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- For the mountain in Tanzania, see Mount Meru (Tanzania).
Mount Meru (Sanskrit: मेरु) (also called Sumeru i.e the "Great Meru") is a sacred mountain in Hindu, Buddhist cosmology, and Jain mythology, and is considered to be the center of all the physical, metaphysical and spiritual universes. It is believed to be the abode of Lord Brahma and the Demi-Gods (Devas).
The mountain is said to be 84,000 Yojanas high. Many famous Hindu temples have been built as symbolic representations of this mountain.
For the equivalent central mountain in Buddhist cosmology, see Sumeru.
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Location
Mount Meru of Hindu traditions has clearly mythical aspects, being described as 84,000 Yojanas high, and having the Sun along with all its planets and stars in the Solar System revolve around it as one unit.
Geographical
The dimensions attributed to Mount Meru, all the references to it being as a part of the Cosmic Ocean, along with several statements like that the Sun along with all the planets (including Earth itself) circumbulate the mountain, make determining its location most difficult, according to most scholars[1][2]. However, a small handful number of western scholars have tried quite hard to identify Mount Meru or Sumeru with the Pamirs, north-east of Kashmir[3].
The Deeds of Harsha: Being a Cultural Study of Bāṇa's Harshacharita, 1969, p 199, Dr Vasudeva Sharana Agrawala; Foundations of Indian Culture, 1984, p 20, Govind Chandra Pande - History; Problems of Ancient India, 2000, p 1-8, K. D. Sethna; Proceedings and Transactions of the All-India Oriental Conference, 1930, p 108; Geographical and Economic Studies in the Mahābhārata: Upāyana Parva, 1945, p 37, Dr Moti Chandra - India; For Pamirs/Badakshan = Kamboja, see also: The History and Culture of the Indian People, 1977, p 264, Dr Ramesh Chandra Majumdar, Dr A. D. Pusalkar, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan - India; Asoka and His Inscriptions, 1968, p 95, B. M. Barua, I. N. Topa; Journal of the Asiatic Society, 1940, p 37, India) Asiatic Society (Calcutta, Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal - Asia.</ref>.
Cosmological
The Suryasiddhanta mentions that Mt Meru lies in 'the middle of the Earth' ("bhugola-madhya") in the land of the Jambunada (Jambudvipa). Narpatijayacharyā, a 9th century text, based on mostly unpublished texts of Yāmala Tantra, mentions "Sumeruḥ Prithvī-madhye shrūyate drishyate na tu" ('Su-meru is heard to be in the middle of the Earth, but is not seen there')[4]. Vārāha Mihira, in his Panch-siddhāntikā, claims Mt Meru to be at the North Pole (though no mountain exists there as well). Suryasiddhānta, however, mentions a Mt Meru in the middle of Earth, besides a Sumeru and a Kumeru at both the Poles. Therefore, Sumeru was used both for North Pole as well as for the Mt Meru at the center by ancient authors. It is also interesting that in the continent of Africa, there is a town by the name of Meru at the foot of Mt Kenya at around the equator, as well as a mountain called Meru lying in neighbouring Tanzania, at a place named Kinyan-giri, which literally translates into Mt Kinyan or Kenya.
Height
One Yojana can be taken to mean roughly 8 miles though its magnitude seems to differ over time periods. E.g. the Earth's circumference is 3,200 Yojanas according to Vārāhamihira and slightly less so in the Āryabhatiya, but is given to be 5,026.5 Yojanas in the Suryasiddhānta. The Bhāgvata Purāna gives the exorbitant dimension of 84,000 Yojanas for Mt Meru, while the Mahābhārata gives 18,000 Yojanas as the extent of Jambudvipa.
Puranic legends
Mount Meru finds mention innumerable times in Hindu lore. Some of the better-known legends are recounted here. Legends say that Mount Meru and the wind god Vayu were good friends. However, the sage Narada approached Vayu and incited him to humble the mountain. Vayu blew with full force for one full year, but Meru was shielded by Garuda with his wings (he was flying high). However, after a year Garuda took respite for some time. Thus the apex of the mountain was broken and it fell into the sea and created the island of Sri Lanka.
The Puranas and Hindu epics, often state that Surya, i.e. the sun-God, along with all its planets and stars together as one unit, circumambulate Mount Meru every day.
Literary references
In the novel Far, Far the Mountain Peak by English novelist John Masters, the central character, Peter Savage, becomes obsessed by the task of making the first ascent of a newly-discovered mountain in the north-west part of the then British India. In the story, the mountain is named Meru, in a conscious reference to the legendary mountain: "There have always been legends in Asia about a sacred mountain somewhere in Western Tibet, and it has always been called Meru, though no one has definitely found it ... so they are going to call this one Meru..." (Penguin edition, p. 78).
In his poem Meru, William Butler Yeats has both named his poem after the mountain, and also refers to "Hermits upon Mount Meru or Everest."[5]
Notes
- ^ http://books.google.co.in/books?id=a91-t4uw8A4C&pg=PA271&lpg=PA271&dq=Meru+sun+planets+revolve&source=bl&ots=AtlS2P8sy-&sig=LhIN74cqSiq8Vb8ia5mEKVDSxwY&hl=en&ei=237YSqnyA5KCsgPNt82eBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CBAQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Meru%20sun%20planets%20revolve&f=false
- ^ http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/db/bk08ch15.htm
- ^ The Geopolitics of South Asia: From Early Empires to the Nuclear Age, 2003, p 16, Graham P. Chapman - Social Science; The Pamirs and the Source of the Oxus, p 15, George Nathaniel Curzon; The Hindu World: An Encyclopedic Survey of Hinduism, 1968, p 184, Benjamin Walker - Hinduism; Ancient Indian Tradition & Mythology: Purāṇas in Translation, 1969, p 56, Jagdish Lal Shastri, Arnold Kunst, G. P. Bhatt, Ganesh Vasudeo Tagare - Oriental literature; Journal of the K.R. Cama Oriental Institute, 1928, p 38, K.R. Cama Oriental Institute - Iranian philology; The Occult in Russian and Soviet Culture, 1997, p 175, Bernice Glatzer Rosenthal - History; Geographical Concepts in Ancient India, 1967, p 50, Bechan Dube - India; Geographical Data in the Early Purāṇas: A Critical Study, 1972, p 2, Dr M. R. Singh - India; Studies in the Proto-history of India, 1971, p 17, Dr Dvārakā Prasāda Miśra - India.
- ^ cf. second verse of Koorma-chakra in the book Narpatijayacharyā
- ^ "Meru". Retrieved on 30 October 2007.
Sources
- Narpatijayacharyā, commentary by Ganeshdatta Pathak, Cublished by Chowkhambha Sanskrit Sansthana, Varanasi, India, PIN-221001
See also
External links
- Description of Mount Meru in the Devi-bhagavata-purana 12
- Painting of Mount Meru found in Buddhist cave sanctuary in Chinese Turkestan
- Mount Meru in Encyclopedia of Buddhist Iconography 12
- Sacred Geography of North Polar Regions
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