Gombrich's article is very good. I have a more recent one that deals especially with Hindu cosmology from the Vedas to the present. Both articles can be used together. It is not yet available online, but your colleague can contact me directly.

González-Reimann, Luis. 2009. Cosmic Cycles, Cosmology and Cosmography. In Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism, 1, ed. in chief Knut A. Jacobsen, 411-28. Leiden: Brill.


For details of the different early Indian cosmologies and the interaction between Buddhist and Hindu ideas on the subject, the following book by Sircar is very useful.

Sircar, D. C. 1967. Cosmography and Geography in Early Indian Literature. Calcutta.

For Buddhist cosmology, there is this book:

Kongtrul Lodro Tayé, Jamgon. 1995. Myriad Worlds: Buddhist Cosmology in Abhidharma, Kalacakra and Dzog-Chen. Ithaca, New York: Snow Lion Publications.

Luis González-Reimann
_____



on 1/15/2012 11:05 AM Dominik Wujastyk wrote:
There's a well-written article on Indian cosmology by Richard Gombrich here:
 that may be of interest to your colleague.

Best,
Dominik Wujastyk




On 14 January 2012 23:03, Jo <jkirk@spro.net> wrote:

Dear List,

 

A colleague not on this list agreed for me to post his query, sent originally to the risa-l list, on Indology.  I hope he’ll get some answers here.

 

Thanks and best wishes,

Joanna Kirkpatrick

----------------------------------------

 

> From: Joseph P. Elacqua <joseph.elacqua@gmail.com>

> 

> Hello all.

> 

> I have recently been looking into versions of the Hindu/Buddhist "map"

> of the world.  By this, I mean the description of Jambudvipa as the

> central landmass in a series of concentric islands.  I am not overly

> familiar with this schematic, but some Hindu sources I have

> encountered describe this variously as "Bhumandala" or "Bhuloka."

> While this diagram appears in the Matsya Purana (perhaps 250-500 CE),

> I am looking for references to or descriptions of this "map" in

> earlier Hindu or Buddhist sacred or secular texts.  If anyone can

> point me to an earlier reference or possibly to a study on the

> origins of this diagram (preferably in English or Japanese language),

> I would be

extremely grateful.

> 

> I also have a related, but alternate request.  In my internet

> searching, I have encountered an (un-cited) image of the Indian world

> depicted as a four-petaled lotus of which Jambudvipa is the

> southernmost petal and Mount Meru is its central blossom.  If anyone

> can point to a textual description matching this (or any remotely

> similar textual description), I would also be extremely grateful.

> 

> Thank you very much for your assistance.  My apologies if there is

> some major study on this topic that I have overlooked.

> 

> Joseph P. Elacqua

> Mohawk Valley Community College