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*' The yojana is a measure of distance, equal to four krdsas, which at 8000 cubits or 4000 yards to the krdsa or k6s, wul be exactly 9 miles. Other computations make the yojana but about 5 miles, or even no more than 4i miles." — Wilson's Sanscrit Dictionaiy. "The Markandeya states that 10 param&nusl parasdkshma; 10 para8ukshmas=>l trasarenu ; 10 tra- sarenus 1 particle of dust ; 10 particles of dust^l hair's point; 10 hairs' points 1 likhya ; 10 likhyas ^ 1 yuka ; 10 yukas 1 heart of barley ; 10 hearts of barley B>1 grain of barley of middle size ; 10 grains of barley = 1 finger, or inch ; 6 fingers 1 pdda, or foot (the breadth of it) ; 2 feet => 1 span ; 2 spans - 1 cubit ; 4 cubits 1 staff ; 2000 stares = 1 gaTydti ; 4 gavyutis = 1 yojana." — ^Wilson's Tishnu Pur&na. The Singhalese say that 7 inches Ispan ; 9 spans *1 bow J 600 bows^l hetekma ; 4 hetekmas = l gowa (gavj^uti) ; 4 gows= 1 yoduna (yojana). The word hetekma is said to be deriyed from ek, one, and husma, breath ; meaning the distance to which a cooley can cany the natire yoke at one breath, or without putting down the burden, f " A brazen nnril, falling from the sky, Through thrice three days would toss in airy whirl, 19'or touch the earth till the tenth sun arose." Elton's Hesiod, Theog. 893. 12 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. 5. The Rocky Circles, Between Maha Mem and the circular wall of rock* boonding the Great Earth, called the sakwala-gala, are sevenf concentric circles of rocks : Yugandhara, Isadhara, Karawika, Sndarsana, Nemendhara, Winataka, and Aswakamna. The Yugandhara rocks are 84,000 jojanas high, half of this measurement being under water ; the Isadhara rocks are, in the same way, 42,000 yojanas high, each circle diminishing one half in height, as it approaches the sakwala-gala ; the outer circle, or Aswakamna rocks, being 1812 yojanas, 2 gows, high. The circun:iferonce of the entire sakwala is 3,610,350 yojanas. 6. The Oceans. Between the difEerent circles of rocks there are seas,;]; the water of which gradually decreases in depth from Maha M6ru, near which it is 84,000 yojanas deep, to the sakwala-gala near which * The Mahomedans belieye that there is a stony girdle surrounding the world, which they call Koh Kaf. t The idea of the seven concentric circles around M^ni, like that of the seyen strings of the lyre of Orpheus, or the seven steps of the ladder of Zo- roaster, was prohably suggested bj the previous idea of the orbit of the seven planets, which it is not unreasonable to suppose had its origin in the number of the days of the week, as appointed in the beginning by God. The city of Ecbatana (1/he Achmetha of Ezra vi. 2, and the Kcbatana of the Apo- crypha, supposed to be the present Hamadan) as described by Herodotus, i. 98, might have been erected as the model of sakwala. The Brahmans teach that there are seven great insular continents, surrounded severally by great seas. According to the Bh&gavata, Priyavrata drove his chariot seven times round the earth, and the ruts left by the wheels became the beds of the oceans, separating it into seven dwfpas. X Nearly all the ancient nations supposed that beneath and around the earth there is a fathomless sea, below wliich is a profound abyss, the abode of the wicked, who there undergo the punishment of their crimes. The great rivers of whose source they were ignorant, such as the Nile, were sup- posed to have their origin from this ocean ; and it was thought that regions in opposite directions might communicate by this means. Thales held the opinion that the earth floats on the ocean, like a great ship ; but this was deuied by Democritus, who taught thai the earth rests upon the air, after the nuinner of an immense bird, with its wings outspread. The opinion of the Budhists, that the earth is supported by a world of air, is more scientific than that of those Hindus who believe that it is borne upon a tortoise. Wh^ Milinda, king of S4gal, said to N^lgasena that he could not believe that the earth is supported by the world of water, and this by a world of air, the priest took a syringe, and pointed out to him that the water within the in- strument was prevented from cotniug out by the ext-erior air ; by which the king was convinced that the water under the earth may be supported by the Ajat4k&sa. '' The supreme being placed the earth on the summit of the ocean, where it floats like a mighty vessel, and from its expansive surface does not sink beneath the waters." — ^Wilson's Yishnu Purina. I. THE SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. 13 it is only one inch deep.* From the Aswakamna rocks to the sakwala-gala ia 248,150 yojanas, and 1 gow, in which space is the ocean that appears to men. In the deep waters of these great seas are the fish called l^mi, Timingala, Timiripingala, Ananda, Timanda, Ajhar6ha, and Maha Timi, some of which are two hundred yojanas in size, and others a thonsand.f There are also beings in the form of men, with large claws, khura, that sport in the sea, among the rocks, like fishes, on which account it is called Khnramali. As it abounds with gold, shining like a flame of fire, or the orb of the sun, it is called Agnimali. From the emeralds that it contains, in colour like the sacrificial grass, knsa, it is called Kusamali ; from its silver, white as milk, dadhi, it is called Dadhimali ; from its many gems, in colour like the bamboo, nala, it is called Nalamali ; and from its coral, prawdla, it is called Prawala Nalamali. There are waves that rise 60 yo- janas, called Mahinda ; others that are t50 yojanas high, called Ganga : and others 40 yojanas, called Rohana. When a storm arises, the waves are thrown to an immense height, after which they roll with a fearful noise towards Maha M6rii, on the one side, or the sakwala-gala on the other, leaving a pool or hollow in the trough of the sea, called Walabhdmukha. In a former age, when 66tama Budha was the Bodhisat Suppdraka, he entered a ship with 700 other merchants ; but when they had set sail, they passed the 500 islands connected with the southern continent, Jambadwipa, and still went on, until they knew not in what place they were. For the space of four months they con- tinued their course, but they did not meet with land. They then came to the sea of the seven gems, and filled their ship with the treasures that were presented ; but afterwards arrived at a part of the sea that is agitated by the flames proceeding from hell. The other merchants called out in fear, but Bddhisat, by the power of a charm with which he was acquainted, caused the ship to go, J in one day, to Bharukacha, Jambudwipa, at which place they • ** The waters are transparent and clear as crystal, and so Tery light, that the feather of the smallest hird, if thrown into them, will sink to the bottom." — Sangermand's Burm. Emp. t ** We were once carried," sajs a rabbin, " in a great ship, and the ship went three days and three nights between the two fins of one fish. But perhaps the ship sailed Tery slowly ? The rabbi Dimi says, A rider shot an arrow, and the ship flew faster than the arrow ; and yet it took so long time to pass between the two fins of this fish." — The Talmud. X The mariners of Phceacia, according to Homer, had ships endowed with sonscioosness, that required no steersman. 14 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. landed, and were within 8 isnbiis of their own Tillage. The waters of the sea are not increased in the rainy season, nor are they at all dried up by the severest drought ; they are ever the same. As they are composed of eqnal portions of salt and water, the sea is called samadra. This saltness is caused by their being acted npon by a submarine fire proceeding from one of the hells, which changes their natural sweetness, and by constant agitation they become thronghont of one consistency and flavonr. (S^ttry- ddgamcuM^tuircLsanne. ) 7. Uturukurudiicayina. The sqnare-faced* inhabitants of Uturaknrndiwayina, on the northf of Maha Hero, are never sick,^ and are not subject to any accident ; and both the males and the females always retain the appearance of persons about sixteen year8§ of age. They do not perform any kind of work, as they receive all they want, whether as to ornaments, clothes, or food, from a tree called kalpa-wurksha.