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A jap mala is a mala of 108 beads usually made up of tulsi or Rudraksha or sandalwood used for keeping a count while doing jap or chanting of a sacred mantra (divine sounds) as per Sanatan Dharma (Hinduism and its branches) Tradition.
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Mantras are typically chanted hundreds or thousands of times dring a mantra sadhna (meditation). This is where a jap mala comes handy as it allows one to concentrate on the sound of the mantra rather than diverting one's attention in counting the repetitions. Each bead of the mala corresponds to a chant of the sacred mantra. The mala is generally held with the right hand, with the htumb flicking one bead to the next, and with the mala draped over the middle finger. The chanting starts with the bead next to the principle bead called sumeru or bindu or guru bead and when the guru bead is arrived at, the mala is turned around and one starts chanting in the oppposing direction. It is generally believed that the guru or the sumeru bead is not crossed.
The number 108 bears special religious significance in a number of Hindu and Buddist traditions as depicted below:
- Desire, anger, greed, attachment, pride and envy are the six defects or foes of the soul (shadripu). Often more than one defect is dominant at a time. Sometimes even two defects can be dominant. Thus one derives six permutations of a defect, for instance desire, desire-anger, desire-greed, desire-attachment, desire-pride, desire-envy, etc. Thus from the six defects, thirty-six permutations are obtained. These thirty-six permutations have either sattva, raja or tama, as their predominant component, for instance desire-anger-sattva, desire-anger-raja, desire-anger-tama. Thus 36x3=108 permutations are obtained. Every bead in the mala is a representative of such a permutation. The merubead (merumani) maintains its separate existence inspite of being with the rest. Thus finally the mala consists of 109 beads. The spiritual emotions developed in every bead are generated from the nine types of devotion (navavidha bhakti).
- The four parts (charans) of each of the twenty-seven lunar asterisms (nakshatras) that is 27 x 4 equals one hundred and eight. These are represented by 108 beads in the mala. This reminds one of the fact that the Vedic teachings have to be propagated to these 108 places.
- The beads symbolize the 108 sensate foci in our body.
- They represent the 108 Upanishads.
- The Names of Vishnu and Shiva in the Mahabharat are also 108.
- The major psychiatric illnesses according to the Ayurveda too are 108.
- The number of the deities of knowledge and the various sciences (vidyas) is 108 as well.
- In the tenth kand of the text Shatpath Brahman it is said that one sanvatsar has 10,800 auspicious moments (muhurts). The Rugveda, Yajurveda and Samaveda also have the same number of couplets. (The Atharvaveda is considered inferior to the other three Vedas. Hence it is not discussed here.) The life span of man in the Kaliyug is hundred years. If 10,800 is divided by 100 the result is 108. Thus the 108 beads in the mala indicate the 108 auspicious moments (muhurts) in a year and also the couplets of the three Vedas.
- An average person breathes 21,600 times a day. If a seeker gives half these breaths to worldly activities then he should devote atleast the remaining half, that is 10,800 breaths to spiritual practice. So, chanting of a minimum of 100 turns (malas) of a mala consisting of 108 beads should be done everyday.
- The author of Ankavidya, S.H.Joshi has illustrated the scientific relationship between numbers and actions. Zero refers to the inactive, formless and attributeless Brahman whereas, 1 indicates the non-dualistic state of Brahman. S.H. Joshi while elucidating the concept further says, each number has its own importance. The 108 beads of the mala also have a significance. The sun when traversing the twelve zodiac signs completes a polar circle which is known as a ‘vrutta’. The vrutta has 360 degrees. If one converts the degrees of the revolution into kalas one gets 360 x 60 = 2,16,000 kalas. The sun remains in the northern hemisphere for six months and in the southern for the remaining six. Thus one obtains the figure of 1,08,000 in each part. From another angle it is considered that there are 60 ghatkas from one sunrise to the other. One ghatka consists of 60 pals and each of the 60 pals amounts to 60 vipals. Thus 60 ghatkas amount to 2,16,000 vipals. If these are divided between day and night then one arrives at the number 1,08,000. To establish a relationship between time and numbers, the three zeros of the figure 1,08,000 may have been deleted and the figure of 108 may probably have been used for the japamala.
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