Karshvar
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In the Avesta, reference is made to seven karshvar (Modern Persian keshvar), climes or zones, organizing the world map into a seven-storied ziggurat representing the cosmic mountain. The world is referred to as the haft keshvar. The word has also been translated as "region", "state" or "continent".
The Avesta describes the karshvar as superimposed concentric circles one above the other, with increasing size, and an ocean separating each one from the next. The only karshvar inhabited by men is the seventh, Hvaniratha:
- Arezahi,
- Savahi,
- Fradadhafshu,
- Vidadhafshu,
- Vourubaresti,
- Vourugaresti,
- Hvaniratha.
Sufi traditions postulate an eighth clime, the "heavenly Earth" or "cosmic North".
In Theosophy, according to H. P. Blavatsky (The Devil's Own, 1891), Ahura is interpreted as a generic name for the sevenfold Deity, the Ruler of the Seven Worlds, and Hvaniratha is the middle plane (the fourth of seven), corresponding to Earth.
