Additional significance related to Religion and Literature
We have already seen the spiritual significance of 108 beads in a rosary, as illustrated in a previous blog.
Apart from the spiritual significance, there are many worldly or astronomical explanations for the figure of 108 and, hence, the number of beads in a rosary.
Before we look at worldly explanations, let us look at some other ones.
Religious
Hymn recitation: The use of a rosary of beads for prayer or recitation is a traditional ancient Indian culture dating back to almost 10000 to 11000 years. Hinduism and its offshoots Buddhism, Jainism and even Sikhism use a rosary of beads to recite a hymn (hymn recitation) or the name of a deity, God or Goddess (name recitation). Traditional Indians use a rosary of rudraksha beads (especially Shaivites) for recitational prayer.
Shaivite recitation: Many sects of Shaivites use a rosary of 108 beads for recitation because the number of associates of the Godhead Shiva (Shivaganas) is 108. Most Hindu Gods or Deities have 108 names known as ashta satanamavali. So, different Hindus believing in their own deities recite 108 names of the God or Goddess.
Vaishnavite recitation: Some Vaishnavites recite the 108 names of Godhead Vishnu or the names of 108 Gopis (damsel companions of Krishna) of Vrindavan.
Meditation: Generally, many meditate on the formless object of the Supreme Principle. Gayatri hymn is generally recited in this process, and they recite it 108 times. Note: What is Gayatri, and whose praise is the Gayatri hymn sung, are given in another blog.
Path to Supreme: There is a belief that there are 108 steps to God (the supreme). See the first part.
Sun salutation: In India, people offer 108 salutations in the morning facing the sun (Surya namaskar), especially during the spring equinox in March in the Indian subcontinent.
Shakti Peetts: According to mythology, there are 108 Shakti Peetts. These correspond to the 108 body parts of Sati, wife of Shiva, which fell at different places. Each of these places became a peett, where the goddess is worshipped.
Upanishads: Vedas are shruti (heard) scriptures, and Upanishads are post-Vedic shruti scriptures, which are 108 in number.
Wholeness of existence: Vedic mathematicians considered 108 a number representing the wholeness of existence. This number has elegant divisibility and geometry, generating endless patterns.
In other religions/sects
Texts: Sarvastivada and Mahayana are the foundational texts from early Buddhist schools. The Tibetan Buddhists did not have a formally arranged Mahayana, so they derived their own into two broad categories: 1. The words of Buddha and 2—the commentaries. The text of translated words of Buddha is known as Kangyur, while the text in commentaries is known as Tengyur.
Kangyur represents the translated version of the entire collection of the words of Buddha and is regarded as Buddhavachana or Buddha word, translated into Tibetan. It consists of 108 volumes that Buddha is supposed to have spoken. Interestingly, all the texts have a presumed Sanskrit origin, though many Tibetan texts could have been translated from Chinese or other languages, derivations from Sanskrit. The meaning of Kangyur is, in itself, translated words, of course, of words spoken by Buddha.
Trehwa: The Tibetan Buddhist rosaries are made of 108 beads known as Trenhwa. Since ancient times, rosaries have been used for prayers in the southeast and south Asian countries. Rosaries are predominantly made of 108 beads of various materials (material has relevance in terms of the purpose of use)and are generally known as Trengwa or prayer beads.
Buddhism: In some schools of Buddhism, it is believed that there are 108 defilements. Tenets of Buddhism mention 108 types of defilements- no more and no less. This could be why a bell is usually chimed 108 times in Japanese Buddhist Temples to mark the end of an old year and usher in a new year.
The Buddhist traditions talk about 108 human earthly desires, 108 human lies and 108 human delusions.
Buddhists believe that there are 108 feelings – 36 related to the past, 36 to the present & 36 related to the future. They are calculable as follows: This number is reached by multiplying certain numbered aspects. They are: 1. Senses of smell, sight, taste, hearing, touch, and consciousness (6), 2. Pleasant, painful or neutral sensations (3), 3. Internally generated or externally occurring sensations (2), 4. whether they are of past, present or future (3). Let us now multiply them; 6x3x2x3 = 108.
Sense perceptions x types x forms x periods
i.e. 6 senses x 3 types x 2 forms x 3 periods. Therefore, 36 past, 36 present and 36 future feelings will add up to 108.
Again, in Buddhism, there is a belief that the road to Nirvana is riddled with 108 temptations. So, every Buddhist has to overcome 108 earthly temptations to achieve Nirvana. In addition, the ring of prayer beads worn around the waist of Zen priests is usually made of 108 beads. Buddhism believes that there are 108 yearnings. So, the rosary tries to create a yearning for the blessings of Buddhas and Yidam deities.
Buddha’s footprint isimprinted with 108 auspiciousillustrations.
Hindu and Buddhist temples have 108 steps.
In Japanese Buddhist temples, a bell is chimed 108 times at the end of a year to mark the previous year and the beginning of the new year. Each chime of the bell represents one of the 108 worldly temptations known as Bonno, which must be overcome to attain Nirvana.
Again, Buddha is supposed to have imparted his teachings in Buddhism by answering 108 questions, a part of the Buddhist scripture, the Lankavatara sutra.
Tibetans have 108 holy books.
Jainism: In Jainism, it is believed that there are 108 virtues.
In the Jain religion, 108 are the combined virtues of five holy categories, including 12, 8, 36, 25, and 27 virtues, respectively. They total 108.
Gnosticism: According to Gnosticism, an ancient Christian Religion, every human soul passes through 108 stages of spiritual development.
Taoism: As per Taoism, there are 108 postures in the Wu style of Tai Chi.
Islam: In Islam, the number 108 has a reference to God.
Christianity: In Christianity, there are 108 references to the word firstborn in the Bible.
Judaism: Judaism is a religion that emphasizes life and the hope that goes with it. To them, 18 is a popular number that represents good luck. At festivals or when making honorary donations, Jews often give gifts of money in multiples of 18, like 18, 36, 54, 72, 90 or 108.
In Hebrew, each letter has a numerical value. The letter Yud is assigned the number 10. The letter Het is assigned the number 8. Het-Yud spells the word Chai (חי), usually pronounced like “hi” or “high” in English, which is a word and symbol that means “life.” A common Jewish toast, “L’Chaim!” means “To Life!” and is often said at celebrations in anticipation of all the good things to come. This symbolizes giving the recipient the gift of “life” or luck.
Significance of the number 108
Nine times twelve has a spiritual significance, which adds up to 108. One plus eight (1+8) = 9 is a spiritual or divine number. Another spiritual significance of 108 is that 108 nadis (subtle energy channels) go from the heart area to all extremities. Recitation of specific hymns 108m times can purify the body.
The 108 beads and link to the literature
Greek literature: Odysseus was the king of Ithaca, an isolated, rugged Greek Island. When he left Ithaca to fight for the Greeks in the Trojan War, he left behind his newborn child, Telemachus and his wife, Penelope. Unlike other surviving Greek soldiers, Odysseus did not return for almost ten years after the war. This gave rise to suspicion of his death in the war, so many bachelors started wooing Penelope. To delay their courtship attempts, Penelope informed them that she would choose a husband after weaving a funeral shroud to be presented to Odysseus’ father. The weaving was not over even after three years, as she used to unweave the shroud every night to delay the suitors’ advances and expect her husband to return. One of her maidservants, Melantho, revealed this to one of the suitors, Eurymachus. Now, the suitors started putting pressure on Penelope to choose a husband. Ultimately, Odysseus returns and, knowing of the happenings, kills all the suitors and the disloyal maidservants. Here comes the cache; the number of Penelope suitors was 108.
Chinese literature: Water Margin, also known as Outlaws of the Marsh, was one of the four popular novels in Chinese history of the 14th century. Based on a true story from the Song dynasty (960–1279), Water Margin tells of groups of 108 bandits who team up at Mount Liang and succeed in their rebellion despite their differences: clever savants and dumb brutes, ferocious warriors and learned gentlemen. The Song government eventually acknowledged the rebels as a force of nature. They were commissioned into the empire’s military force and sent on missions to quell other rebellions and repel foreign invaders. Here again, the number of bandit rebels was 108.
English literature: Another connection with literature is the Sonnets of Astrophel and Stella. The sonnet is one of the most famous forms of English poetry. It is a poetic form of expression, meaning little song. Sonnets are associated with desire, and for centuries, poets have used the sonnet frame to explore the complicated human experience of romantic love. The sonnets of Astrophel and Stells highlight the trials and tribulations of Astrophel in his passionate mad love for Stella and his ultimate decision to abandon the pursuit of Stella and opt for a life of Public service. Once again, the number of sonnets of Astrophel and Stella is 108.
