English
The Ethics of Budhism 477 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. I. THE SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. I. THE irUMBBB CALLED AK ABANKTA, AKD THE YABIOITB EDTDS OF CYCLES CALLED KALPAB.^II. THE 0LU8TEBS 07 WOBLDB CALLED BAEWALA8. — III. THE WOBLDB, ^OVVTAISB^ BEAB, AND CONTINENTS, CONNECTED WITH THE EABTH. — IV. THE SUN, MOON, AND PLANETS. — V. THE DEWA-L<5eAS, BBAHMA-L<$EAB, and PLACES OF SUFFEBINQ. — ^YI. THE PEBIODICAL DE8TBUCTI0N AND BENOYATION OF THE UNIYEBBE. I. The cycles of chronology are reckoned by asankyas (1) ; a word that conveys the idea of innumerable, incalculable, from a, negative, and sankya, number, that of which the sum or quantity can be determined. The number of the years to which the life of man is ex- tended never remains at one stay. It is always on the in- crease or undergoing a gradual diminution; but it never exceeds an asankya in length, and never diminishes to less than ten years ; and the progress of the change is so slow as to be imperceptible, except after long intervals of time. A decrease in the age of man is attended by a correspondent deterioration in his stature, intellect, and morals. From the time that man's age increases from ten years to an asankya, and again decreases from an asankya to ten years, is an antah-kalpa (2). Eighty antah-kalpas make a maha- kalpa. There is a species of cloth, fabricated at Benares, of the cotton that is unequalled in the delicacy of its fibre. Its worth, previous to being used, is unspeakable ; after it has been used, it is worth 30,000 nfla-karshas (of the value of 20 or 30 small silver coins) ; and even when old, it is worth 12,000 karshas. Were a man to take a piece of cloth of this IS^ B 2 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. most delicate texture, and therewith to touch, in the slightest possible manner, once in a hundred yeara, a solid rock, free from earth, sixteen miles high, and as many broad, the time . would come when it would be worn down, by this imper- ceptible trituration, to the size of a mung, or undu seed. This period would be immense in its duration ; but it has been declared by Budha that it would not be equal to a mEiha- kalpa. II. There are innumerable systems of worlds ; each system having its own earth, sun, moon, &c. (3). The space to which the light of one sun or moon extends is called a sak- wala. Each sakwala includes an earth, with its continents, islands, and oceans, and a mountain in the centre called Maha Meru ; as well as a series of hells and heavens, the latter being divided into d^warl6kas and brahma-l6kas. The sak- walas are scattered throughout space, in sections of three and three. All the sakwalas in one section touch each other, and in the space between the three is the L6kdntarika hell. Each sakwala is surrounded by a circular wall of rock, called the sakwala-gala. Were a high wall to be erected around the space occupied by a hundred thousand kelas of sakwalas (each kela being ten millions), reaching to the highest of the heavens, and the whole space filled with mustard seeds, a rishi might take these seeds, and looking towards any of the cardinal points, throw a single seed towards each sakwala, until the whole of the seeds were exhausted ; but though there would be no more seeds, there would still be more sakwalas, in the same direc- tion, to which no seed had been thrown, without reckoning the sakwalas in the three other points. The sakwala systems are divided into three classes: — 1. Wisayak-s(5tra, the systems that appear to Budha. 2. Agnya- s^tra, the systems, a hundred thousand kelas in number, that receive the ordinances of Budha, or to which the exercise of his authority extends. 3. Jammak-s^tra, the systems, ten thousand in number, in which a Budha may be born (between the birth in which he becomes a claimant for the Budhaship, L THE SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 3 or a B6dhisat, and the birth in which he attains the supre- macy), or in which the appearance of a Budha is known, and to which the power of pint, or priestly exorcism, extends. There are three other sections into which each sakwala is divided: — 1. Ariipawachara, the 16kas, or worlds, in which there is no perceptible form. 2. Riipawachara, the worlds in which there is form, but no sensual enjoyment. 3. K&rair wachara, the worlds in which there is form, with sensual en- joyment. Every part of each sakwala is included in one or other of the following divisions : — 1. Satwa-16ka ; the world of sen- tient being. 2. Awakdsa-16ka ; the world of spcwe, the empty void, the far-extended vacuum. 3. Sanskara-16ka, the material world, including trees, rocks, &c. III. At the base of each sakwala is the vacuum called Ajatdkdsa, above which is the WA-polowa, or world of wind, or air, 960 yojanas in thickness ; the world of air supports the Jala-polowa, or world of water, 480,000 yojanas in thick- ness ; and immediately above the world of water is the Maha- polowa, or the great earth, 240,000 yojanas in thickness, which is composed of two superior strata, viz., the Sala, or Gal-polowa, consisting of hard rock, and the Pas-polowa, consisting of soft mould, each of which is 120,000 yojanas in thickness. The under surface of the earth is composed of a nutritious substance like virgin honey. In the centre of the earth is the mountain called Maha M^ru (4), which, from its base to its summit, is 168,000 yojanas in height. On its top is the d^wa-loka called Tawutisi, of which Sekra is the regent, or chief. Between Maha M^ru and the rocks at the extreme circumference of the earth are seven concentric circles of rocks (5), each circle diminishing in height as it increases in extent. Between the different circles of rocks there are seas (6), the waters of which gradually decrease in depth, ficom Maha M4ru to the outermost circle, near which they are only one inch. In the waters of these seas there are various species of fish, some of which are many thousands of miles in size. b2 4 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. In each earth there are four dwlpas, or continents, the in- habitants of which have faces of the same shape as the conti- nent in which they are born. 1. Uturukurudiwayina (7), in shape like a square seat, and 8,000 yojanas in extent, on the north of Maha M^ru. 2. Piirwawid^sa, in shape like a half-moon, and 7,000 yojanas in extent, on the east of Maha M^ru. 3. Apai*ag<Sddna, in shape like a round mirror, and 7,000 yojanas in extent, on the west of Maha M^ru. 4 Jambudwfpa, three-sided, or angular, and 10,000 yojanas in extent, on the south of Maha M^ru. Of these 10,000 yoja- nas, 4,000 are covered by the ocean, 3,000 by the forest (8), of Himdla (the range of the Himalayan mountains), and 3,000 are inhabited by men. The sakwala in which GcStama appeared is called magul, festive, or joyous, because it is the only one in which a su- preme Budha is ever bom; and for the same reason, the most sacred continent in this sakwala is Jambudwlpa. In the centre of this continent is the circle called B<Sdhi-man- dala, which is, as it were, its navel; and this circle is so called because it contains the bcSdha, or bo-tree, under which G6tama became a Budha. In the earlier ages, there were 199,000 kingdoms in Jam- budwlpa; in the middle ages, at one time, 84,000, and at another, 63,000 ; and in more recent ages about a hundred. In the time of G6tama Budha this continent contained 9,600,000 towns, 9,900,000 seaports, and 56 treasure cities. IV. The sun and moon continually move through the heavens in three paths, accompanied by the stars that are in the same division of the sky (9). The sun gives light to the whole of the four continents, but not at the same time. Thus, when it rises in Jambudwfpa, it is in the zenith to the inhabitants of Piirwawid^sa, whilst at the same time it is setting in Uturukuru, and it is midnight in Aparag6ddna. Again, when th sun rises in Aparagiddna, it is mid-day in Jambudwipa, sunset in Purwawid(5sa, and midnight in Uturu- kuru. When the sun, moon, and stars go to the other side of the circle of rocks nearest to Maha M6ru, called Yugand- I. THE SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 5 hara, they appear to set to the inhabitants of Jambudwipa. The sun and moon are at regular intervals seized by the asiiis Eahu and K^tu ; and these periods are called gi-ahanas, or seizures (eclipses). The declination of the sun is caused by its gradually passing once in each year, from Maha M^ru to the extreme circumference of the sakwala, and from the extreme circumference to Maha M^ru. V.