The Buddhist Cosmos

by Punnadhammo Mahathero

  In the asura realm, the great tree is the Cittapāṭalī (SN 48:69). We shall examine the asura realm in detail later (§ 3:3,23), but for now it must suffice to say that their realm is in many ways a kind of distorted reflection of the Tāvatiṃsa deva realm, and that the asuras having been cast down the slopes of Sineru in primordial time have been forever after making war upon the devas to attempt and regain their lost kingdom. The Cittapāṭalī Tree must resemble the Pāricchattaka Tree at least superficially because after the asuras had been cast down they did not at first realize that they weren’t in Tāvatiṃsa anymore; it was only when the Cittapāṭalī Tree blossomed that they knew, “We are not in the deva world. In the deva world, there are Pāricchattaka flowers. Old Sakka has made us drunk and cast us down into the great ocean.”99

  The Pāricchattaka and the Cittapāṭalī Trees always blossom at the same time but have recognizably different blossoms (Dhp-a 2:7). Whenever their tree goes into flower, the asuras are reminded of their great loss, become enraged and swarm up the slopes of Sineru to make war upon the devas (AN-a 9,39). The DPPN says that the Cittapāṭalī Tree is “the (pied) trumpet-flower,”100 and most translators have followed suit. Following this translation, the most likely species would be a heavenly multi-coloured counterpart of the mundane trumpet flower tree, the Stereospermum chelonoides, a tree native to India.101

  The supaṇṇas are gigantic birds which live half-way up the slopes of Sineru in a grove of simbali trees.102 These trees are identified by DPPN as being Bombax ceiba, “silk-cotton” or “kapok” trees.103 Their great tree is also of this kind (AN-a 1: 322).

  Trees have a very important place in the Buddhist literature. The Buddha was born under a Sal tree (Shorea robusta), attained full awakening under a Bodhi tree (Ficus religiosa) and passed away under a pair of Sal trees.104 The Bodhi tree, or a leaf taken from it, was declared by the Buddha to be a suitable object for homage (Jāt-a 479). It is not surprising that these seven important places, the four island-continents and the three realms associated with Mt Sineru, should each be graced with a huge central tree which lasts for an entire age of the world and serves as the characteristic emblem of that place.

  1:15 CELESTIAL REALMS

  The Tāvatiṃsa realm is the highest sagga (deva realm or “heaven”) which is still in physical contact with the earth, being situated on the summit of Mt Sineru. There are four additional saggas which are located in the space above in “aerial abodes” (AK 3:5, p. 465). These are, in order from the lowest to the highest; the realms of Yāma, Tusita, Nimmānarati and Paranimmitavasavatti. These realms, although not located on the “earth” are considered an integral part of the cakkavāḷa. The Pali sources are silent about the actual distances of the various saggas above Sineru, but there is a scheme outlined in the Abhidharmakośa in which each succeeding sagga is twice as high above “sea-level” as the preceding one. Thus, as Mt Sineru is 80,000 yojana high according to the same source, the sagga of the Yāma devas is another 80,000 yojana above the mountain’s summit, or 160,000 yojana above “sea-level”. Going upward, Tusita is 320.000 yojana high, Nimmānarati 640,000 and the Paranimmitavasavatti sagga is 1,280,000 yojana above the ground (AK 3:5, p. 467).

  The realm of the first level of brahmā beings is also included in the cakkavāḷa.105 The Abhidharmakośa continues the doubling scheme through the sixteen realms of the brahmās (AK 3:5, p. 467). There is a problem with this in that some of these levels ought to be considered as inhabiting the same cosmological space.106 In any case, we are here concerned only with the first level brahmās which are part of a single cakkavāḷa according to the Visuddhimagga scheme. The Abhidharmakośa places the three grades of these in three separate levels which would then be 2,560,000, 5,120,000, and 10,240,000 yojana above sea-level respectively. There is a Pali source which gives us the height above ground for the first level brahmās (which should be taken as including all three grades). This text states that if a heavy stone is dropped from this realm and if it travels downward at 48,000 yojana per day, then it would strike the earth in four months’ time. This works out to 5,760,000 yojana.107

  If we accept the length of the yojana as being approximately twelve kilometres, then we can make a comparison of the ancient Buddhist cakkavāḷa to the modern scientific model of the solar system. The average distance of the moon to the earth is about 384,400 km or 32,000 yojana and the distance from the orbit of the earth to the orbit of Mars, the next planet out, is roughly 75,000,000 km or 6,250,000 yojana. Thus, the cakkavāḷa is very large in comparison to the earth-moon system but small relative to the entire solar system.

  These various realms located in space above the earth can all be considered as increasingly subtle and refined versions of Tāvatiṃsa. There is much less to be found about them in the Pali sources by way of detailed description, compared to the abundant information about Tāvatiṃsa. We are, however, told that each sagga has its own Nandana Grove.108 The Abhidharmakośa states that they are all ten thousand yojana in size (AK 3:5. p. 468). These details would strongly support the concept of these worlds as being variations on a single theme. Tāvatiṃsa translated onto increasingly elevated planes of being. We shall return to this theme when we discuss the various deva realms in Part Three (§ 3:5,24).

  1:16 THE STARS AND PLANETS

  In the West, beginning with the ancient Greeks and continuing through the Hellenistic and medieval periods right down to modern times, cosmological speculation has been informed by a desire to explain the apparent movement of the sun, moon, stars and planets. By contrast, for the cosmology found in the Pali sources the heavenly bodies are at most a very minor theme.109 The primary concern of the Buddhist cosmological system is to describe the physical matrix of saṃsāra and to find a place for all the various classes of beings in their different planes and with their different modes of consciousness, rather than an attempt to explain the observable physical universe.

  The only detailed description of the movements of the celestial bodies found in the Pali texts is from the commentary to the Aggañña Sutta (DN-a 27). This text describes the origin of this world-system and its inhabitants.110 At the beginning this earth was just one mass of water covered in darkness and the sun and moon were not yet manifest (na paññāyanti). The first beings to arrive here descended from the Ābhassara Brahmā world (the level of the second jhāna brahmās) (§ 3:6,13) and being self-luminous had no need of sun or moon. However, after savoury foam appeared on the surface of the sea and some of these beings tasted it out of curiosity, they took on a coarser material form, fell to earth and, losing their radiance, began the long devolution into human beings as we know them today. It was at this point in the story that the sun, moon and stars appear. The commentary describes the process thus:111

  Taking the foam piece by piece they ate of it. Then the sun and moon manifested (pātubhaviṃsu).

  Which manifested first? Who lives there? How big are they? Which goes above? Which goes swiftly? On how many tracks do they travel? On how many places do they shine?

  Both (sun and moon) manifested together but the sun was perceived first. When the self-radiance (sayaṃpabhāya) of the beings disappeared, there was darkness and they became afraid. They thought, “Oh, it would be good (bhaddakaṃ vatassa) if a light were to manifest!” Then the circle of the sun appeared giving the people courage (sūrabhāvaṃ). Thus it was called suriyā (“the sun”, sūra means “courage”) Thus by day there was light, but at night there was still darkness. So they thought, “Oh! It would be good if another light appeared!” Having expressed this wish, the circle of the moon arose. Thus it is called canda (“the moon”, canda means “a wish”)

  The interior of the moon is a jewelled palace (vimāna). On the outside it is covered with silver. Both inside and outside are cool. The interior of the sun is a golden palace; the outside is covered with crystal. Both inside and outside are hot.

  The moon is 49 yojana across and 147 yojana around. The sun is 50 yojana across and 150
yojana around.112 The moon is below, the sun is above. Just so they are arranged. The sun is above the moon by 100 yojana.

  The moon goes up slowly and moves across swiftly. It travels among the constellations. The moon approaches the constellations as a cow approaches her calf, the constellations themselves however do not move from their place. The sun goes up swiftly and moves across slowly.

  There follows a rather difficult passage describing the motions of the sun and moon. Consider that any astronomical system, be it geocentric, heliocentric or in this case Sineru-centric, must account for both the annual and the diurnal apparent movements of the sun, the monthly and daily motions of the moon as well as its phases and also the changing of climate through the seasons of the year. In the ancient Buddhist system, the alternation of day and night is explained by the sun orbiting around Mt Sineru. At any time, three island-continents receive some sunlight. For example:

  How? When it is midday here (on Jambudīpa) the sun is setting over Pubbavideha, (it is rising over Aparagoyāna) and it is the middle of the night in Uttarakuru.

  Beside this daily rhythm, there is an annual spiralling in and out. In the month of Āsāḷha, corresponding to the Gregorian June-July, the sun and moon orbit close in the vicinity of Mt Sineru. Thereafter their orbits gradually expand until in the month of Phussa, December-January, they are orbiting close to the cakkavāḷa wall. Then the orbits gradually draw inwards again.

  The Indian year, like the Thai, is divided into three seasons: the hot season, the rainy season and the cool season. In the Buddhist astronomical system these are associated with the division of the sun’s annual spiral orbit into three “paths” (vīthi); the path of the goat, the path of the elephant and the path of the ox.

  Goats do not like water, elephants are pleased by it and oxen like a pleasant balance of heat and cold. Therefore, at the time when the sun and moon travel the path of the goat not one drop of rain falls. When they go by the elephant path, then the clouds trickle as if broken. And when they travel along the ox path, then we enjoy an even balance of heat and cold.

  The sub-commentary adds that the altitude of the sun and moon also varies as they travel these paths, which accounts for the change in temperature on the earth. When they are on the goat path, in the hot season (roughly corresponding to the northern hemisphere summer) the sun is lower and closer to the earth. In the rainy season (roughly the northern autumn) as they travel the elephant path they are at their highest point and in the “cool” season they are somewhere in the middle. The changing temperatures affect the mood of the sky devas who make rain. When the weather is too hot, they do not feel like leaving their vimānas (dwellings) to come out and play, so no rain is made. In the rainy season, they rejoice in the cool weather, (always considered a good thing in northern India) and make sport by producing rain. In the “cool” season they come out to play occasionally, as the mood suits them (DN-ṭ 27).

  The phases of the moon are explained in a way that is not too different from the modern scientific explanation. As the sun orbits around Sineru at less velocity than the moon, the angle between them is constantly changing. The light of the sun being so much greater than that of the moon, it causes the moon to cast a shadow which obscures part of its face. Since the sun is also at a higher elevation, once a month it is directly over the moon and the shadow obscures the entire disk. Two weeks later, the two bodies are at their maximum separation, with the sun directly opposite the moon and casting no shadow, “Just as a house at noon casts no shadow.”113

  The markings on the face of the moon are explained in the Sasa Jātaka. The Bodhisatta had been born as a hare and had made a vow to give alms to any beggar who came his way. Sakka, king of the Tāvatiṃsa devas, came to earth in the form of a brahmin ascetic to test the little hare’s resolve. When the hare found he had nothing to give he decided to throw himself into the brahmin’s camp fire to give him a meal of roast hare:

  The hare thought, “If there are insects in my fur, they will die.” So he shook himself three times to cast them off, then like a royal swan descending into a lotus pond he leapt into the flames. But the fire did not even warm the pores of his skin; it was just like jumping into a pile of snow. “Brahmin, this fire of yours is unable even to warm me. How is this?” “Wise hare (sasapaṇḍita), I am not a brahmin. I am Sakka and I have come here to test you.” “Sakka, if not only you but all those living in this world came to test my generosity, they would never see me unwilling to give.” Thus the hare made his lion’s roar.

  At that, Sakka said, “Wise hare, your quality (guṇa) shall be known for an entire kappa.” So saying, he crushed a mountain and using its essence (rasa) drew an image of a hare on the circle of the moon.114

  As for the shapes of the sun and moon, whether they are flat disks or spheres, or something in between, we are given no definite information. They must have some depth, though, because they are the abodes of many devas (SN-a 2:10). The motive power which carries the sun and moon along is said to be a “circle of wind” (vātamaṇḍala) (DN-ṭ 27). Elsewhere, it is said to the power of kamma of those beings born as devas in the sun and moon (SN-ṭ 2:10). The two explanations are not incompatible and the Abhidharmakośa indeed states explicitly that the kamma of those beings generates the wind (AK 3:5. p. 460). Eclipses are caused by the gigantic asura Rāhu seizing the sun or moon in his hand (partial eclipse) or in his mouth (total eclipse). We will consider Rāhu and his actions more fully in the chapter on asuras.115

  Of the other planets and their motions, we hear next to nothing. Mars (aṅgāraka) is mentioned in the context of eclipses; it is said that Rāhu can seize not only the sun or moon but also “Mars and so forth among the constellations” (DN-a 1). This is a significant commentarial gloss because it recognizes Mars as being something other than an ordinary star. The passage in the text refers to predicting eclipses of the constellations as being one among a long list of things a good bhikkhu will not practice for gain.116 It seems that the commentators were aware that there can be no eclipse of constellations, and therefore substituted “Mars and so forth.”117

  Venus is called osadhitāraka (“the healing star”). The PED expresses doubt about this identification but there is good reason to accept it. The osadhitāraka is often mentioned in similes expressing brightness and the language used is “just as the osadhitāraka shines in the early morning” (E.g. SN 2:29). Venus, of course, always appears in the sky in the late evening or early morning. Furthermore, in a graded list of things which are bright, the osadhitāraka is cited just before the moon (MN 79) and Venus is the brightest object in the sky after the sun and moon. Venus, or osadhitāraka, is associated not only with brightness but also with purity of colour, as an example of pristine whiteness (MN 77). Venus is called “the healing star” either because herbalists gather their herbs (osadhi) under its light, (MN-a 79) or because the rays of that planet have in themselves a healing quality (It-a 1:3,7). Venus is also a symbol of constancy, because it never abandons its own path to wander on another.118

  There is no discussion of the nature of the fixed stars in the Pali texts. The Abhidharmakośa says that the “houses of the stars” are inhabited, like the sun and the moon, by deities of the Cātumahārājika class (AK 3:5. p 462). In the Pali sources, the stars are mostly mentioned in the context of the calendar. Ancient India used a complex lunar-solar calendar which divided the solar year into twelve months depending on which constellation (nakkhatta) the sun was presently moving through. Being prominent star groups cited along the ecliptic, they inevitably agree more or less with the western signs of the zodiac. The lunar month was divided into twenty-seven or twenty-eight “lunar mansions” cited along the same ecliptic. The Buddhists shared this same calendric system, as is evidenced for example by the naming of the months in the Buddha’s biography (E.g. DN-a 14).

  The study of the stars for the purposes of astrological prediction is recognized in the Pali texts but is generally frowned upon, being listed as one of the m
odes of wrong livelihood forbidden to bhikkhus.(DN 1). There are several references to astrology in the Jātakas.

  Once upon a time, when Brahmadatta was king in Bārāṇasi, the Bodhisatta was born into a banker’s family, and upon coming of age was made the treasurer and was called Cūḷaseṭṭhi (“Little Banker”). He was wise, and skilled in knowledge of all the signs. One day, while he was on his way to attend on the king, he saw a dead mouse lying in the street. Calculating the position of the constellations at that very instant, he said aloud, “If a young man with vision (cakkhumant, lit. “endowed with eyes”) were to pick up this mouse, he could make a living and support a family.” A man from a poor family overheard this and thought, “This fellow knows what he is speaking about.” He picked up the mouse and sold it in the market as food for a cat, getting a single kākaṇikā (a coin of very low value) for it. (Jāt 4)

  The remainder of the story goes on to describe how he turned this trifling coin into a large fortune by one shrewd trade after another. Another story describes a dishonest ascetic using vain astrological predictions for his own petty ends. In the denouement, a wise man recites a verse ridiculing dependence on the stars:

  Studying the constellations,

  the fool misses his opportunity (attha).

  Opportunity is opportunity’s own constellation.

  What can the stars do?119

  Taken all together, the astronomical system embedded in the Buddhist cosmology appears remarkably rudimentary, and even naive. It seems to us, with the benefit of many centuries of hindsight, that it would have been a simple matter to refute a Sineru-centric system by observations of the diurnal and annual movements of the sun and other bodies. This is especially odd because Indian culture as a whole was not backward in development of astronomical science. A little after the time when the commentaries were written, Aryabhata published an astronomical treatise featuring a geocentric model with a rotating spherical earth.120 Nevertheless, the Sineru-centric model long retained its predominance in Buddhist thought. The fifteenth century Thai work, The Three Worlds According to King Ruang121 retains the same system, with only small modifications to the solar movements. Indeed, the world-system with Sineru at the centre and the sun and moon rotating around it remained the preferred model of all Buddhists well into modern times.122