rdfs:comment
| - Sikh philosophy overlaps with Hindu philosophy on many points, one being the concept of transmigration of the soul and the circle of Chaurasi Lakh, the 8.4 million lifetimes. Chaurasi Lakh means 8,400,000. This is the number of different joons (lifetimes or possible lifeforms) that constitute the circle of transmigration. Why 8,400,000, surely scientists have categorised and classified species which vastly differs from this number? (The question is unimportant 'the number' just is 'the number' and many times in both Hindu and Sikh texts is has been written so.
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abstract
| - Sikh philosophy overlaps with Hindu philosophy on many points, one being the concept of transmigration of the soul and the circle of Chaurasi Lakh, the 8.4 million lifetimes. Chaurasi Lakh means 8,400,000. This is the number of different joons (lifetimes or possible lifeforms) that constitute the circle of transmigration. Why 8,400,000, surely scientists have categorised and classified species which vastly differs from this number? (The question is unimportant 'the number' just is 'the number' and many times in both Hindu and Sikh texts is has been written so. There are different ways to categorise amd classify lifeforms, and why should the ancient number given match that with present day scientistic classifications. For example, there are many ways to classify Raags (Classical Indian musical modes). One way is to classify them according to their thaat or parent scale, another way to categorise the same raags by looking at their Jaati or number of swars (notes) in the raag scale. In ancient times as stated in the manual Sangeet Ratnakar raags were classified according to whether they were male of female, as can be seen there are many ways to classify the same thing, so to question the figure of 8,400,000 seems pointless, especially since the figure appears in Guru Granth Sahib Ji many times over.
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