Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Science behind Numerology- an Indian Context

Numerology is becoming a big hit in India, especially with the middle class. Now names like “Karthikeyan” are spelled as “Kaarthykeeyen” to fit in with the Numerology. I decided to give this relatively new phenomenon a thorough exam. Before I get in to the nitty-gritty of understanding the numerical value of alphabets and their spiritual significance, I wanted to analyse how the thing would actually work.

Suppose we assume that there is a great force (shall we call it God?) out there some where we cannot see, and this force controls humans. So God (or sub GOD, or one of God’s department - let us say the Numerology department of God) constantly scans people’s name and establish a number based on a pre-defined algorithm, and then its decides either to screw or bless people based on the outcome of this analysis. So an unlucky Karthikeyan becomes super fortunate by changing his name to Kaarthykeeyen (Even though Kaarthykeeyen may not have done any good deeds or done any philanthropic work). The mere fact that that his name now confirms to the Numerological process is sufficient to reward him. This appear to be a very bureaucratic system, pretty much like the way Government departments work with a check sheet!. There are over 3 billion people or so on the planet, so this programme will have to scan all people’s name every day to analyse their name against a set of rules. You can arugue that it may be difficult for a supercomputer, but not for some one like God as he is super powerful and can run a whole set of angles to carry out this task. right ? So far we have some logic ( in an absurd way). But my next question is:

Why does GOD carry out this pointless task? It seems odd to me that a superpower full supernatural stuff would waste a lot of time in scanning people’s name.

Why is this divine cosmic energy so obsessed with people’s name?

You mgiht say God works in mysterious ways and we cannot understand the rationale behind his actions. Ok, so I accept that GOD for some reason scans people’s name. So without questioning the rationale behind the numerology department of God, I move on to my next question.

When the supernatural force scans name, what name does it actually scans?

We as individuals have different names. For example my Spiritual name is Neelakandan. This is what my mom registered in God’s data base during my naming ceremony. But I don’t relate to this name and won’t even respond when some body calls out this name. After the first registry with God it was never used in my life. After registering this name with God, my mom registered me as Rajkumar in school and then decided to call me Raja at home!. I also had several other nick names during my school, collage and at work. After I moved to the west I became Rajkumar Subramanian. Most official correspondence that I get these days is addressed as Mr. Subramanian which happens to be my father’s name! I then shortened my name to Raj to make it easier for the western folks. Even with this attempt they still miss spell me. The Polish guy that I work call me Rag, some time Reg, or some time Rej. In one mobile phone contract they had my name as Mr.Submarine (some how they got this confused with Subramanian). So which name does the God’s numerology department takes in to consideration when they scan?. It is the official name as per the passport, or as per your school records or just your first name or is the name by which you are known?.

Why does numerology works mostly with English language?

Is there numerology in other languages? I don’t know, but I doubt if there is. I think it is because the English language is so weird. It doesn’t have a proper set of rules that govern spelling. In the word “Walk” for example, the alphabet “l” is silent, but when you say “bulk” it is not. And no one will tell you why this is case. It works pretty much like the God’s numerology department!. It is probably because of this that Numerology works mostly with English language. So when Indian folks change the spelling of their name as per Numerology, they only do it in the English language and not in their own mother tongue. To test this, try adding an additional “sa” (ச) or “ka” (க ) to your name in Tamil, Hindi or any other Indian laguage. It wouldn’t make any sense. When writing names in English you can throw a whole set of vowels and you can make it work. I just wonder how you can apply Numerology to a language like Chinese which has got over 10,000 or more alphabets. You need to a computer to figure out a Numerology system! The system is unfair that Numerology appears to be mostly favouring native English speakers or people who can speak English. The English speakers can figure out how best to arrange the spelling of their names and get the favours from God, where as a poor guy who don’t speak English cannot do this to get the same favour from God. In a weird kind of logic you can argue that this is the reason why English speaking countries like the USA and UK are well developed and prosperous comparing to other Non-English countries. The flaw in this argument is that we assume that every one in English speaking countries follow numerology. Even if we accept that hypothesis, the argument falls down when you take equally propoerous Japan or France in to consideration where most folks do not speak English. ( do they practice Numerology over there?)

Why does name matter so much to god when his own name (at least in Hinduism) is not spelled properly?

In the context of Hinduism, let us examine how Numerology will work with the set of Hindu Gods. For example Lord Ram in Hindi will become Rama in Telegu and becomes Raman in Tamil. Most of the North Indian names are customised with an “n” in the end in Tamil to make it compliant with the Tamil grammar. For example, Krishn or Krishna is turned as Krishnan in Tamil. So which is the right spelling for the God? Is it Ram, Rama or Raman? Most ancient Indian spiritual literatures do not attribute a great deal to names. It fact they repeatedly tell you not to argue about names. They go one step further and actually give a single God "thousand names”. So Vishnu alone has got thousand names (Sahasra namam) . So when Gods don’t care about how their names are spelled why would they enforce it to humans? The concept of obsession with name and phonetics doesn’t appear to be compatible with Hinduism.

After all this analysis, I have decided I am not even going to bother understanding the principles of Numerology. After all, if God is silly enough to evaluate me based on the spelling of my name without considering my actions and behaviours, he is not God but an Idiot. For those of you who get offended by this statement, I reprhase this. God is not an idiot and so God will not evaluate some body based on the spelling of his/her name. (I think I may have cooled down the spiritualists!). If God doesn’t understand me as a person, instead only look at how my name is spelled in English, what difference does it makes between God and a racist who judges people based on their skin colour?


Any comments or views email to: traffic_raj@hotmail.com

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About Me

I am an Engineer by profession. Spritual and Anit-guru advice is my part time job!