Lokaprajnapti: A Critical Exposition of Buddhist Cosmology

Buddhism believes that inward extinction of the self and the senses culminates in a state of illumination beyond suffering and existence which seem to be inseparable. While leading the common people to achieve the state of illumination, the Great Master also touched upon cosmology or the study of the Universe. For almost two thousand years, his words on cosmology, better known as Lokaprajnapti of Prajnapti Sastra, were available only in Chinese and Tibetan languages until it was discovered a few years ago that the palm leaf manuscripts preserved in a few Buddhist temples in Japan are Sanskrit Fragments which are identified as the Lokaprajnapti of Prajnapti Sastra of the Sarvastivada. Lokaprajnapti: A Critical Exposition of Buddhist Cosmology covers salient features of Cosmology as reflected in the Sanskrit Fragments. It examines the concepts tracing their origin from the pre-Buddhist Indian thought. While discussing the central theme, the influence of various Buddhist schools of thought on Cosmology has also been assessed.