Jainism, a renunciatory tradition that emerged in the Ganges basin of India around the seventh and sixth centuries BCE, produced a model of the universe virtually unrivalled in complexity among ancient cosmologies. Without beginning or end, this vast system is not controlled by any overseeing deity and is one in which human beings are restricted to an extremely delimited location. As such, it serves to remind Jains of the rarity of human birth, which alone can bring about liberation.

The rich textual sources for Jain cosmology span almost two millennia. It is possible to trace the early development of Jain cosmological ideas in scriptural texts like the Vyākhyāprajñapti and Sthānāṅga Sūtra (c. first century BCE–third century CE) and detailed descriptions are found in the various subsidiary (upāṅga) scriptures of the canon such as the Jambūdvīpaprajñapti...