Dushama-dushama is the sixth and final ara of the avasarpini, the descending half of the beginningless Jain cosmic time cycle, the age still to come after the present Dushama age ends, described in Jain cosmological texts as the harshest of the six, in which human stature, lifespan, morality and happiness fall to their lowest point before the cycle turns and the ascending utsarpini half begins with the same six ara in reverse order. This entry names its position in the cross traditional cycle of world ages this atlas already tracks; the doctrine page elsewhere in this atlas carries the fuller treatment of the avasarpini and utsarpini cycle itself.
Facts
Identity
SymbolNo individual glyph marks the age on its own; Jain tradition instead pictures all twelve ara of the avasarpini and utsarpini together as spokes on a single wheel of time, kalachakra, with Dushama-dushama occupying the sixth and final spoke of the descending half, immediately before the wheel turns into the ascending utsarpini. 1 Dating
Proposed DatingGiven as 21,000 years, the same fixed span the tradition gives the current Dushama age before it, rather than the far larger sagaropama figures used for the first four ara. No source in the tradition attempts a further calendar conversion, and the atlas does not invent one. 1 Attributions
TraditionJain cosmological texts including the Tattvartha Sutra and its commentaries, which set out the avasarpini's six ara. 1 Connections
Belongs to Tradition
The sixth and harshest ara of the avasarpini, still to come, after which the ascending utsarpini half begins the same six ara in reverse.
Source Cycles of Time (Jainpedia)No individual author named; content credited to Professor Nalini Balbir
Related To
Successor Of
Sources
1. Cycles of Time (Jainpedia)
No individual author named; content credited to Professor Nalini Balbir, Institute of Jainology, 2026the avasarpini half-cycle table, sixth ara (dushama-dushama), Jainpedia Cycles of TimeQuote, the avasarpini half-cycle table, sixth ara (dushama-dushama), Jainpedia Cycles of Time
21,000 years
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