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Synopsis The cosmos has been for the Jains, from the very earliest times, a gigantic theatre where souls play out their roles. The travel across the ocean of samsara, struggling, from the rebirth to anther, until the time comes when they are liberated, and finally win the spiritual perfection of the Siddhas. The Jains make no distinction between this vision of the transcendental world and the experience of life. Whatever is fated for the souls occurs in a world which has been made known to us by astronomical, geographical and other observations, and which thinkers of every Indian community from the very earliest times have tried to interpret. It consists of countless rings of seas and continents, one inside the other, upon which millions of stars shed their light. In the middle is the circular island of Jambu-dripa (‘Continent of the Rose-apple Tree’), and in the very center of that island is Mt. Meru, with its two suns and moons. To the south of the island is the land of Bharata – India – bounded by the Himalaya mountains, crossed by great rivers, and adorned by princely capitals where live civilized men who can profit from the teaching of the Jinas. Jain cosmology has inspired many descriptions of this kind. There is also a tradition of manuscript illustration more than 1,000 years old, which despite its age remains amazingly fresh.