Hindu Prayer Beads
A Japa mala or mala (Sanskrit:माला; mālā, meaning garland) is a set of beads commonly used by Hindus and Buddhists, usually made from 108 beads, though other numbers, usually divisible by 9, are also used. Malas are used for keeping count while reciting, chanting, or mentally repeating a mantra or the name or names of a deity. This practice is known in Sanskrit as japa.
Read more about Hindu Prayer Beads: Usage, In Hinduism, Materials, Exact Usage
Famous quotes containing the words prayer and/or beads:
“A childish soul not inoculated with compulsory prayer is a soul open to any religious infection.”
—Alexander Cockburn (b. 1941)
“Thy spirit within thee hath been so at war,
And thus hath so bestirred thee in thy sleep,
That beads of sweat have stood upon thy brow,
Like bubbles in a late-disturbed stream.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)