So Says Sai

[Guest guest]

So Says Sai

 

 

 

The japamala teaches you the Unity, though it has 108 beads! If it is spatika mala (garland of crystal beads) you can see the string running in and through each bead, the inner reality on which all this is strung! If the beads are not transparent you still know that the string passes through, holds together, and is the basis for the mala to exist. Hundred and eight is the result when 12 is multiplied 9 times. Twelve is the number of adithyas, luminaries that reveal the objective world, and so, symbols of the sakara aspect (the world of name and form, of manifoldness, the seeming variety, the fleeting picture). Nine is the screen on which the pictures appear, the basis, the rope which deludes you in the dusk; Brahman, the nameless, the formless, eternal absolute. 9 is the Brahman number for it is always 9, however many times you multiply it! (9 multiplied by 12=108, 1+0+8=9, 9 multiplied by 9=81, 8+1=9)

 

Thus 108 indicate the totality of Godhead. The sakara and Nirakara (personal and impersonal) and sum up the totality of Godhead in a symbolic way. It is immutable, for 9 into any number adds up to 9 only. So when you turn the beads of the Japamala, impress upon yourself the fact that there is both Truth and travesty in the world, that travesty attracts, distracts and delights in deceiving you, diverts you into devious paths. The Truth makes you free!

 

 

 

Source: Sathya Sai Speaks Vol. IX. P. 28/29.