Gorakhnath and the Kanphata Yogis c5.112

c5.112

¹ Eighty-four beads make up the proper Śaivite rosary. It is interesting to note that 84 = 7 × 12 and symbolizes the number of the planets (7) and the signs of the Zodiac (12). 108 = 9 × 12 where the moon is counted in its three phases as increasing, full and waning to make-up nine (9). ‘Consequently these Hindu rosaries symbolize the whole circuit of the hosts of heaven.’ (See, in *Journal of the Royal Society of Arts*, vol. L. (1902), p. 275 f., a discussion, by Sir George Birdwood, of a paper on ‘The History of the Rosary in all Countries’ by the Rev. H. Thurston, S.J.) 108 = 2² × 3³ and is, therefore, an auspicious number.