses, of the great billows of the ocean. The earlier Budhists were famiHar with caves ; but these excavations were probably not sufficiently deep to have enabled them to observe the increase of temperature in propor- tion as we recede from the snrfitce of the earth ; and indeed, when referring 28 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. called Awlchi, from a, negative, and wtchi^ refuge, because it aflfords no way of escape; it allows of no intermission to its misery. There is also the hell called L6Mntarika, which is the inter- vening space between every three sakwalas. In this world, there is above neither sun, moon, nor light ; and below there is water, extremely cold. The darkness is incessant, except in the time of a supreme Budha, when occasionally the rays proceeding from his person, and fiUing the whole of the 10,000 sakwalas, are seen ; but this appearance is only for a moment, like the light- ning, no sooner seen than gone. The inhabitantfl of Sanjiwa live 600 years, each year being the same length as a year in Chaturmahardjika, so that their age is 160,000 kolas of the years of men. In Kalasdtra, the a^ is 1,296,000 kelas of years. In Sanghata it is one prak6ti and 368,000 kelas. In Rowrawa, it is eight prakdtis and 2,944,000 kelas. In Maha Rowrawa, it is sixty-four prakdtis and 3,568,000 kelas. In Tdpa, it is 530 prakdtis and 8,416,000 kelas. In Awichi it is an entire antah-kalpa. 12, The Periodical Destruction and Renovation of the Unvoerse, The rain that falls at the oommenoement of a kalpa is called sampattikara-maha-m^gha. It is formed through the united merit of all beings (who live in the upper brahmarltfkas and outer sak- walas). The drops are at first small as the gentle dew | then gradually become larger, until they are the size of a palm-tree. The whole of the space that 7as previously occupied by the kelalaksha of worlds destroyed by fire is filled with fr^sh water, and then the rain ceases. A wind then arises that agitates the water until it is dried up.* After a long period, the mansion of to their thennal character, they represent them as places comparatiyely cool. There are similar speculations in the geof;no8j of the G-reeks. " Within this earth, all around, there are greater and smaller carems. There water flows in abundance ; and also much fire, great fire-streams, and streams of wet mud. Feriphlegethon flows into an extensive district burning with fierce fire ; where it forms a lake larger than our own sea, boiling with water and mud. From hence it moyes in circles round the earth, turbid and muddy." — Plato's Pbeedo. This periphlegethon was supposed to be uniyersally pre- valent in the interior of the globe. " Volcanic scoriae and lava streams were portions of periphlegethon itself, portions of the subterranean m^ted and ever-moving mass." — Humboit's Kodmos. * '' Bj what means is it that so great a body of water acquires the pro- perties of BoUdity ?