“108, 18, 9”
“108” is the number that is commonly remembered by the people of Assam. If anyone fall ill or there is any accident, the first thing that a person remembers is the number “108” which he/she dials on his/her phone and within few minutes an emergency life saving ambulance arrives at the scene. A person from Hindu religion is very much aware that in the puja of “Shiv” or “Mahadev”, “108” Bel leaves, each having three sub leaves are to be placed in the “Shiv Lingam”. Why is this number “108” so significant? How is the number “18” and “9” so significantly related to “108”. If the readers of this article have read the book “The Krishna Key” by Ashwin Sanghi, they will find many interesting facts about the wonderful and significant numbers-“108, 18 and 9”. However, I would like to highlight some interesting facts about these numbers that are collected from the above mentioned book and other web based documents.
1. “108” is derived from the multiplication of an
ancient sequence-
2. “108”=1+0+8=
18=1+8=”9” which is considered as a magic number as this number represents GOD
or Shiv or Vish in Hindu Mythology. But how?? The answer is that 9 is an
indestructible number. Anything multiplied by 9 always gives 9. E.g. 9×6=54,
5+4=9; 9×9=81, 8+1=9, 9×19=117, 1+1+7=9; any random
number-567825×9=5110425=5+1+1+0+4+2+5=18=1+8=9. As GOD is indestructible,
so is the number 9. GOD multiplied by any anything remains GOD, so is the
number 9. That is why there are 9 nights of Navratri,
the same reason we worship the nine planets- Navagraha at the Navagraha
temple located atop the Navagraha
Hill. Ancient historians believed that the Navagraha temple was used not only for worship of the nine planets,
but it was also a centre place for astronomical study. This is the reason of considering 9 as the
symbol of GOD in Hindu mythology.
3.
The number 108 has 12 divisors-
1,2,3,4,6,9,12,18,27,36,54,108. Thus
4. According to Hindu mythology, the 9 planets make
a cycle in a person life in 12 month. So 9×12=108
5.
“108” Bel leaves each with three sub leaves
should be in the “Shiv Lingam” while worshipping Shiv. Thus 108×3=324
= 3+2+4=9 which again represent GOD or Shiv or Vish in Hindu mythology.
6.
According to Vedic astronomy, Sun’s diameter is
approximately “108” times that of Earth.
7. Average distance between Moon and Earth divided
by the moon’s diameter gives the number 108. The metal Silver is said to
represent the moon according to ancient Hindu astrology; the atomic weight of
silver is 108.
8. 108 divided by 2 gives 54 i.e. 5+4=9, 54 divided
by 2 gives 27, 2+7=9; 27 gets divided by 3 yields 9.So all factors of 108 gives
9, the GOD’s number.
9. The multiplication of 9th day of each
month will yield 9 only.
10. There are 54 letters in Sanskrit alphabet. Each
has masculine and feminine, Shiva and Shakti, thus making 54×2
i.e. 108 or 9
11.
There are 108 Goddess name in Hindu Mythology.
The sacred river Ganga spans a longitude of 12° (79°-91°)
and latitude of 9° (22° to 31°).
Thus 12×9 =108.
12. According to Vedic mathematics, zero represents
nothing, 1 represents beginning and 8 represent the very end. Therefore when we
consider 108, it represents the beginning to the end. A human life begins with
a single cell and goes through 8 stages of life- Infant stage, Toddler stage,
Kindergarten stage, Puberty stage, Teenager stage, Young adult stage, Mid-life
stage and finally Old age till it meets its end and reaches the ultimate
destination-GOD. Thus the beginning goes to the end to meet GOD i.e. the simple
analogy 108= 18 = 1+8= 9. Again as 1 represents the beginning and 8 the end,
when all the numbers from 1 to 8 (neglecting 0) sum up to form 36 which again
sum up to form 9. This is also the
reason that the number “8” is considered to be supreme- Krishna was the eighth child of Devaki, the eighth avatar of Vishnu
and was born on the eighth day of Rohini.
13. The interior angle of a regular pentagon is “108°”.
A pentagon has 5 sides. Thus the total interior angle multiplies to be 108°
×5=
540°= 5+4+0 = 9 which again represents GOD. This may be the
same reason that the United States constructed their most powerful military
building in the shape of a pentagon and also named it the same.
14. Mukhya
Shivaganas are 108 in number and hence majority of Shiva devotees use 108
rudraksha beaded lace for japa along
with reciting Shiva’s name 108 times. There were 108 gopis of Vrindavan. In Gaudiya
Vaishnavism the recital of the 108 names of the gopis along with counting
the 108 beaded mala is often done in religious ceremonies and considered
sacred.
15. During the Parvat
Manthan the huge serpent was pulled back and forth by 108 Devas and Asuras,
54 devas pulling one way and 54 asuras pulling the other, to churn the ocean of
milk in order to produce the elixir of immortality.
16. The fact that 108 degree Fahrenheit is the
internal temperature at which the human body’s vital organ fails due to
overheating was known to sages during the Vedic periods. The ancient yogis also
knew that there were 108 main Nadis
(Veins) that go from the heart to all extremities.
There are more interesting facts than
the above mentioned points regarding the numbers 108, 18 and 9. Thus these numbers
bear a great significance in Hindu mythology, philosophy, literature and
culture. The uniqueness of these numbers makes it so important that the number
108 is used and mentioned so many times in other cultures, religions and
literatures around the world in the ancient, medieval and in modern times. In
the Hindu-Buddhist civilization sphere, the numbers 108, 18 and 9 are
considered to be the most sacred numbers in all manners of philosophical sets
and religious series. If more studies
and research is done on these unique numbers then certainly we can come up with
more amazing discoveries about these numbers.
References
o
The
Krishna key by Ashwin Sanghi, Westland Publisher
o
http://destinationom.com/why108beads/
o
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/108_(number)
Very informative piece and very well written 👍🏼
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