THE BUDDHA'S AWAKENING 21the mouth and claws of the monster Time or Impermanence. Its perimeter is
ringed with the 12 preconditions. In its nave are three animals: the cock, sym-
bolizing passion; the snake, aversion; and the pig, ignorance. They are the
propelling forces of the cycle of existence, in which karmic retribution deter-
mines where on the wheel each individual will be reborn.
The cosmos as a whole consists of three realms: in ascending order, they
are the sensual realm, the realm of form, and the realm of formlessness. Within
these realms are located the six major destinies: hell and the levels of hungry
ghosts, common animals, human beings, and devas (spirits, deities) in the
sensual realm; and Brahmas (gods) in the realms of form and formlessness. Re-
birth in the three lower destinies results from evil acts; the three upper des-
tinies reward good.
The most degraded beings are the inhabitants of the hells, which are hot
and cold subterranean places of suffering that lasts for many aeons. However,
Buddhist hells are purgatorial, and not places of everlasting retribution. Once
the ripening of the karma is complete-a process accomplished only through
the passage of time-the individuals thus punished can ascend and reach the
human realm, where they again must face moral responsibility for their future.
Next lowest is the realm of hungry ghosts. These beings haunt the earth's sur-
face, continually tormented by insatiable hunger. They stand outside walls and
gates, invisible to all but a few human beings, mutely pleading to be fed. The
realm of animals ranks just above the hungry ghosts. Individuals reborn as ani-
mals must suffer the cruelties to which dumb creatures are subjected. This
realm is somewhat confused by the inclusion of the niigas (water spirits, inhab-
iting rivers, lakes, and oceans) and other mythical beasts and birds. The nagas
are either dragons or cobras, which may indicate that their cult is hybrid. Like
human beings, they can either be protective or destructive. The enemies of
the nagas are garu4as (half human and half bird of prey).
The three upper fortunate destinies reward good karma. Of these, the
human destiny is considered to be the lowest but also the most important, for
only here can virtue and wisdom be increased. All other realms are retribu-
tions or rewards for choices and actions taken in the human realm. Even when
someone attains nirval).a while sojourning in a heaven, it is due to the ripen-
ing of merit won as a human being.
The highest sensual destiny is that of the devas, augmented in later ver-
sions of the wheel by the asuras, beings of a slightly lower order than devas
who-similar to the Titans in Greek mythology-perpetually oppose them.
Both of these destinies are inhabited by a diversity of beings, but all are there
by virtue of their karma and, when frul.ts of their merit run out, are subject to
rebirth. The early Buddhists inherited a diverse tradition of spirits and cele:stial
beings from their Aryan and non-Aryan predecessors, and the early texts offer
no one standard list of who's who in the lower deva realms. The lowest level
contains the spirits inhabiting the earth's surface and the lower atmosphere.
Prominent among these are the yak{ as and gandharvas. The yaksas were pri-
marily tree spirits, the chief divinities of a popular non-Vedic cult. The gand-
harvas in the J!._g Veda were spirits of the clouds and waters, and so were