[Advaita-l] Why holy mantras , 108 _ upanisad numbers

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~

Namaste Michael,

Regarding 108 to the sun - 108 does not equal the actual measurement:

The earth to the sun measured in the number of the sun's diameters. The sun is 1.4 million km (870,000 miles) in diameter. The avg. distance to the sun is 149 million km ( or 91 to 94.5 million miles). So this math gives you 106 to 107 of the sun's diameters from here to Surya (sun). 


Regarding 108  Upaniṣad-s vs. the potential of 1180
One may ask, How many potential upaniṣad-s are there? As many sakha-s सख ( tree ) or branches, some call recensions found in the veda. But how many? Well, the ṛg veda has 21 recensions, yajur veda (from yajus - worship, sacrifice) has 109, some say 101; the sāma veda (from sāman - song or tune; and sā is 'sin destroying') has 1000; The atharva veda (atharvan - brahmā's eldest son to whom he revealed the brahma-vidyā) has 50 recensions & some say there are 9 . 

Hence a total of 1,180 recensions. From a numbers perspective this 1180 can be viewed as 1+1+8+0 = 10 , the sum of the digits of 1,180. This 10 says Fullness of the Relative field of life = 1, and Fullness of the Absolute level of life or 0. This 10 is the Fullness of saguṇa + nirguṇa = Brahman. The subject of 10 has been discussed in past posts for those that have interest 


pranams

-----Original Message-----
From: advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org [mailto:advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org] On Behalf Of Michael Shepherd
Sent: Monday, January 11, 2010 4:11 AM
To: A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta
Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Why holy mantras are chanted 108 times

Perhaps I should add an example to my question :

If the Sun is distant from us 108 times its diameter (who measured it ?) :
then is this just a simple fact, like 'this flower has seven petals'; or is it a clue to Creation, the Bramanda itself ? Unless we are clear about the significance of numbers in the divine science, it seems to me that we could demote number into some sort of superstitious 'magic'..

If the diameter of the Sun is thus related to distance, this would be an implication for the study of gravitational pull..

The examples of 108 given recently sem to me to vary in their significance and implications... 108 Upanishads.. ?

Michael

-----Original Message-----
From: advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org
[mailto:advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org]On Behalf Of Michael Shepherd
Sent: 11 January 2010 11:40To: A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta
Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Why holy mantras are chanted 108 times



This does raise the question : is 'number' and numbers, part of the active agency of Creation (as for instance the Circle of Nine Points would
suggest) -- thus a sort of hidden aspect of empirical science; or simply a reminder of the nature of that Creation; or both ? (I hope this makes
sense..)

Michael

-----Original Message-----
From: advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org
[mailto:advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org]On Behalf Of Tanushree Bagrodia
Sent: 11 January 2010 07:26
To: advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org
Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Why holy mantras are chanted 108 times



>
> A new member (who still has to learn a lot), I would like to share my
>> learnings on the number 108.
>
>
> 1 stands for brahman, the One and only whole reality 0 depicts maya, 
> the creator of all illusions
> 8 is the ashtadha prakriti, the materialistic world
>
> The only thing separating the materialistic world from the brahman is 
> maya and hence the 0 between the 1 and 8. It is maya and getting 
> sucked into it that creates the distance between the material world and the brahman.
> Without the brahman or the ashtadha prakriti, maya own its own has no 
> powers. 0 on its own has no value. Thus the number 108 is a 
> representation of brahman and a constant reminder that there is only 
> One reality and One truth all else is an illusion created by maya in 
> the form of the materialistic world.
>
> Interestingly, SitaRam and RadheyShyam in the devnagri script also add 
> to
> 108
>
> For e.g. SitaRam
> Sita :
> The alphabet "s" in Devnagri is the 32nd consonant The vowel sound "I" 
> in Devnagri is the 4th The alphabet "t" is the 16th consonant The 
> vowel sound "A" is the 2nd Total of these is 54
>
> Ram:
> The alphabet "r" is the 27th consonant The vowel "A" is the 2nd The 
> alphabet "m" is the 25 Total of these is 54
>
> Total for SitaRam is 108
>
> Similarly RadheyShyam adds to a 108
>
> 108 was used in the titles of vaishnav saints, however, in the recent
times
> not understanding the significance of 108 many mandleshwars (which 
> again
is
> a mis-representation as it should be mandleeshwar from the words 
> mandli +
> ishwar) have started using 1008, such that their titles read 1008 
> swami
sri.
> This should be 108, if used at all.
>
>
>
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