Japa with Mala-ma

Japa with Mala

The Japa Mala (muttering chaplet is first mentioned in the Atharva Veda of about 800 BC). It has 108 beads. The Japamala teaches you unity, though it has 108 beads. The string that passes through the beads holds together and is the basis for the mala to exist.

[SSS Volume 7, p36]

How to use the Japamala (Beads) to do Japa?

The little finger, the ring finger, and the middle finger represent the three characteristics (Gunas), viz. dull (Tamasic), passionate/dynamic (rajasic) and balanced/pure (satvik). The middle finger thus signifies purity (satwa). The forefinger, that is, the pointer finger, is called the life finger; it symbolises the individual (jiva) aspect of man. The thumb signifies Brahman. The joining of the forefinger with the thumb, and the three other fingers stretched together apart, indicates the desire for the merger of the individual with God (deva). This is called ‘chin mudra’. While performing silent repetition of the name (Japa), the rosary (mala) should be put on the middle finger, which represents the pure quality (satwic Guna), thereby isolating and separating the individual (jiva) from the qualities (Gunas). With the tip of the forefinger touching the thumb, we go on rotating bead by bead. This signifies the aspiration of the individual (jiva) to merge with Brahman. In this process, even if the forefinger were to touch slightly the middle finger, it would acquire only the pure (satwic) quality and not all the other qualities (Gunas).