Dr. N.L. Kachhara
The first question that can be asked is where is Jambudweep? Most people assume Earth to be the Jambudweep. We know that Jambudweep is disk shaped and the Earth is spherical. Where is mount Sumeru? Again people assume some mountain on Earth as Sumeru. If it were so then the Sun and Moon would orbit it. Similarly, attempts to locate Haimvat, Harivarsh, Videh regions on Earth have failed. Besides geography the other features of Jambudweep like presence of omniscient in Videh etc, are also not found on Earth. In no way the Earth can be Jambudweep. Let us broaden our vision and compare Jambudweep with the Milky Way.
Jambudweep and Milky Way both is disk shaped. Jambudweep has diameter of 100000 yojana and Milky Way has diameter of 100000 light years. The periphery of Jambudweep is 300000 yojana and the periphery of Milky Way is 250-300 thousand light years. 13th Sthanak (Chapter) of Samavayang Sutra mentions that the expansion of the solar system is equal to 48/61 yojana. According to science the Oort cloud is considered to be the outer edge of the solar system where the Sun's orb of physical and gravitational influence ends. The Oort cloud is an immense spherical cloud surrounding the solar system and extending about 30 trillion kilometers from the Sun. Comparing yojana to a light year the expansion of the solar system according to Jain philosophy is (48/61 x 9.46 trillion =) 7.44 trillion kilometers. Though the agreement is not good, but knowing the approximations involved in defining and measuring the size of the solar system, comparison of yojana and light year for celestial measurements appears to be a reasonable choice.
Mount Sumeru is located in the center of Jambudweep and the center of Milky Way is dense and bulging out. Mount Sumeru is 10000 yojana wide at base and the dense center of Milky Way is 1-2 thousand light years wide. The Sun and Moon orbit Mount Sumeru in Jambudweep and the Sun and Moon in Milky Way orbit the center. The Jambudweep is surrounded by Lavana Ocean, which has 48 small islands, the Milky Way is surrounded by a halo containing 146 star clusters and many dwarf galaxies. The Bharat region is located on one side of Jambudweep and our Sun is situated away from the galactic center. Thus we see many features common to Jambudweep and Milky Way.
We extend our analogy further. Countless circular oceans and islands surround Jambudweep. No such island or ocean has ever been seen. This kind of description appears to be a symbolic representation of the reality. A circular island perhaps represents the orbital path of a galaxy. That is, there is a galaxy at a distance from Jambudweep, which has an orbital motion. The countless islands signify that there are countless galaxies all having orbital motions. The oceans are intergalactic spaces, which contain many star clusters and small and dwarf galaxies. By this analogy the Andromeda Galaxy is the Dhatikikhand Island and perhaps the Triangulum Galaxy is the Pushkarvara Island. Dhatikikhand has two mount Meru and Andromeda has two separate concentrations P1 and P2 in its nucleus. Andromeda has more than 14 dwarf galaxies in its hello and the Kalodaka Ocean surrounding the Dhatikikhand has 48 small islands. The number of dwarf galaxies orbiting Milky Way and Dhatikikhand is not final and more are likely to be discovered in future.
According to Jain Philosophy the loka is beginning less but all matter follows the basic rule of origination-cessation-permanence. This means that any aggregate like star and planet can disintegrate into particles and paramanus and such particles and paramanus can assemble and aggregate to form new stars and planets. In the same way islands are also not permanent, they may disintegrate and loose their identity. Astronomical observations confirm that this is a regular process in space, old galaxies are destroyed and new galaxies are formed. This must be the reason that the number of islands in middle loka is said to be countless, as their number is not fixed and keeps on changing over time. But the overall structure of the middle loka is invariant; no event like Big Bang is permissible in Jain philosophy.
Space scientists have detected microwave radiations coming from distances as far as 11-15 billion light years. According to them these microwave radiations may have originated 300000 years after the Big Bang, which may mean that we have reached near the edge of the universe, about 93 billion light years (commoving distance) away. Based on this the universe may be assumed roughly to be 200 billion light years across, approximately equal to 2x1022 kilometers.
On the basis of above comparison we may infer that Milky Way may be the Jambudweep, at least from cosmic considerations. The middle loka and Jambudweep as depicted in fig 6.5 and 6.6 appear more like artist's conception then actual maps, the kind of symmetry shown in these figures can not be realistic. But even disregarding symmetry we admit that it is difficult to find exact correspondence between Milky Way and Jambudweep. We cannot easily identify the Haimvat, Harivarsh, Videha etc. regions of Jambudweep in the Milky Way in the manner described in Jaina scriptures. Nevertheless, we note that Milky Way contains seven major regions four major arms, two smaller arms and a nucleus (see fig 6.9) like seven regions, Bharat, etc, in Jambudweep. Our Sun is situated in the smaller arm Orion, like Bharat region, which is only 526 6/19 yojana wide in the Jambudweep of 100000 yojana. The common features between Jambudweep and Milky Way do tempt us to believe that Milky Way galaxy is like Jambudweep. Mount Sumeru in the center of Jambudweep is signified by a dense nucleus in the Milky Way.
The middle loka is one raju wide and flat. The universe is also flat according to astronomical observations. The middle loka contains all the islands, which have been compared with galaxies. The universe is estimated to be nearly 2x1022 kilometers wide, which is roughly of the same order as one raju distance mentioned before. According to Jain philosophy the stellar celestial beings are found only in middle loka. Thus the universe known to science is comparable with middle loka. This is a very significant derivation as it means that the science does not know about upper loka and lower loka. This indeed may be the case because the lands in there two loka are of different kind as shown below.
The description of Bharat region as obtained in Jaina scriptures also justifies its location on Earth. So we may say that Earth is Bharat region in a specific or local sense and the Orion arm is the Bharat region in a broader or galactic sense. This is just like Delhi, which is a city in the local sense and a state in the wider sense. The Vijayardh Mountain is the source of rivers Ganga and Sindhu and the abode of wandering celestial beings and great scholars. We know that rivers Ganga and Sindhu have their origin in Himalayas, where great Rishis live, as found in the writings of Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya and Swami Rama. So, mountain Himalaya can be regarded as Vijayardh Mountain. The region surrounded by Lavana Ocean on three sides and the Vijayardh Mountain on the fourth side is the Arya Khand. The oceans on Earth are also known as Lavana Sea in puranic literature. This indicates that India is the Arya Khand where Ayodhya is also located*. The other areas of Bharat region have been called as Mlechha Khand where people were said to be non-religious. This statement perhaps has reference to the Shraman culture, which existed only in India. People outside India did not have concept of Ahimsa, which is one of the main principle of Shraman or Indian culture. Lord Mahavira did not travel to Mlechha Khand because of this difference in religion in India and outside.
Scientists have been trying to find intelligent life on other planets in space. According to Jain philosophy life exists all over Jambudweep. The Bharat, Airavat, and east and west Videha regions are lands of actions and the other regions are lands of enjoyment. The scientific advancements are expected only in lands of action. Thus intelligent life and scientifically advanced civilizations may be expected in Orion arm, the nucleic center of Milky Way, which must be the Videha region, and one more region corresponding to the Airavat region. The Videh region is also supposed to be spiritually advanced. Intelligent life must also exist on other spiral arms of the Milky Way but these being lands of enjoyment, scientific advancement may not be expected there.
According to Jaina scriptures human beings are found in the Two and Half Islands only. It means that life and civilizations similar to that in Milky Way are also expected in the
*In other possible description of Bharat region, the Earth, the six continents viz., Eurasia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia and Antartica may be considered as six parts of Bharat region, the Eurasia being the Araya Khand.
Andromeda Galaxy and perhaps also in the Triangulum Galaxy. The other Galaxies must have animals but not human beings.
The above comparison of middle loka and universe opens up a new area of study both for Jain philosophy and science. It is hoped that with further research and study both these branches of knowledge would have much to exchange and gain.
