Loka

In the Upanishads , seven higher locks were identified in the description of the Hamsa bird that generates the Universe.

1. The syllable “A” is considered her (bird “ Ohm ”) the right wing, “U” - the left; “M” is her tail; and ardha-matra (half a meter poem), as they say, is her head.

2. ( Rajasic and tamasic ) qualities ( gunas ) - her (measured) feet; sattva - her torso; dharma is her right eye, and adharma is her left.

3. Bhur-loka is located in her feet; bhuvar-loka - in her lap; swar-loka - in her lower back; and mahar-loka - in the navel.

4. In her heart is jana-loka; tapo-loka (tapar-loka) is in her throat, and (tu) satya-loka is located (vyavasthita) on the forehead (lalaata) in the center between (madhya) eyebrows (bhruvor) ^[1] .

- Nadabindu Upanishad

Subsequently, the Lock system was complicated. In the Puranas, the number of locks increases to fourteen, with a division of seven in the upper and six in the lower worlds, which are connected through the middle world - the earthly world to the mainland Jambu, in the middle of which is the mythological Mount Meru . Upper World:

1. Bhur-loka (earth)
2. Bhuvar-loka (the space between the earth and the sun, the abode of the sages)
3. Swar-loka (the space between the sun and the North Star, Indra's heaven)
4. Mahar-loka (seat of Vhrgu and other saints)
5. Jana-loka (seat of the sons of Brahma )
6. Tapar-loka (seat of the deity Viraj )
7. Satya-loka, or Brahma-loka (the seat of Brahma ) ^[2] .

In the lower world daitiyas , davans , yakshas , nagas , etc. live. However, in different Puranas, locks are fixed in different ways. In the Padma Purana, a list of the locks of the lower world is presented in the following sequence from top to bottom:

1. Atala (subordinate to Maha Maya )
2. Vitala (lord of Hatakeshvara, form of Shiva )
3. Sutala (Lord of Bali)
4. Talatala (Lord Maya )
5. Mahatala (the residence of huge snakes)
6. Rasatala (seat of daityas and danavas)
7. Patala (the kingdom of Vasuki and the Nagas) ^[2] .

In Vishnu Purana, the list and sequence of the Lokas of the lower world are different:

1. Atala
2. Vital
3. Nitala
4. Gabhastimat
5. Mahatala
6. Sutala
7. Patala ^[2] .

The Shiva Purana offers eight lower world version:

1. Patala
2. Tala
3. Atala
4. Vital
5. Tala
6. Vidhi patala
7. Sakra bhumi

Semiric Loki was proposed by the philosophical direction of Hinduism - Samkhya . So, in the comments on Sankhya-karika, among the “upper” worlds, the worlds are mentioned from bottom to top:

1. writers (demons, soul abductors)
2. rakshasas (demons, cannibals)
3. yakshas (natural spirits)
4. gandharvas , fathers ancestors
5. Indra (sometimes Soma)
6. Prajapati
7. Brahmas ^[2] .

In Buddhism, 6 locks are divided into 3 upper and 3 lower worlds, each of which is part of one of the three worlds - the world of desires, the other 2 - the world of forms (inhabited by gods with a form) and the world of non-forms (gods without a form).

1. The world of the gods (endowed with desires).
2. The world of the demigods, or asuras.
3. The world of people.
4. Animal world.
5. The world of hungry spirits.
6. Hells.

In the classic commentary on the yoga sutras of Patanjali , Vyasa-bhashya, the following sequence of upper worlds is described, listed from bottom to top:

1. earth world
2. a world of intermediate space with various planets, constellations and stars.

The next is the fivefold heavenly world, where, in turn, stand out:

1. Mahendra's world
2. world of Mahat Prajapati

and further, the threefold [world] of Brahma, namely:

1. jana's world
2. tapas world

The lower worlds in the yoga sutra are explained in this way:

Then, immediately above the Avichi [hell], six steps of the Great Hell are successively placed, supported by firmament, water, fire, wind, akasha and darkness — Mahakala , Ambarisha , Raurava, Maharaurava, Kalasutra and Andkhatamisra. Here living beings are born, doomed to a painful and long life and experiencing [innumerable] suffering due to their karma.

- Comment by Vyasa on the 26th sutra of the third chapter, “On Perfect Abilities (Vibhutipada)”

That is, the lower world is first mentioned, hell is Avichi. Then six steps are indicated "from top to bottom."

The concept of Loki was accepted by the Theosophists and is found in the writings of Helena Blavatsky . In Theosophy there is the concept of kama-loka (the world of kama or desires) - a kind of astral plane or temporary state after death. Kama-loka is described in the teachings of Blavatsky, Leadbeater and Steiner .

In the modern Vedanta , the influence of these theosophical ideas is also present - in some currents, the locks are described in theosophical style as astral planes.

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