Sahā or more formally the Sahā world (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

: ''sahāloka'' or ''sahālokadhātu'') in

Mahāyāna Buddhism Mahāyāna ( ; , , ; ) is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices developed in ancient India ( onwards). It is considered one of the three main existing branches of Buddhism, the others being Thera ...

refers to the mundane world, essentially the sum of existence that is other than

nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

. It is the entirety of conditioned phenomena, also referred to as the trichiliocosm. As a term, its usage is comparable to the Earth (''pṛthivī'') or as the place where all beings are subject to the cycle of birth and death (''

saṃsāra ''Saṃsāra'' (Devanagari: संसार) is a Sanskrit word that means "wandering" as well as "world," wherein the term connotes "cyclic change" or, less formally, "running around in circles." ''Saṃsāra'' is referred to with terms or p ...

''). It is the place where both good and evil manifests and where beings must exercise patience and endurance (''

kṣānti Kṣānti (Sanskrit) or (Pāli) is patience, forbearance and forgiveness. It is one of the pāramitās in both Theravāda and Mahāyāna Buddhism. The term can be translated as "patience," "steadfastness," or "endurance," and encompasses meaning ...

''). It is also described as the place where Śākyamuni Buddha teaches the

Dharma Dharma (; , ) is a key concept in various Indian religions. The term ''dharma'' does not have a single, clear Untranslatability, translation and conveys a multifaceted idea. Etymologically, it comes from the Sanskrit ''dhr-'', meaning ''to hold ...

. The Sahā world is divided into three distinct realms or worlds (''traidhātuka'' or ''

trailokya Trailokya (; ; , Tibetan: khams gsum; zh, 三界; ) literally means "three worlds".Fischer-Schreiber ''et al.'' (1991), p. 230, entry for "Triloka". Here, synonyms for ''triloka'' include ''trailokya'' and ''traidhātuka''. It can also refer ...

''). Its ruler is Mahābrahmā Sahāmpati.

Etymology

''Sahā'' is a Sanskrit term meaning "together" or "enduring." Chinese texts sometimes translate the term as 忍土 (

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

: ''Rěntǔ''), literally "land of endurance."

Composition

Realm of Desire

The

desire realm The desire realm (Sanskrit: कामधातु, ''kāmadhātu'') is one of the trailokya or three realms (Sanskrit: धातु, ''dhātu'', Tibetan: ''khams'') in Buddhist cosmology into which a being caught in '' '' may be reborn. The o ...

(kāmadhātu) is where all sentient beings consist of a physical body and are susceptible to the experience of sense faculties. These beings are generally composed of 18 elements (''dhātu''), that include the sense bases and their respective modes of

consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is awareness of a state or object, either internal to oneself or in one's external environment. However, its nature has led to millennia of analyses, explanations, and debate among philosophers, scientists, an ...

. In Buddhist cosmology, the desire realm is often described as being composed of four continents (cāturdvīpaka) which surround

Mount Sumeru Mount Meru (Sanskrit/Pali: मेरु)—also known as Sumeru, Sineru or Mahāmeru—is a sacred, five-peaked mountain present within Hindu, Jain and Buddhist cosmologies, revered as the centre of all physical, metaphysical and spiritua ...

, which itself is surrounded by oceans and mountain ranges. The four continents are *

Jambudvīpa Jambudvīpa (Pali; Jambudīpa) is a name often used to describe the territory of Indian subcontinent, Indian Subcontinent in ancient Indian sources. The term is based on the concept of ''dvīpa'', meaning "island" or "continent" in ancient In ...

in the South * Pūrvavideha in the East *

Uttarakuru The Uttarakurus (; ) were an early Vedic Hindu tribe that inhabited the Uttarakuru country or Uttara Kuru Kingdom. It is also the name of a dvipa ('continent') in ancient Hindu cosmology. The name "Uttara-Kuru" means "North of Kuru (kingdom)". ...

in the North * Avaragodānīya in the West

Realm of Form

Realm of Non-Form

As a Pure Land

The

Vimalakirti Sutra The ''Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa'' (Devanagari: विमलकीर्तिनिर्देश) (sometimes referred to as the ''Vimalakīrti Sūtra'' or ''Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra'') is a Buddhist text which centers on a lay Buddhist medita ...

further elaborates on the nature of the Sahā world. It is treated as a

pure land Pure Land is a Mahayana, Mahayana Buddhist concept referring to a transcendent realm emanated by a buddhahood, buddha or bodhisattva which has been purified by their activity and Other power, sustaining power. Pure lands are said to be places ...

of its own, under the jurisdiction of Śākyamuni Buddha. It has ten features distinct from other pure lands: #The poor are attracted by charity #The transgressors are attracted by pure precepts #The angry are attracted by forbearance #The lazy are attracted by exertion #The perturbed are attracted by meditation #The foolish are attracted by wisdom #Those who experience the

eight difficulties 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. Etymology English ''eight'', from Old English '', æhta'', Proto-Germanic ''*ahto'' is a direct continuation of Proto-Indo-European '' *oḱtṓ(w)-'', and as such cognate wi ...

are saved by explanation of how to eliminate difficulties #Those who take pleasure in the

Hinayana Hīnayāna is a Sanskrit term that was at one time applied collectively to the '' Śrāvakayāna'' and '' Pratyekabuddhayāna'' paths of Buddhism. This term appeared around the first or second century. The Hīnayāna is considered as the prelim ...

are saved by the teaching of the

Mahayana Mahāyāna ( ; , , ; ) is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, Buddhist texts#Mahāyāna texts, texts, Buddhist philosophy, philosophies, and practices developed in ancient India ( onwards). It is considered one of the three main ex ...

#Those without merit may be saved by the various good roots #The liberation of sentient beings is constantly being accomplished by means of the

four attractions 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the Hi ...

References

{{cosmology-stub Buddhist cosmology Pure lands Mahayana Buddhist philosophical concepts