Part 20 - Jaina Cosmography

According to the Jains, the world is eternal, without beginning or end. Loka is that place in which happiness and misery are experienced as results of virtue and vice. It is composed of three parts, ūrdhva (where the gods reside), madhya (this world of ours), and adho (where the denizens of hell reside). The mundane universe (lokākāśa) is pervaded with dharma which makes all movement possible. Beyond the lokākāśa there is no dharma and therefore no movement, but only space (ākāśa). Surrounding this lokākāśa are three layers of air. The perfected soul rising straight over the ūrdhvaloka goes to the top of this lokākāśa and (there being no dharma) remains motionless there.