Note 413 — Chapter I

The Puranas speak of fourteen worlds—the seven swargas (celestial regions) and the seven pātāls (nether regions)413. Underneath the seventh pātāl414 lies Shesha (the divine cobra) who supports all the fourteen worlds on one of his one thousand hoods. On account of the heavy burden, the serpent-god sometimes gets tired, and tries to change his position. The result of the movement is an earth-quake.408 According to another version, an earthquake occurs when Shesha changes his posture in sleep,415 or is the result of a hair falling from the body of Shesha.416 Some people say that ordinarily Shesha does not feel the weight of the fourteen worlds on his head; he bears the load as if it were only a single sesamum seed. But when too much sin accumulates in any of the regions, the burden becomes unbearable for him: he begins to shake under it, and an earthquake occurs.417