Jambudvīpa (southern continent)

E950802

Jambudvīpa (southern continent) is the human-inhabited southern world-continent in Buddhist cosmology, often identified with the known human world.

Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form Occurrences
Jambudvīpa 0

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf cosmological region
mythological place
world-continent in Buddhist cosmology
associatedReligion Buddhism NERFINISHED
Hinduism NERFINISHED
Jainism NERFINISHED
conceptualizedAs finite but vast landmass
contrastedWith Aparagodānīya NERFINISHED
Pūrvavideha NERFINISHED
Uttarakuru NERFINISHED
cosmologicalLevel kāmadhātu (sense-desire realm)
cosmology Buddhist cosmology
distinguishedFrom animal realm
ghost realm
heavenly realms
hell realms
equatedWith India and surrounding regions (traditional view)
entire inhabited earth (later Buddhist view)
etymologyDerivedFrom jambu tree (rose-apple tree)
hasCardinalOrientation south of Mount Meru
hasCentralTree jambu tree
hasCulturalInfluence inspired traditional Buddhist world maps
used in monastic geographical descriptions
hasDirection south
hasFeature place where Buddhas appear
realm of moral choice and spiritual practice
hasHumanLifespanRange variable across cosmic cycles
hasMoralStatus mixture of wholesome and unwholesome states
hasOceanBoundary great surrounding ocean
hasShape roughly triangular (in some traditions)
hasSignificance locus of Śākyamuni Buddha’s appearance
setting for most human-related Buddhist narratives
identifiedWith known human world
inhabitedBy humans
knownAs Jambudīpa (Pāli form) NERFINISHED
languageContext Pāli NERFINISHED
Sanskrit NERFINISHED
locatedAround Mount Meru NERFINISHED
mappedAs southern quarter of the world around Mount Meru
mentionedIn Buddhist cosmological diagrams
numberOfContinentsInSystem 4 GENERATED
positionInCosmos southern continent
roleInBuddhism primary human realm
scripturalContext Abhidharma texts
Pāli Canon NERFINISHED
later Buddhist cosmological treatises
temporalContext current world-age (kalpa)

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Virūḍhaka protectsDirection Jambudvīpa (southern continent)