History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c34.205.3

v2.c34.205.3

33, 45, 163, 213) prescribes that the mantra of 6 letters (om namo Viṣṇave), eight letters (om namo Vāsudevāya) or of twelve letters (om namo bhagavate Vāsudevāya) should be repeated 1008 or 108 times. The counting of the mantra as repeated so many times has to be done by means of one's fingers (except the thumb) or by drawing lines (on the ground or walls &c.), or by telling the beads of a rosary, as japa without counting the number is fruitless¹⁶⁴⁶. Śaṅkha-smṛti (chap. XII. in prose) lays down that the rosary should have beads of gold or precious stones or pearls or crystal or rudrākṣa, padmākṣa (lotus seed) or putrajīvaka or a man may count by knots of kuśa grass or by bending the fingers of the left hand.¹⁶⁴⁷ Bṛhat-Parāśara V. p. 85 and Laghu-Vyāsa (Jīvānanda part II. p. 375) contain similar provisions about akṣamālā and counting of japa. They add 'indrākṣa' to the different kinds of beads. The rosary should have 108 beads (this is the best) or 54 (middling) or 27 (this is the lowest number of beads in a rosary).¹⁶⁴⁸ Kālidāsa (in his Raghuvaṁśa XI. 66) mentions that the hero Paraśurāma had on his right ear a rosary of akṣa seeds. Bāṇa (Kādambarī para 37) speaks of counting by means of rings of rudrākṣas. Vide Sm. C. I. pp. 152-153, Par. M. I. part I, pp. 308-311, Madanapārijāta p. 80, Āhnikaprakāśa pp. 326-328 for further details about the rosary.