Trailokya (Sanskrit: त्रैलोक्य; Kannada: ತ್ರೈಲೋಕ್ಯ; Pali: tiloka, Tibetan: khams gsum; Chinese: 三界; Vietnamese: Tam Giới) literally means "three worlds".[1][2][3] It can also refer to "three spheres,"[3] "three planes of existence,"[4] and "three realms".[4]
Conceptions of three worlds (tri-loka) appear in Hinduism and Jainism, as well as early Buddhist texts.
Hindu cosmology
The concept of three worlds has a number of different interpretations in Hindu cosmology.
- Traditionally, the three worlds refer to either the earth (Bhuloka), heaven (Svarga), and hell (Naraka),[5] or the earth (Bhuloka), heaven (Svarga), and the netherworld (Patala)[6]
- The Brahmanda Purana conceives them to be Bhūta (past), Bhavya (future), and Bhavat (present)[7]
- In Vaishnavism, the three worlds are often described to be bhūr, bhuvaḥ, and svaḥ (the gross region, the subtle region, and the celestial region)[8]
- In the Nilanamatapurana, Vamana covers his second step on the three worlds of Maharloka, Janaloka, and Tapoloka, all of which are regarded to be a part of the seven heavens[9]
Buddhist cosmology
In Buddhism, the three worlds refer to the following destinations for karmic rebirth:
- Kāmaloka the world of desire, typified by base desires, populated by hell beings, preta (hungry ghosts), animals, humans and lower demi-gods.
- Rūpaloka is the world of form, predominantly free of baser desires, populated by dhyāna-dwelling gods, possible rebirth destination for those well practiced in dhyāna.
- Arūpaloka is the world of formlessness, a noncorporeal realm populated with four heavens, possible rebirth destination for practitioners of the four formlessness stages.[3]
Together, they make up all of existence.
Jain cosmology
The early Jain contemplated the nature of the earth and universe and developed a detailed hypothesis on the various aspects of astronomy and cosmology. According to the Jain texts, the universe is divided into 3 parts:[10][11][12][13]
See also
Notes
Sources
- Berzin, Alexander (6 March 2008). Berzin Archives Glossary. Retrieved Sunday 13 July 2008 from "Berzin Archives" at http://www.berzinarchives.com/web/en/about/glossary/glossary_tibetan.html.
- Fischer-Schreiber, Ingrid, Franz-Karl Ehrhard, Michael S. Diener and Michael H. Kohn (trans.) (1991). The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen. Boston: Shambhala Publications. ISBN 0-87773-520-4.
- Monier-Williams, Monier (1899, 1964). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-864308-X. Retrieved 2008-07-13 from "Cologne University" at http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/index.php?sfx=pdf.
- Rhys Davids, T.W. & William Stede (eds.) (1921-5). The Pali Text Society’s Pali–English Dictionary. Chipstead: Pali Text Society. Retrieved 2008-07-13 from "U. Chicago" at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/.
- W. E. Soothill & L. Hodous (1937-2000). A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 81-208-0319-1.
- Grimes, John A. (1996), A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English, SUNY Press, ISBN 9780791430675, retrieved 10 September 2017
- Titze, Kurt; Bruhn, Klaus (1998), Jainism: A Pictorial Guide to the Religion of Non-violence, Motilal Banarsidass Publication, ISBN 9788120815346, retrieved 10 September 2017
- Wiley, Kristi L. (2009), The A to Z of Jainism, Scarecrow Press, ISBN 9780810868212, retrieved 10 September 2017
- Raval, Mukundchandra G. (2016), Meru: The Center of our Earth, Notion Press, ISBN 9781945400100, retrieved 10 September 2017
External links
- Bullitt, John T. (2005). The Thirty-one Planes of Existence. Retrieved 2007-04-30 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sagga/loka.html.