The science behind 108 beads of the Mala

To understand the cosmic importance of the number, add the two digits, one and eight. One gets number 9, the number of 'completion'.

All of us who have turned prayer beads know that we have one hundred and eight beads in each string, with one Guru Bead (the hundred and ninth) at the centre. Have you ever asked yourself why the number of beads should be one hundred and eight, why not just a perfect hundred, which somehow seems a nice round figure to negotiate? And why is it so important to keep track, through the rosary, of the number of times we repeat our Mantras?

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To understand the cosmic importance of the number 108, we can add the two digits, one and eight, and get number nine, which we all know is the number of 'completion' of the one digit series. When we have moved from one to nine, we have traversed all the numerological sequences turn by turn, and absorbed all the vibrations of each number in between.

Now this circle of beads represents the elliptic, that is the path of the sun and the moon across the sky. Ancient Indian astronomers have divided this elliptic into 27 equal sections, called 'nakshatras'.

These 27 nakshatras have further been sub-divided into four steps each, called 'padas', taking the total of the steps that the sun and moon take in completing the elliptic to one hundred and eight steps.

It is also no coincidence that the Universal math is based on Base 12 series, and the hundred and eight represents twelve, multiplied by the number of completion, that is nine.

So each step becomes a blessing forwarded in time, and as we rotate the 108 beads we are aligned with the complete blessings of the Universe.

Tradition demands that when we have completed one turn of the rosary and have reached the 109th bead, that is the Guru Bead, we have mastered one level of perfection of the Mantra that we have recited. On reaching the Guru bead, it is also a tradition to flip over the Mala, and restart from the same bead that we ended at. This represents going backward along the path of realization that we have trod upon, and also has a spiritual significance, in consonance with all patterns of nature. Very scientific indeed!

The Guru Bead represents the summer and the winter solstices, where the sun seems to have stopped in its elliptical path, and has reversed its direction. This would mean that the sun having reached the furthest in one direction, now traverses the same path backwards to the other side. Just like a pendulum that swings back and forth, the movement of the sun also displays a to and fro action. This is why we flip over the Mala at the end, as the microcosm always mirrors the movement and patterns of the macrocosm.

Using this method also reminds us of our deep interconnectedness with nature. This becomes a symbolic paean of praise for the cosmic cycles governing the Universe!

Next week we shall explore some more of this interconnectedness of natural laws and our age-old spiritual practices.

To be continued...