Directions: Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow by choosing the correct/most appropriate options: 

We, humans, have a very interesting nature, we believe in all those things that are somehow related to religion. It's a fact, if you are a follower of a certain religion, you have to agree with every aspect of it. No matter, if that thing is logically true or not, still you need to respect that. In every religion, there are different rituals, customs, facts even certain numbers that hold a very important significance in defining that particular religion. One of them is the number “786” which is believed to be a Holy number in Islam. Logically if we see 786 is just a natural number that comes after 784 and 785, it is not related to any specific community or religion. In fact, 786 is the area code of Miami-Dade, United States. However, there is a concept going on for centuries that 786 is a Holy number of Muslims but people of other religions also believe in it.

You might have seen many people keeping the series of 786 on their Phone number, the number plate of their car, and mostly on 500 and 200 rupee notes. Recently, a series of new 2000 currency notes starting with 786 is priced at Rs. 15 Lakhs on eBay for sale. However, most people keep it as a symbol of luck to attract fortune. 786 is an Arabic numeric value that denotes“Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim” the opening phrase of the Holy Quran. It translates as “In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Beneficent“. 786 is basically driven from the series of Arabic Numerology called “Abjad“.

The number 786 is most popular in the Indian subcontinent where people consider it as Holy or Lucky irrespective of their religion. However, most Muslims will not be able to answer, How 786 means Bismillah and how it came into existence. It is just because our ancestors considered this a Holy number so we need to believe in it. The origin behind 786 revolves in the numeric order of the Arabic alphabet which is the substitute for the name of Allah. Likewise in English, there are 26 alphabets from A-Z. If you arrange these letters in numeric order, A will be considered as number 1, B as number 2, and C as 3 up to Z which finally gets the number 26. In the same way, the Arabic alphabets are arranged where Alif is ascribed to the number 1 to Ghayn is ascribed to the number 1000.

According to Hinduism 786 means “Trimurti” which represents Brahma, Vishnu, and Maheshwara. Brahma is the most superior among Trimurti related to number 7. Lord Vishu “The Preserver” relates to number 6 and accordingly, number 6 denotes “the destroyer of evil and transformer” lord Shiva himself. According to Vedic dharma followers 786 means “OM” and has a connection with Kabbalah. In one of the books Rafael Patai, he says that there are few similarities between Tantra and Kabbalah which give an indication that the number 786 gets originated from Hinduism.

There are 3 Lokas in Hinduism, Swarg Lok (heaven), Prithvi Lok (earth), and Patal Lok (below the earth). The heaven where Inder dev resides relates to number 7. It is also believed that any human who follows good deeds will get a place in heaven with Inder Dev. Number 8 relates to Prithvi Lok which is Earth. It is also called Mirtyu Lok which means the world of death. It denotes that every person who takes birth on earth has to _______ death someday compared to the Swarg Lok. While number 6 relates to Patal Lok which means the surface below the earth. It represents the region of the Nagas, ruled by Vasuki (demons of the serpent).