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There are six d^wa-16kas (worlds in which there is the enjoyment of happiness), and sixteen brahmarl6kas (in which the enjoyment is of a more intellectual character, gradually verging towards supreme tranquillity and utter unconscious- ness) (10). Under the rock Maha M^ru is the residence of the asiirs. The principal najakas (places of suffering) are eight in number (11). VI. The earth, inhabited by men, with the various conti- nents, 16kas, and sakwalas connected with it, is subject Bltev- nately to destruction and renovation, in a series of revolutions, to which no beginning, no end, can be discovered. Thus it ever was ; thus it will be, ever. There are three modes of destruction. The sakwalas are destroyed seven times by fii-e, and the eighth time by water. Every sixty-fourth destruction is by wind. When the destruction is by the agency of fire, from the period at which the fire begins to burn to the time when the destruction is complete, and the fire entirely burnt out, there are 20 antah-kalpas. This period is called a sangwartta- asankya-kalpa. From the period at which the fire ceases to burn to the falling of the great rain (12) by which the future world is to be formed, there are 20 antah-kalpas. This period is called a sangwarttastdyi-asankya-kalpa. From the first falling of the seminal rain to the formation of the sun, moon, rocks, oceans, &c., there are 20 antah- kalp&s. This period is called a wiwartta-asankya-kalpa. After the elapse of 20 antah-kalpas more, a great rain begins to fall; and this period is called a wiwarttastayi- asankya-kalpa. 6 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. Thua there are four great cycles of mundane revolution : — 1. Of destruction (as the names given to the four asankya- kalpas respectively signify). 2. Of the continuance of destruction. 3. Of formation. 4. Of the continuance of formation. These four asankya-kalpas make a maharkalpa. 1. An Asankya, Were all the mould of which the Great Earth is composed to he counted in molecules the size of the seed called tibhatu ; or all the water of the four great oceans, in portions diminutiye as the rain- drop ; the result would be a number of vast extent ; but even this great accumulation would be utterly inadequate to set forth the years in an asankya. All the matter in all worlds would fail as a medium by which to exhibit its g^reatness, and the most skilful arithmeticians are unable rightly to comprehend it ; but some idea of its magnitude may be gained from the following scale of numeration.* 10 decenniums . 10 hundreds . . 100 thousands 100 lakshaa . . 100 lahshas of kdtis. make k6ti of prakdtis. k6tiprak6tis nahutas . . ninnahutas , hntanahutas khambas wiskhambas ababas , . attatas . . 1 hundred. 1 thousand. 1 laksha. 1 k6ti, or kela. 1 prak6ti. 1 k6tiprak6ti 1 nahuta. 1 ninnahuta. 1 hutauahuta. 1 khamba. 1 wiskhamba. 1 ababa. 1 attata. 1 ahaha. * Eyery sentenoe that appears in the smaller type is translated from some Singhalese MS. ; but as the natiye works abound with repetitions from each other, in the same paragraph I haye sometimes cidled a portion from seyeral different authors. I haye not thought it necessary, in many instances, to insert the name of my authority. To haye done so would haye been to crowd my pages with names that to the mass of my readers would be of no benefit, as they are not able to refer to them to test the truthfulness of my renderings. It must be understood that where no authority is giyen the statement appears in different works. I. THE SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 7 1 k6ti of ahahas . . make . 1 knmnda. 1 „ kumndas .... 1 gandhika. 1 „ gandhikas .... 1 atpala. 1 „ utpalas . 1 pundarika. 1 „ pundarikas . . . 1 paduma. 1 „ padnmas .... . 1 katha. 1 „ kathas 1 maba; katha. 1 ,, maha kathas . . . . 1 asankya.* 2, The Kalpas, From the time that the age of man increases from ten yearst to an asankja, and decreases from an asankya to ten years, is an antah-kalpa. Were the surface of the earth to increase in eleva- tion at the rate of one inch in a thousand years, and the process to continue in the same proportion, the elevation would extend to twenty-eight miles before the antah-kalpa would be concluded. Twenty antah-kalpas make an asankya-kalpa. Four asankya-kalpas make a maha-kalpa. To one antah-kalpa there are eight yugas, four of which are called utsarppani and four arppani. The four utsarppani yugas are progressive, and are therefore called drdhamukha ; bat the four arppani are retrograde, and are therefore called adhdmukha. From the period in which men live ten years, to that in which they live an asankya, is an tirdhamukha yuga ; and from the period in which they live an asankya, to that in which they live ten years, is an adhdmakha yuga. The four utsarppani yugas are called kali, dwapara, tr6ta and krita, respectively ; and the four arppani yugas, krita, treta, d wdpara, and kali. Were the krita yuga divided into four parts, the whole four would be good ; were the tr6ta divided in the same way, three would be good ; were the dwapara thus divided, two would be good ; and were the kali thus divided, only * In other lists that I haye seen, the numbers are differently arranged, and in some instances are expressed by different terms ; but the numerical power of the result is always the same. " If for three years it should rain inces- santly oyer the wliole surface of this earth (or sakwala), the number of drops of rain falling in such a space and time, although far exceeding human con- ception, would only equal the number of years in an asankya." — Buchanan, Asiatic Researches, yi. The asankya is a unit with 140 cyphers. — Csoma KdrOsi, As. Bes. xx. The brahmans haye a number called a par&rddha, which is represented by 15 (and sometimes 18) places of figures. t " In the Kali age a man will be grey when he is twelve j and no on© will exceed twenty years of life." — ^Wilson's Vishnu Pur&na. 8 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. one wonld be good.* It would be as great a miracle for a supreme Budha to be bom in a kali juga, as for a beautiful and sweet- scented lotus to blow amidst the flames of hell. There are stinya and asunya kalpas. It is only in the asdnya kalpas that the Budhas appear ; they are distinguished by the names of sdra, manda, wara, sdramanda, and bhadra kalpas. When one Budha is born in a kalpa, it is called sdra ; when two, it is called manda; when three, wara; when four, sdra- manda; and when five, bhadra. It is only after very long intervals that the bhadra kalpa occurs. t 3. The Sahwalas. . One thousand sakwalas are called sahasri-16kadh&tu. Ten lacs of sakwalas are called madyama-ldkadhdtu. One hundred kelas of sakwalas are called maha-sahasri-16kadhAtu. That space is infinite ; that the beings inhabiting it are infinite : and that the sakwalas are infinite,^ is known to Budha, and by him alone is it perceived. § * These periods correspond Tiith the yugs of the Brahmans, of which the satya yug comprehends 1,728,000 years ; the tr^ta, . 1,296,000 years ; the dwapar, 164,000 years ; and the kali, 482,000 years. The year 1852 is the 4936th year of the kali yug, and the 3,892,936th year of the kalpa. But though the two systems agree as to the order and character of the yugs, there is an essential difference in their duration. It has been remarked that these yugs correspond, in number, succession, and character, with the golden, silyer, brazen, and iron ages of the Greek and Roman mythologists. t The brahmanical kalpa, equal to the whole period of the four yugs, con- sists of four thousand three hundred and twenty millions of solar yeiu*8> which is a day of Brahma ; and his night has Uie same duration. Three hundred and sixty of these days and nights compose a year of Brahma, and a hundred of these years constitute has life, which therefore exceeds in length three hundred billions of solar years. This system originates in the descending arithmetical progression of 4, 3, 2, and 1, according to the notion of diminishing virtue in the scTcral ages, applied to a circle of 12,000 dirine years, each of which is equal to 360 years of mortals ; and 12,000 multiplied by 360 is equal to 4,320,000.— Professor H. H. Wilson.