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| Culture |
| Mala |
A Mala or a rosary is a symbol
of devotion. There are 108 beads in a mala.
A man takes 21,600 breaths in a day. If we
subtract hours of the night then we are left
with 10,800 breaths. According to this, the
religious teachers said man should recite
God's name 10,800 times a day. But God's name
recited once with faith is equivalent to 100
times. And so on the basis of this argument
it was decided to have 108 beads in a rosary.
A religious person can do his/her daily chores
with God's name at every breath. No karma
can come in his/her way. A person who uses
his mala with faith can call for God's blessing.
We have received the body of a human being
after good action of many lives. It is a sign
of foolishness to waste such a valuable life
only in worldly pleasures. God has made our
body. Mind, wisdom, actions, ear, eye, tongue,
hand, leg, etc. are his gifts. The true yagna
is to do good work by coordinating harmoniously
all these gifts. The true yagna or devotion
is done when man lives with the intention
of welfare of not only human beings but also
of animals, birds, insects, trees, minerals,
i.e., the welfare of all. Such man prospers
by receiving God's love and blessings.
One puts water and prashad on tulsipatra at
the time of making offerings to God and then
he says: "This is not mine, I am offering
you what is yours" After that we take
this offering as Prashad. On the same basis
this body is not mine but it is given by God.
Tulsipatra should be put on the body to show
the intention of submission to God. Since
this is not easy and practical everyday, our
religious teachers made a mala of tulsi beads
and recommended that we wear them on our necks.
On waking up in the morning we see this mala
and it reminds us: "This body is not
yours, it has been offered to God, and so
you should only do that which pleases God"
i.e., do good deeds. So religious teachers
inspire people to do good deeds by making
them wear the mala. This is the importance
of tulsi mala.
People have forgotten the true reason for
having a mala these days. Today the mala has
become just a symbol of some sects. It will
be a great service to humanity if people,
by understanding its wider meaning of the
welfare of whole mankind, can revive the bhakti
offered to God through the mala. |
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