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Showing posts from January, 2012

Symbolism & Significance of Shoonya (zero)

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Om! Gam! Ganapathaye! Namaha! Om! Sri Raghavendraya Namaha! Om! Namo! Bhagavathe! Vaasudevaya! Om! Ham! Hanumathe! Sri Rama Doothaya Namaha! It was India who first gave zero the status of a number and it was Hindu mathematicians who first conceived of zero as a number. Zero signifies something very different from simply nothing. Zero has the power to build any number (eg.10, 100, 1000 etc.) at the same time it has the ability to destroy another number – zero times of anything is zero.  Zero stands for vacuum, void, nothing. The discovery of zero and the place value system were inventions unique to the Indian civilization. It was India that gave to the world the value of Zero which was represented by the words like Shoonya in the earliest Sanskrit texts. In mathematical language Shoonya means nothing, its value is nil, however spiritually it symbolizes the ultimate being the Parabrahma. Shuunya is an ancient Sanskrit word meaning zero, nothingness. Shuunya is a symbol th...

Significance & Symbolism of Numbers – Hindu perspective

Om! Gam! Ganapathaye! Namaha! Om! Sri Raghavendraya Namaha! Om! Namo! Bhagavathe! Vasudevaya!   Om! Ham! Hanumathe! Sri Rama Doothaya Namaha! Usage of numbers is prevailing in the world since time immemorial and has become an integral and eternal part of the day to day life in the world economy and civilization. Pythagoras the famous mathematician and philosopher believed that all things are numbers and number is within of all things. Numbers rule the universe. Number is the ruler of forms and ideas. In the words of Bertrand Russell, numbers are eternal and not in time. Number is the explanation of the world and understanding of numbers is   essential to the knowledge. Plato called the study of number symbolism "the highest level of knowledge". Pythagoras believed numbers had souls, as well as magical powers. He divided the numbers into two groups odd and even, male and female, light and dark etc. St. Augustine of Hippo wrote that, "Numbers are the univer...