[vilaskadival]

During contemplation and reflecting through pada nirukti, came to a fascinating fact that Jambūdīpa represents as under:

Ja = birth
m = maccu / marana
bu = buddha which further becomes bhaveya uddha

dīpa – Island

Adding all of it would mean one who stopped further becoming by way of birth and death and making a refuge or island which is nibbana

Do anyone of you have read anything in tipitaka relating to Jambūdīpa?

Any comments on this one?

[vilaskadival]

Usual explanation in all books relating to Jambūdīpa is rose apple tree as enumerated below:

Jambūdīpa : the auspicious Great Island where the Rose Apple (Jambu) tree grows. It is one of the Four Great Island – continents, that constitute the world system, the three others being : Uttarakuru, the Northern Island, Pubbavideha, the Eastern Island and Aparagoyana, the Western Island.

[y not]

No, Vilas, I have not. I do not even recall coming across the word.

I am writing only to show my appreciation of this remarkable insight of yours (irrespective of whether others have ‘seen’ it before). It makes sense to me.

But speaking of ‘taking refuge’ : I found myself reflecting precisely on this ‘taking refuge’matter last night.It is said: 1) Take refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. and also 2) take only yourself as a refuge; take no other as a refuge (and that includes The Buddha, IT WOULD APPEAR).

At first this may seem to pose a problem. Which of the two then,? But going into it, I saw that if you take refuge in the Triple Gem, who is going there for refuge? That is , when I see that there can be no other refuge BUT the Triple Gem, and it is I who sees this,it is I who have come to this understanding, then I am thereby taking myself as the refuge, taking MY understanding (that led to going to the Triple Gem for refuge) as the refuge.

And if one, a layman, goes to the Triple Gem just out of curiosity (to see what ‘buddhism’ is all about ) not expecting to find any refuge there, he will be told : take yourself as a refuge, i.e. examine it yourself , see whether it makes sense. And if he does, and it does, then HIS refuge will become the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha. So the two refuges are really one.

Much Metta to you and to all

[vilaskadival]

y not said: But speaking of ‘taking refuge’ : I found myself reflecting precisely on this ‘taking refuge’ matter last night.It is said: 1) Take refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. and also 2) take only yourself as a refuge; take no other as a refuge (and that includes The Buddha, IT WOULD APPEAR).

You are right. Glad to note that you were also reflecting it yesterday night on the same topic. As explained by Buddha, it is always

“Attā hi attanō nāthō
kō hi nāthō parō siyā
attanā hi sudanténa
nāthan labhati dullabhan”

“One indeed is one’s own refuge
how can another be a refuge to one?
one reaches salvation by purifying one’s mind
getting to refuge (Nibbāna) is rare”

Lal has explained efficiently in https://puredhamma.net/dhammapada/atta-hi-attano-natho/

[Lal]

There are some misconceptions about this in India and Sri Lanka. Most people there think Jambudīpa means India. But some people argue that Jambudīpa is really Sri Lanka. Both are wrong per Tipitaka.

In the Paṭha­ma­kosala ­Sutta (AN 10.29): “Yāvatā, bhikkhave, candimasūriyā pariharanti disā bhanti virocamānā, tāva sahassadhā loko. Tasmiṃ sahassadhā loke sahassaṃ candānaṃ sahassaṃ sūriyānaṃ sahassaṃ sineru­pabba­ta­rājānaṃ sahassaṃ jambudīpānaṃ sahassaṃ aparagoyānānaṃ sahassaṃ uttarakurūnaṃ sahassaṃ pubbavidehānaṃ ..”

Translated (from the link below): ““Bhikkhus, as far as sun and moon revolve and light up the quarters with their brightness, so far the thousandfold world system extends. In that thousandfold world system there are a thousand moons, a thousand suns, a thousand Sinerus king of mountains, a thousand Jambudīpas, a thousand Aparagoyānas, a thousand Uttarakurus, a thousand Pubbavidehas, and a thousand four great oceans; a thousand four great kings, a thousand heavens ruled by the four great kings, a thousand Tāvatiṃsa heavens..”

A fairly good English translations is at: Kosala (1)

This is an interesting sutta that provides a lot of information on Buddha’s world view 2600 years ago. Here are some key points:

1. There are four “dīpās” inhabited by humans centered on the Earth (in bold in the above paragraph). Jambudīpa is just one and it includes all the countries, not only India and Sri Lanka.
2. The other three “dīpās”, we cannot see. They exist around the Earth, but are invisible to us, just like deva and brahma realms are also invisible.
3. The sutta describes 1,000 “world systems”. Each one is centered around a star (our star is the Sun). Each of those “world systems” has 31 realms associated with it; each has those four “dīpās”.
4. However, a Buddha is born only in our world system (within the 1,000 world systems), i.e., only in our Jambudīpa.
5. There are an uncountable number of such clusters of 1,000 world systems in the universe (according to Buddha Dhamma). Such clusters are well-separated, and there could be Buddhas born in each of those.
6. No one but a Buddha can even travel to another “1,000 world system”. Brahmas and Devas from our “1,000 world system” can visit Earth. For example, Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta says Brahmas and Devas from our “1,000 world systems” were present to hear that first desana by the Buddha.
7. Furthermore, according to modern science, the separation between two adjacent “world systems” or “star systems” is several light years. That means to get to the nearest “world system” it will take say at least five years travelling at the speed of light. Since only a fraction of that speed can attained by a spacecraft, it is unlikely that humans will be able to travel even to the closest star system anytime soon. Maybe never.
8. Finally, we must note that modern science was not aware of the existence of even our Moon, let alone any other “star systems with planets”, until Galileo (in the early 1600’s). This is clear evidence of the capabilities of a Buddha, and why we can have faith in his Dhamma (of course, practice provides more evidence too).
9. Of course, the Buddha found out all these things about the universe without any telescopes. That shows the power of mind, when it is purified to the fullest.

This is a brief summary.

P.S. So, the meaning of the word, Jambudīpa, as pointed out by Vilas in his first post, is correct. A Buddha is born only in Jambudīpa.

[vilaskadival]

Thanks for the detailed information Lal. Much merits for the same.

[Author]

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