Ever wondered why some numbers like 18, 786, 108, etc. are considered sacred?
Let us first get on with the significance of the number 18.
- Shreemad Bhagavat Gita - A part of Mahabharata and the holy book of Hindus, has 18 chapters.
- The great Indian epic Mahabharata itself has 18 chapters in turn.
- The battle of Kurukshetra lasted for 18 days.
- The great war was fought by 18 armies in total (11 fought for Kauravas and 7 for Pandavas).
- There were 18 ‘Maharathis’ (exalted warriors) in Mahabharata who survived the war at the end of 18th day.
- Jarasandha, the king of Magadh dynasty, attacked Mathura 18 times.
- The Yadavas, Lord Krishna’s clan, were a federation of 18 tribes.
- There are 18 chapters in each of the 4 Vedas.
- There are a total of 18 Puranas.
Co-incidence? No.
One is Happenstance. Two is Co-incidence. Three is a Pattern.
The ‘why’ of repeated occurences of the number 18 in Mahabharata is beyond my understanding, but it sure does clears why the number has been granted a sacrosanct status in Hindu culture.
Now, let’s explore the mystique surrounding the number 786. Why 786 is considered holy? Is it because Amitabh Bachchan made it famous after Deewar?
Or Mithun Chakraborty, who refused to be outgunned by the actor and made a movie titled Billa No. 786?
Or, Akshay Kumar in Khiladi 786?
No. The origin of the spiritual status of 786 began much before movies. Like 18 in Hinduism, 786 is considered as holy in Islam majorly.
- The summation of the numbers corresponding to the first letter of all the sentences in Holy Quran is 786.
- The total value of letters of “Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim” is 786 according to the standard Abjadi system of numerology.
786 also has a special place in Hinduism on some level. These are the Hindi counterparts of the numbers 7, 8 and 6:
Now when you arrange them in a manner shown below, this is what you get:
The Aum Symbol! Interesting, isn’t it?
108. There are far greater connections to the number 108 than one cares to admit. Take some of these for example:
- Hindu rosaries have 108 beads.
- The rosary represents the ecliptic - the path of the sun and moon across the sky in 108 steps.
- The distance between the Earth and the Sun is exactly 108 times the Sun’s diameter.
- The distance between the Earth and the Moon is 108 times the Moon’s diameter.
- The diameter of the Sun is 108 times of the Earth’s diameter.
- As per ancient mathematics, the number 108 was considered to be super significant in numerology, probably because the product of 1 to the power of 1 * 2 to the power of 2 * 3 to the power of 3 comes to 108.
- In Astrology, there are 12 constellations for 12 zodiac signs. There are 9 arc segments known as chandrakalas. Again, their product comes to 108. (12*9=108)
- According to Hindu Puranas, Lord Krishna had 108 gopis.
- Lord Krishna also had 108 names.
- There are 108 dance forms in Indian tradition.
- The mystique of 108 can be traced back to the origin of the universe. As per the Big Bang Theory, the universe was created from a single point of energy. Everybody knows that not only the Earth, the whole universe is egg-shaped. From that point on, we are expanding continuously and we will continue to expand infinitely.
Single point of energy. 1
Egg-shaped universe. 0
Expanding infinitely. 8 (If you tilt the number 8 horizontally, you’ll get the infinity sign).
And of course, how can I forget this?