1/15/2020 Four continents - Chinese Buddhist Encyclopedia

Four continents

Four continents (Wyl. gling bzhi)

— the four island-continents (Skt.
dvīpa; Wyl. gling) which surround
Mount Meru according to the
cosmology of the Abhidharma. They
are:

1. Purvavideha (Skt. Pūrvavideha;

Tib. Lüpakpo; Wyl. lus 'phags po;
Eng. 'Surpassing the Body') in
the East, which is semi-circular
and white in colour;

2. Jambudvipa (Skt. Jambudvīpa;

Tib. Dzambuling; Wyl. ‘dzam bu
gling; Eng. 'Rose-Apple
Continent') in the South, which is
trapezoidal and blue (this is the
continent we human beings live
in);

3. Aparagodaniya (Skt.; Tib. An illustration of our world system

Balangchö; Wyl. ba lang spyod;
Eng. 'Enjoyer of Cattle') in the
West, which is circular and ruby red; and

4. Uttarakuru (Skt.; Tib. Draminyen; Wyl. sgra mi snyan; Eng. 'Unpleasant Sound') in the North, which is square and
green.

Each of the four continents is flanked by two subcontinents (Skt. kṣudradvīpāni; Wyl. gling phreng) of the same shape (see
eight subcontinents).

Apart from the Chamara subcontinent of Jambudvipa, which is inhabited by rakshasa demons, all the other island-
continents are inhabited by human beings of different characteristics, life styles and life-spans. Each continent also has a
specific attribute (see four attributes of the four continents).

Further Reading
Jamgön Kongtrul, Myriad Worlds (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 1995), pages 110-113 & 138-140.

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Source
RigpaWiki:Four continents

Four continents (catur-dvīpa, 四洲). In the center of a small World in the Three Realms of Existence is Mount Sumeru.
It is encircled by eight concentric mountain ranges, and these nine mountains are separated by eight oceans. Rising above
the salty ocean between the outermost mountain range and the seventh inner mountain range are four large continents
aligned with the four sides of Mount Sumeru. In the east is Pūrvavideha; in the south is Jambudvīpa; in the west is
Aparagodānīya; in the north is Uttarakuru, where Life is too pleasant for its inhabitants to seek the Dharma. Between every
two large continents are two medium-sized continents and five hundred uninhabited small continents.

Source
www.sutrasmantras.info (http://www.sutrasmantras.info/glossary.html#faculty)

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This page was last edited on 2 January 2015, at 10:06.

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