Part 2 - Vastness of the Universe

Q. 71. Bhante! What is stated to be the size of the universe?

A. 71. Gautama! The island (continent) called Jambūdvīpa is at the centre of all the isles and oceans. Its circumference is slightly more than 3,16,227 yojanas, 3 krośas, 128 dhaṇus and 13½ aṅgulas. If six gods with great fortune, till great happiness stand at different points all over the cūlikā of Mount Mandāra and underneath four Dikkumāris (goddesses of the directions) stand in four directions on the soil of Jambūdvīpa with sacrificial offerings in their hands with their faces turned outwards, and if the goddesses throw out the sacrificial offerings simultaneously, and if each god is capable of dashing forward with a tremendous speed to catch the offering before it touches the ground, and if with such a superhuman speed, one god dashes in the east, one in the west, one in the north, one in the south, one up and one down, and just then a gāthāpati has a son born to him with a life-span of one thousand years, and after this, the parents of the boy pass away even in that much time the gods cannot reach the end of the universe. and after that the boy completes his life-span and passes away, and still the gods cannot reach the end of the universe. Add then a very long time passes during which the bones and marrows of the boy are wholly dilapidated, and still they cannot reach the end. And then since the boy’s death, seven generations pass, but still they are no where near the end. And after that, the name and lineage of the boy is wholly wiped out, even walking fast till that time the gods cannot reach the end of the universe.

Q. 72. Bhante! Is the part of the universe already traversed bigger, or, is the untraversed part bigger ?

A. 72. Gautama! The traversed part is indeed bigger-the untraversed part is less, infinitely less. In other words, the traversed part is infinitely bigger than the untraversed part. Gautama! Such is the vastness of the universe.