Heaven Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Jainism === {{Main|Jain cosmology}} [[File:Jain Universe.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|Structure of Universe per the Jain Scriptures]] The shape of the Universe as described in Jainism is shown at right. Unlike the current convention of using North direction as the top of map, this uses South as the top. The shape is similar to a part of human form standing upright. The ''Deva Loka'' (heavens) are at the symbolic "chest", where all souls enjoying the positive karmic effects reside. The heavenly beings are referred to as ''devas'' (masculine form) and ''devis'' (feminine form). According to Jainism, there is not one heavenly abode, but several layers to reward appropriately the souls of varying degree of karmic merits. Similarly, beneath the "waist" are the ''Narka Loka'' (hell). Human, animal, insect, plant and microscopic life forms reside on the middle. The pure souls (who reached Siddha status) reside at the very south end (top) of the Universe. They are referred to in Tamil literature as தென்புலத்தார் ([[Kural]] 43). Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page