Dr. Samani Chaitanya Pragya
The whole cosmos is very vast and cannot be measured by the physical unit of measurement. Its length and breadth are not expressible in numerical figure. Yet, the Jain mathematicians have made great efforts to indicate the vastness of the universe. They have used astrophysical unit of measurement such as Rajju or rope and Yojana for it (see figure-1). According to the Jains the cosmos are four sided with a base of 7 x 7 = 49 square Rajjus. In length the universe is of fourteen Rajjus as indicated before.[90] The concept of measuring universe in terms of Rajju looks later development because the Bh.S does not mention it to explain the vastness of the universe. The text mentions only Yojana as a larger unit of measurement to long distances. The entire cosmos, according to the Bh.S, is of innumerable 107 x 107 Yojanas in length and breadth and innumerable 107 x 107 Yojanas in circumference.[91] Inspite of such length and breadth, cosmos has a limit.
