The Buddhist Cosmos
Page 67
Other units of money:
māsaka = 1/20 kahāpaṇa.
pāda = 5 māsaka or ¼ kahāpaṇa.
KOṬI—A number representing ten million.
Although the Pali English Dictionary defines koṭi as “(a) number, the ‘end’ of the scale, i.e. extremely high, as a numeral representing approximately 100,000,” this does not agree with other authorities. Nor does it seem likely on the face of it since satasahassa is “plain Pali” for 100,000 making a special numeral word superfluous.
The Vedic numeral system counted one koṭi as 10,000,000867 Childers and Monier-Williams agree with this definition.868 The modern Indian name for “ten million” is one crore, which word derives from koṭi. The basic meaning of koṭi in Pali is “an end or an extreme point.” As a number it represents the highest numeral in common use: 100 x 100,000.
Granted, some uses of this number result in absurdly high figures such as King Mahāsudassana possessing among his legendary wealth 84,000 koṭi of garments, (DN 17) but we should never discount the ancient Indian fondness for big numbers.
UNITS OF COSMIC TIME
Confusion can arise when speaking about the divisions of a kappa because the terminology used in the Visuddhimagga and the Abhidharmakośa do not agree. The following is an attempt to sort out the various usages.
In the Pali texts an asaṅkheyya (“incalculable”) kappa is one of the four principal divisions of a mahākappa. In the Abhidharmakośa an asaṃkheyya kalpa (the Sanskrit equivalent) refers instead to a very much longer period consisting of one quadrillion (10^15) mahākalpas869 The Abhidharmakośa does not seem to have a generic word for the four divisions of a mahākappa.
The Abhidharmakośa uses antarakappa (“intermediate aeon”) to refer to another lesser division, twenty of which make up one of the four great divisions. In the Pali canon and commentaries, however, the term antarakappa is rarely used. When it is, it has a generic meaning as a period of some indeterminate length.870 Two examples are the seven day “sword interval” mentioned in the Cakkavatti-Sīhanāda Sutta (DN 26) and in the description of the false views of other teachers such as Makkhali Gosāla where “sixty-two antarakappa” is part of a long nonsensical list(DN 2). Unless specified otherwise, this book follows the Pali usage. The following table summarizes the terminology:
5:2 BIBLIOGRAPHY
PRIMARY SOURCES
Pali texts referred to from the Burmese Sixth Council edition as digitized by the Vipassana Research Institute (http://www.tipitaka.org). These were accessed using the Digital Pali Reader: http://Pali.sirimangalo.org/
TRANSLATIONS
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Ireland, John D. The Udāna, Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1990.
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Walshe, Maurice. The Long Discourses of the Buddha /Dīgha Nikāya, Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1995.
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5:3 GLOSSARY
(These are not meant as full definitions, but as reminders to terms introduced in the text.)
Ābhassara—second level brahmā world.
abhidhamma—the collection of scriptures dealing with psychology and metaphysics.
Abhidharmakośa—a Sarvastivadin text composed by Vasabandhu.
accharā—“celestial nymph”; a female deva who serves as a dancing girl.
Ājīvaka—a prominent school of non-Buddhist ascetics.
ākāsagaṅga—the Milky Way, lit. “the Sky-Ganges”
ākāsānañcāyatana—realm of boundless space; first arūpa level
ākiñcaññāyatana—realm of nothingness; third arūpa level
Akaniṭṭha—fifth level of Suddhavāsa and the highest point in the physical cosmos.
āṇākkhetta—“field of authority”; a grouping of one trillion world-systems
anāgāmī—“non-returner”, third stage of awakening.
Ānanda—the Buddha’s attendant.
Anotatta, Lake—a wonderful lake in the Himavā with magical properties.
antarakappa—a subdivision of a kappa
Aparagoyāna—the eastern continent.
ariyan—lit. “noble”; technically, someone who has attained to one of the stages of awakening.
arūpabhūmi, (arūpaloka, arūpāvācara, arūpadhātu, arūpabhava)—the plane of the formless; realm of the mind only beings.
asaṅkheyyā kappa—“an incalculable” period of time; in standard usage, one of the four divisions of a mahākappa.
Assakaṇṇa—seventh of seven circular mountain ranges around Sineru
asaññasatta—the unconscious beings; a special class of brahmās.
asura—demi-gods, titans; they live at the base of Mt Sineru and perpetually make war upon the devas.
Atappa—second level of the Suddhavāsa
Āvici—the lowest and worst of the hell-realms.
Aviha—first level of the Suddhavāsa.
Baka—a brahmā who held wrong views who had an encounter with the Buddha.
bhaddakappa—an aeon like the present in which five Buddhas arise.
Bhagavā—“The Blessed One”; an epithet of the Buddha.
Bārāṇasī—modern Varānasi (formerly Benares)
bhikkhu—a Buddhist monk.
bhikkhunī—a Buddhist nun.
Bodhimaṇḍa—lit. “Circle of Awakening”; the location in Northern India upon which all the Buddhas achieve Buddhahood.
Bodhisatta—a being on the path to Buddhahood. “The Bodhisatta” refers to Siddhattha Gotama before his awakening.
brahmā—a divine being of the realm of form; having transcended sensuality they are higher than devas.
brahmakāyika—generic term for first jhāna level brahmā beings.
brahmaloka—realm of the brahmā beings, usually refers to the first level of these.
brahmāpārisajja—one of “brahmā’s assembly”; lowest level of brahmā being
brahmāpurohita—one of “brahmā’s ministers”; second level of brahmā being
brāhmana—a brahmin.
bhumma deva—earth-bound deva; the lowest class of devas.
buddhakhetta—a “Buddha-field”; a grouping of multiple world-systems.
cakkaratana—“Wheel Treasure”; another name for the dhammacakka, “Dhamma Wheel”, one of the seven treasures of a cakkavatti.
cakkavāḷa—a world-system consisting of Mt Sineru, the surrounding mountains and oceans and the island-continents.
cakkavatti—a wheel-turning monarch; ruler of the entire world.
Candimā—the moon
Cātumahārājika—the Four Great Kings or their realm and its inhabitants. Lowest of the sensual heavens.
cetiya—a stupa; memorial monument
Chaddanta—the noblest tribe of elephants; possessed of great strength and the ability to fly.
Cittapāṭali—the great tree of the asuras.
dānava—a monstrous being; a kind of yakkha or asura.
deva—a divine being within the sensual realm.
Devadatta—the Buddha’s evil cousin.
devadhītu—“daughter of a deva”; a female deva.
Devānaminda—“Lord of the Devas”; a title of Sakka.
devaputta—“son of a deva”; a male deva.
devī—a female deva.
dhammacakka—“Dhamma Wheel”; the magical wheel that appears in the sky to herald the appearance of a cakkavatti
Dhataraṭṭha—Great King of the East.
dibbacakkhu—the divine eye; a psychic power of enhanced vision allowing one to see, for instance, invisible beings.
gandhabba—a lesser deva; a heavenly musician.
gati—“destination”; one of the five possible realms of rebirth.
gāvuta—a unit of measure, one fourth of a yojana or about 3 km.
hattha—a unit of measure; a cubit or about eighteen inches.
Himavā—mountains to the north of Jambudīpa; roughly speaking the Himalayas.
Īsadhara—second of seven circular mountain ranges around Sineru.
Jambudīpa—the southern continent upon which we live.
Jātaka—a story of the Buddha’s previous lives.
jātikhetta—“field of birth”; a group of ten thousand world-systems in which there may only ever be a single Buddha at a time.
jhāna—a state of meditative absorption equivalent to the consciousness of a brahmā god.
kahāpaṇa—a unit of money.
kālakañjika—a wretched kind of asura which resembles a peta.
kāmabhūmi, (kāmaloka, kāmāvācara, kāmadhātu, kāmabhava)—the plane of sense desire. Includes devas, humans and the lower realms.
kamma—volitional action which bears consequences in the future; the sanskrit is “karma”.
kapi—a monkey, the “good” kind
kappa—an aeon; usually a mahākappa is implied, i.e. a period of time equal to the life of a world-system.
kappa saṃvaṭṭati—the era during which the universe folds back or contracts.
kappa vivaṭṭati—the era during which the universe unfolds or expands.
Karavīka—third of seven circular mountain ranges around Sineru.
khattiya—the warrior-noble caste.
khīṇāsavā—synonym of “arahant”; lit
. “destroyed defilements”
kiṃpurisa—a small wood-land being. The name means “is it human?”
kinnara—another name for kiṃpurisa.
kolāhala—a great uproar made by devas at moments of cosmic significance.
koṭi—a number representing 10,000,000
kumbhaṇḍa—an odd being like a little man with enormous testicles.
loka—world, a sphere of existence.
lokadhātu—lit. “world-element”. A world or a grouping of worlds.
lokantara niraya—the dark hell located in the empty space between world-systems.
mahābrahmā—chief brahmā of the first jhāna level brahmās
mahādīpa—an island-continent of which there are four.
mahākappa—a very long time period defined as from the beginning to the end of a world-system.
Mahāniraya—“The Great Hell”; another name for Āvici.
mahāpathavī—“The Great Earth”; the terrestrial zone or ground level of the cosmos.
mahāpurisa—a great man; bears 32 marks and will become a Buddha or a cakkavatti.
Mahāsammata—“The Great Elect”; the first human king.
Mahāsamudda—the great ocean
majjhimadesa—“The Middle Country”; the Ganges Valley, area of the civilized world.
makara—a sea monster; a gigantic fish.
makkaṭa—a monkey, the “naughty” kind.
manussa—human.
manussaloka—the human realm.
Māra—the tempter; a deva of the Paranimmitavasavatti realm.
Mātali—charioteer of Sakka.
Metteyya—the coming Buddha, last of this kappa.
Moggallāna—one of the Buddha’s two chief disciples, renowned for his mastery of the psychic powers.
nāga—a powerful serpent being.
Nandanavana—chief pleasure garden of Tāvatiṃsa.
Nemindhara—fifth of seven circular mountain ranges around Sineru.
nerayikasatta—a suffering being in niraya.
nevasaññānāsaññāyatana—realm of neither perception nor non-perception; fourth arūpa level
nibbāna—the unconditioned, the end of suffering, the goal. Sanskrit = nirvana.