Four continents: Difference between revisions

From Rigpa Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(Moved Skt. Tib to the continent wiki pages.)
No edit summary
 
(2 intermediate revisions by one other user not shown)
Line 4: Line 4:
#[[Purvavideha]] in the East, which is semi-circular and white in colour;
#[[Purvavideha]] in the East, which is semi-circular and white in colour;
#[[Jambudvipa]] in the South, which is trapezoidal and blue (this is the continent we human beings live in);
#[[Jambudvipa]] in the South, which is trapezoidal and blue (this is the continent we human beings live in);
#[[Aparagodaniya]] (Skt. ''Aparagodānīya;'' Tib. བ་ལང་སྤྱོད་, ''Balangchö''; Wyl. ''ba lang spyod''; Eng. 'Enjoyer of Cattle') in the West, which is circular and ruby red; and
#[[Aparagodaniya]] in the West, which is circular and ruby red; and
#[[Uttarakuru]] (Skt.; Tib. སྒྲ་མི་སྙན་,  ''Draminyen''; Wyl. ''sgra mi snyan''; Eng. 'Unpleasant Sound') in the North, which is square and green.
#[[Uttarakuru]] in the North, which is square and green.


Each of the four continents is flanked by two subcontinents (Skt. ''kṣudradvīpāni''; Tib. གླིང་ཕྲན་, ling tren; Wyl. ''gling phran'') of the same shape (see [[eight subcontinents]]).
Each of the four continents is flanked by two subcontinents (Skt. ''kṣudradvīpāni''; Tib. གླིང་ཕྲན་, ling tren; Wyl. ''gling phran'') of the same shape (see [[eight subcontinents]]).
Line 13: Line 13:
==Further Reading==
==Further Reading==
*[[Jamgön Kongtrul]], ''Myriad Worlds'' (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 1995), pages 110-113 & 138-140, ISBN 978-1559391887
*[[Jamgön Kongtrul]], ''Myriad Worlds'' (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 1995), pages 110-113 & 138-140, ISBN 978-1559391887


[[Category:Three Realms of Samsara]]
[[Category:Three Realms of Samsara]]

Latest revision as of 10:54, 9 September 2023

An illustration of our world system

Four continents (Tib. གླིང་བཞི་, ling shyi, Wyl. gling bzhi) — the four island-continents (Skt. dvīpa; Tib. གླིང་, Wyl. gling) which surround Mount Meru according to the cosmology of the Abhidharma. They are:

  1. Purvavideha in the East, which is semi-circular and white in colour;
  2. Jambudvipa in the South, which is trapezoidal and blue (this is the continent we human beings live in);
  3. Aparagodaniya in the West, which is circular and ruby red; and
  4. Uttarakuru in the North, which is square and green.

Each of the four continents is flanked by two subcontinents (Skt. kṣudradvīpāni; Tib. གླིང་ཕྲན་, ling tren; Wyl. gling phran) of the same shape (see eight subcontinents).

Apart from the Chamara subcontinent of Jambudvipa, which is inhabited by rakshasa demons, all the other island-continents are inhabited by human beings of different characteristics, life styles and life-spans. Each continent also has a specific attribute (see four attributes of the four continents).

Further Reading

  • Jamgön Kongtrul, Myriad Worlds (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 1995), pages 110-113 & 138-140, ISBN 978-1559391887