What is the secret of number 18 in the Mahabharata?

 

 For how many days the Mahabharata war was fought? The instant answer will come - 18 days. Not only this, there are 18 chapters in the epic Mahabharata.  A beautiful scripture that came out of the Mahabharata is Bhagawat Geeta which will keep guiding the humanity to a righteous path contains 18 chapters.  The total number of armies who fought this epic war were 18. 11 armies from Kauravas and 7 from Pandava`s side. Only 18 warriors were survived after this unprecedented war. Post-war, Pandavas ruled over Hastinapur for 36 years, which is the double of 18. Bhishma was invincible until 9 days of the war. On 10th days, he was duped and defeated which changed the direction of the war. The scribe of the Mahabharata was lord Ganesha. This epic was narrated by Ved Vyas (Krishan Daipayana) and was written by Lord Ganesha. Lord Ganesha is associated with the number 9. This is symbolized by the shape of his trunk which looks like number 9.

What is the secret of the number 18 or multiplication of 9?  Was it by chance or some intense message is hidden in it?  All the Hindu`s scripture and epics are very scientific and logical.

Let us understand its logic. Both 18 and 36 are multiples of 9.  The sum of the digits of 18 (1+8) and 36 (3+6) is 9.  Number 9 is known as the last of the base natural number, viz. 1,2,3…….9. This number is the culmination of the calculation. Apart from the base numbers, all others numbers are the combination of these base numbers. In this way, number 9 contains the highest value and place. 9 is an indestructible number.  The sum of the digits of the numbers of table 9 always results in 9.  e.g. 9, 18(1+8=9), 27(2+7=9),36(3+6=9),35(4+5=9)………… This number is the stable number which gives the constant result of the summation of the digits.

This is the number of spirituality, which is indestructible like soul. It is the highest of everything. It is the culmination, nothing can be higher or bigger than this. The rest is a combination and permutation.

You would have heard in the Mahabharata - "Na aisa yuddh hua hai, na kabhi hoga(Neither such kind of war was fought in the past nor it will be fought in the future)". Mahabharata is considered the culmination of everything - the spirituality, economics, war-skill, science and technology, politics, love, hatred, family matters, etc. It is said that there is nothing which is happening or will happen which cannot be mapped with this epic.

This is the most viable reason for the frequent occurrence of the number 18 in the Mahabharata.