Part 1 - Types of the Universe (loka)

Q. 54. Bhante! How many types of loka (world) are there?

A. 54. Gautama! They have been stated to be four, viz., world as object, world as space, world as time and world as cognition.

Q. 55. Bhante! How many types is the world as space?

A. 55. Gautama! It has three types, viz., world beneath, world in the middle and world high up.

Q. 56. Bhante! How many types is the world as space beneath?

A. 56. Gautama! Seven types, Ratnaprabhā hell till the lowest seventh.

Q. 57. How many types is the world as space in the middle?

A. 57. Gautama! Many types, Jambūdvīpa, till Svayambhūramaṇa ocean.

Q. 58. Bhante! How many types is the world as space high up?

A. 58. Fifteen types, viz., Saudharmakalpa, till Acyutakalpa (twelve), Graiveyaka Vimānas, Anuttara Vimānas and Iṣatprāgbhāra (Siddhaśīlā).

Q. 59. Bhante! What is the shape of the world as space beneath?

A. 59. Gautama! It is tripod in shape.

Q. 60. Bhante! What is the shape of the world as space in the middle?

A. 60. Gautama! It is round like the metallic drum (jhālar).

Q. 61. Bhante! What is the shape of the world as space high up?

A. 61. Gautama! It is like a drum called mṛdaṅga.

Q. 62. Bhante! What is the shape of the universe as a whole?

A. 62. Gautama! The universe as a whole has the shape of a wine cup turned upside down and another placed on it, wide at the bottom, slender in the middle, etc., as described in the Book Seven Chapter One. This universe is well-known to the masters of knowledge and faith, who are later perfected, till end all misery.

Q. 63. Bhante! What is the shape of non-space?

A. 63. Gautama! It has the shape of a soft ball (jhusiragola).

Q. 64. Bhante! In the world as space underneath, is there the soul (jīva), parts of the soul, space-points of the soul?

A. 64. Gautama! Similar to what has been stated in Book Ten Chapter One about the eastern direction, till addhā-samaya.

Q. 65. Bhante! In the world as space in the middle, is there the soul, (repeat as before)?

A. 65. Gautama! As before; and so also about the world as space high up except that in this case, there are only six non-shaped non-souls, there being no time. (They are; motion-that-be, parts there of, rest-that-be, parts there of, vacuum-that-be and parts there of.)

Q. 66. Bhante! Is there the soul in the universe, etc?

A. 66. Gautama! Similar to Book Two Chapter Tea on things-that be, like the description of the sky on the world (lokākāśa), exception being that the non-shaped non-souls are seven in number, till the space-points of the rest-that-be, not the sky-that-be, but a part of the sky-that-be, space-points of the sky-that-be, and time. The rest as before.

Q. 67. Bhante! Is there the soul in the non-space?

A. 67. Gautama! Similar to Book Two Chapter Ten on things-that-be like the description of the sky on non-space, till it is less than the whole sky by an infinite fraction.

Q. 68. Bhante! On. a space-point of the sky on the world as space beneath, is there the soul, parts of the soul, space-points of the soul, the non-soul, parts of the non-soul, space-points of the non-soul?

A. 68. Gautama! Not the soul, but parts of the soul, space-points of the soul, the non-soul, parts of the non-soul, space-points of the non-soul. Of these, the parts of the soul are invariably the parts of one-organ beings, or the parts of the one-organ being and a single part of a two-organ being, or the parts of the one-organ being and the parts of two organ beings. To be known like this, except the middle form (viz., the parts of the one-organ beings and a single part of a two-organ being), till the end, till without the organs of sense, till the parts of the one-organ beings and the parts of the beings without the organs of sense. Coming to the space-points of the soul, they are, as a rule, the space-points of the one-organ beings, or the space-points of the one-organ beings and the space-points of one two-organ being or the space-points of the one-organ beings and the space-points of the two-organ beings. Repeat like this till the five-organ beings, two forms only, discarding the first form. State all the three forms in the case of those without the organs of sense. The non-souls have been stated to be of two types, viz, those with a shape and those without a shape. The non-souls with a shape have been already described. The non-souls without a shape are five, viz., parts of motion-that-be, space-points of motion-that-be, parts of rest-that-be, space-points of the rest-that-be and time.

Q. 69. Bhante! Is there the soul on a space-point of the world as space in the middle?

A. 69. Gautama! What has been said of the world as space beneath has to be repeated in this case, and also about a space-point of the world as space high up; but since in the last case, there is no time, so there non-souls without a shape are only four. The space-point of the sky over the universe is similar to the space-point of the sky over the world as space underneath.

Q. 70. Bhante! What about the space-point of the sky of the vacant space ?

A. 70. Gautama! There is no soul, nor the parts of the soul, etc., as before, till space is characterised by infinite non-heavy-light qualities and is slightly less by an infinite fraction than the whole sky. From the stand point of object, the world as space beneath has an infinite number of soul-objects, an infinite number of non-soul objects, an infinite number of soul-non-soul objects. Like this the world in the middle and the world high up. From the standpoint of object, the vacant space is without a soul object, without a non-soul object, without a soul-non-soul object, but a part of the non-soul, till slightly less by an infinite fraction than the whole sky. From the standpoint of time, the world as space beneath, it has never been that there is no time, till it is eternal. Like this, till the vacant space, from the standpoint of cognition, the world as space beneath has an infinite categories of colour, as stated in Book Two Chapter One, the Skandaka story, till an infinite number of non-heavy-light categories, and like this of all the worlds. From the standpoint of cognition, the vacant space has no categories of colour, till no non-heavy-light categories, but it is a world of a single non-soul, and it is less by an infinite fraction than the whole sky.