ॐ वीरेश्वराय विद्महे
विवेकानन्दाय धीमहि । तन्नो वीर: प्रचोदयात् ।
For Information: Why do we do Japa for 108 times. each time we
complete the mala, the writer says, " If the microcosm (us) mirrors the
macrocosm (the solar system), maybe you could say there are 108
steps between our human awareness and the divine light. Each
time we chant another mantra as our mala beads slip through our
fingers, we are taking another step toward our own inner sun." Nivedita
Wisdom of Ancient
Indians
Professor Subhash
Kak of Louisiana State University recently
discovered a statement by Sayana, a 14th
century Indian scholar. In his commentary on
a hymn in the Rig Veda, Sayana says: "With
deep respect, I bow to the sun, who travels
2,202 yojanas in half a nimesha."A yojana is
approximately 9 miles; a nimesha is 16/75 of
a second. Therefore: 2,202 yojanas x 9 miles
x 75/8 nimeshas = 185,794 miles per second
How could a Vedic scholar who died in 1387
A.D. have known the correct figure for the
speed of light? The yogic tradition is full
of such coincidences. Take for instance the
mala of traditional beads. Students often
ask why they have 108 beads instead of 100.
The reason is that the mala represent the
ecliptic, the path of the sun and moon
across the sky. Yogis divide the ecliptic
into 27 equal sections called nakshatras,
and each of these into four equal sectors
called padas, or "steps," marking the 108
steps that the sun and moon take through
heaven. Professor Kak points out that the
distance between the earth and the sun is
approximately 108 times the sun's diameter.
The diameter of the sun is about 108 times
the earth's diameter. And the distance
between the earth and the moon is 108 times
the moon's diameter. Could this be the
reason the ancients considered 108 to be a
sacred number? If the microcosm (us)
mirrors the macrocosm (the solar system),
maybe you could say there are 108 steps
between our human awareness and the divine
light. Each time we chant another mantra
as our mala beads slip through our
fingers, we are taking another step toward
our own inner sun. The Surya Siddhanta
is the oldest surviving astronomical text in
the Indian tradition, dating to the 6th A.D.
or earlier It states that the earth is
shaped like a ball, and that at the very
opposite side of the planet from India is a
great city where the sun is rising at the
same time it sets in India. In this city,
the Surya Siddhanta claims, lives a race of
siddhas, or advanced spiritual adepts. Is it
possible that the ancient Indians were aware
of the Mayans and Incas? While European
traditions claimed that the universe was
created approximately 6,000 years ago,
Indian sages have always maintained that our
cosmos is billions of years old, and that
it's just one of many such universes which
have arisen and dissolved in the vastness of
eternity. In fact the Puranas describe the
birth of our solar system out of a "milk
ocean" ~ the Milky Way? Through the will of
the Creator, they tell us, a vortex shaped
like a lotus arose from the navel of
eternity. It gradually coalesced into our
world, but will perish some day billions of
years hence when the sun expands to many
times its present size, swallowing all life
on earth. In the end, the Puranas say, the
ashes of the earth will be blown into space
by the cosmic wind. Today we know this is a
scientifically accurate, if poetic,
description of the fate of our planet.
Join the year long 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda : sv150.org Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari
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