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Bhu-loka · भू लोक
Inhabitants: Humans, animals, plants, minerals
The earth-plane. The world of karma — only here can new karma be created. Humans alone can ascend or descend from here.
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The Vishnu Purana, Bhagavata Skandha 5, and Devi Bhagavata describe the cosmic geography in elaborate detail. Modern readers encounter this both as a literal mythological map AND as a microcosmic key — the same architecture maps to the human spine (7 chakras = 7 upper lokas; spinal base = patalas). Below: 14 lokas, 7 dwipas with their 7 oceans, Mt. Meru, and the 8 dikpalakas guarding the 8 directions.
Inhabitants: Humans, animals, plants, minerals
The earth-plane. The world of karma — only here can new karma be created. Humans alone can ascend or descend from here.
Inhabitants: Pitris (ancestors), Yakshas, Gandharvas
The atmospheric plane. Realm of intermediate beings — those between human + deva. Pitri-yana (path of ancestors) reaches here.
Inhabitants: Devas, Indra, Apsaras
Heaven. Indra's court. Punya-merit takes one here for a temporary stay; once punya is exhausted, return to earth. NOT moksha — heaven is still in samsara.
Inhabitants: Bhrigu + other rishis who survive pralaya
Realm of great sages. Survives naimittika pralaya (the end-of-day-of-Brahma dissolution that destroys the lower 3 lokas).
Inhabitants: Devotees of Vishnu, Brahma's sons (Sanaka et al)
Realm of sublime devotees. Self-luminous beings.
Inhabitants: Vairagis (the totally renounced), Vaikhanasas
Realm of tapasvis. Beings of pure tapas.
Inhabitants: Brahma + the highest beings
Brahma's own realm. The highest manifest loka. From here, one either takes krama-mukti (gradual liberation) or returns to a new kalpa.
Inhabitants: Bala (son of Maya, asura)
First underworld below earth. Bala creates 3 kinds of women (svairini-self-willed, kamini-lustful, pumshchali-prostitute).
Inhabitants: Hara-Bhava (a form of Shiva), Bhavani
Second underworld. Shiva-Bhavani reside here.
Inhabitants: King Bali (with Vamana guarding the door)
Realm of King Bali. After Vamana stepped Bali to patala, Vishnu himself became the gatekeeper here.
Inhabitants: Maya (the architect-asura), other asuras
Realm of Maya — the asura architect. He built the assembly hall of Yudhishthira (in Mahabharata) and the puspaka-vimana.
Inhabitants: Kadru's sons — the snakes (Vasuki, Takshaka, etc)
Realm of the serpent-children of Kadru. Vasuki, who served as the churning-rope for Samudra Manthan, dwells here.
Inhabitants: Danavas, Daityas (asura clans)
Realm of the danava + daitya clans defeated by devas. Their natural habitat.
Inhabitants: Vasuki, the supreme naga, and on his hood — Adishesha bearing the earth
The lowest realm. Adishesha (the thousand-headed cosmic serpent) supports the entire cosmos from here. Vishnu reclines on Adishesha.
Bhu-mandala (the earth-plane) is divided into 7 concentric dwipas (continents), each defined by a characteristic tree, and each surrounded by an ocean of a different substance (salt, sugarcane juice, wine, ghee, curd, milk, sweet water). Jambu-dwipa is the central one — Bharatavarsha is its southern part, and the ONLY karma-bhumi (where humans can create karma; all other dwipas are bhoga-bhumi, lands of enjoyment only).
| № | Dwipa | Vegetation | Surrounding ocean | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jambu-dwipa · जम्बू द्वीप | Jambu (rose-apple) | Lavana (salt water) | The continent of the rose-apple tree. Centred on Mt. Meru. Bharatavarsha (India) is the southern part of Jambu-dwipa. The ONLY dwipa where humans can perform karma — hence called "Karma-bhumi". Other dwipas are bhoga-bhumi (lands of enjoyment only). |
| 2 | Plaksha-dwipa · प्लक्ष द्वीप | Plaksha (Indian fig) | Ikshu (sugarcane juice) | The continent of the fig tree. Surrounded by sugarcane-juice ocean. |
| 3 | Shalmali-dwipa · शाल्मलि द्वीप | Shalmali (silk-cotton) | Sura (wine) | The continent of the silk-cotton tree. |
| 4 | Kusha-dwipa · कुश द्वीप | Kusha (sacred grass) | Sarpi (ghee) | The continent of kusha-grass. Surrounded by an ocean of ghee. |
| 5 | Krauncha-dwipa · क्रौञ्च द्वीप | Krauncha tree | Dadhi (curd) | The continent of the krauncha tree. |
| 6 | Shaka-dwipa · शाक द्वीप | Shaka (teak / sometimes identified with vegetables) | Kshira (milk) | The continent of teak. Surrounded by milk-ocean — the ksheera-sagara where Vishnu reclines on Adishesha. |
| 7 | Pushkara-dwipa · पुष्कर द्वीप | Pushkara (lotus) | Svadu (sweet water) | The outermost continent. Surrounded by a freshwater ocean. Beyond it — Loka-loka-parvata (the boundary mountain), then darkness, then the cosmic egg shell. |
The cosmic axis. A mountain at the centre of Jambu-dwipa, 84,000 yojanas tall (1 yojana = ~12 km, so ~1 million km — astronomically beyond our solar-system altitude). All four quarters of Bhu-mandala radiate from it. Brahma's palace sits at its summit.
Interpretation — Scholars + sadhus read Mt. Meru cosmographically (a literal world-mountain) AND microcosmically (the spine of the human body, with the chakras as its 7 levels + Sahasrara at the summit). The Sri Yantra is also identified with Mt. Meru in some tantras.
Indra · इन्द्र
Mount: Airavata (white elephant)
Weapon: Vajra (thunderbolt)
Agni · अग्नि
Mount: Ram
Weapon: Shakti (spear)
Yama · यम
Mount: Buffalo
Weapon: Danda (rod)
Nirruti / Rakshasa · निऋति
Mount: Lion / corpse
Weapon: Sword
Varuna · वरुण
Mount: Makara (sea-creature)
Weapon: Pasha (noose)
Vayu · वायु
Mount: Deer / antelope
Weapon: Banner + goad
Kubera · कुबेर
Mount: Naravahana (man-mount) / horse
Weapon: Gada (mace)
Ishana (Shiva) · ईशान
Mount: Nandi (bull)
Weapon: Trishul (trident)