mathematics , mysticism......

[sac51900 at saclink.csus.edu]

 S Krishna <mahadevasiva at hotmail.com>
 wrote:

> 
> 
> 

>     he intended, I would like to say that the ancient Hindus seemed to
>     have had a mystical interpretation for every postive integer i.e.
>     1 represents God, 2 represents any God and his/her consort i.e.
>     Parvatiparameshvarau, Seetaramau, Lakshminarayanau , 3 represents
>     the Trinity, 4 represents the 4 Yugas, 5 represents the     Panchabhootas, 6 
> represents the Shadrtu( 6 seasons) and the
>     worship of 6 dieties( according to Shankaracarya), 7 represents
>     the Saptarshi( 7 sages)...........ad infinitum. The point I am        trying 
> to make is that any postive integer can be interpreted
>     mystically/linked to a fact of nature. The mathematician Srinivasa
>     Ramanujan is supposed to lectured once on the mystical     significance  of 
> the number series 2**n -1, where n is a positive
>     integer. His claim was that one can derive all important aspects
>     of Bhuloka from this number series.  

If there is one number that can be called the mystical number
supreme in India, it is SUnya = 0.  Whole philosophies
in Buddhism, Tantric Hinduism, Jainism, etc. are constructed
around this number and concept.  At the recent Seminar on SUnya
(Feb. 97) held by INSA and IGNCA in New Delhi,  the topic was
explored in depth and many interesting papers were presented.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala