A Jain Cosmic Diagram, Manushyaloka

Pictured as a diagram of concentric forms and reproduced with considerable precision to the details of the complex structure of the Jain cosmos, such concise representations of the 'myriad of destinies' in Jainism guide its followers to liberation. Manushyaloka, the most important of the three worlds in Jain cosmography, is the world of mortals, where jinas are born and achieve enlightenment. Mount Meru, at the center of the diagram represents the axis mundi, and the realm of perfection and transcendence.