what are seven dvips
Seven dvipas (continents) are the main landmasses in the middle world around Mount Meru in Jain cosmology. They are arranged as concentric rings with oceans (samudras) between them. The well-known list is:
- Jambudvipa (central continent, the world where humans live)
- Plakṣadvīpa
- Śālmaladvīpa (Shalmala)
- Kuśadvīpa (Kusha)
- Krauncha-dvīpa
- Śaḳa-dvīpa (Shaka)
- Puṣkara-dvīpa (Pushkara)
Between these continents are oceans and rivers that flow around Mount Meru. This framework is described across Śvetāmbara and Digambara sources, with slight textual variations in the exact naming or order in some texts, but the core idea of seven surrounding dvipas remains the same. You can see a detailed diagram and discussion of these dvipas here .