Hindu Article-Message of unity in Deepavali

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Message of unity in Deepavali

 

 

CHENNAI, NOV. 11. Scientific temperament and reasoning ability alone

cannot take a man far in life. Intellectual pursuits may appear to be

fulfilling, but in reality one needs divine grace. When a person is

found wanting in divine thoughts, he exists in a foolish world of

make believe. The inability to be receptive to spiritual thoughts, be

it through pursuit of literature or listening to learned

commentaries, signifies a fault in the recipient, and not in the

message per se. Every move of the Supreme Being is meaningful, with

the twin purpose of protecting those in distress and vanquishing the

evil.

 

The celebration of Deepavali means many things to many people, but

there is no dispute that it is a harbinger of prosperity. Some view

this festival as fructification of praying to the goddess of wealth

and being blessed by Her. Many others hail the day as the defeat of

the demon Narakasura at the hands of Lord Krishna, who responded to

the call of distress by the celestials. Kasiappa Sivachari, in his

religious work Kandapuranam, is of the view that the worship with

lights is closely connected with the "kethara Gowri vrath" popularly

observed in south India. The legend goes that goddess Uma, slighted

in Her Lord's presence by the sage Bringhi, left mount Kailash and

undertook severe penance at the abode of another sage. Siva, deeply

appreciative of her tapas, appeared before Her and took Her unto Him,

thereby enjoying a permanent place in His left side, the resultant

form worshipped as Ardhanareeswarar by devotees. Scholars hold that

the lesson to be learnt from this story is the desirability of unison

in thoughts words and deeds between a husband and wife. For only when

they complement each other can they turn to leading a life as

ordained by our superiors.The call for divine intervention is never

left unheeded, said Sri. C.V. Sadanandan speaking on the occasion of

Deepavali. This is the day when houses and places of worship are

festooned, and the Almighty is worshipped with lamps lit

sequentially. One may say that light is essential to human existence,

and all creatures sentient and insentient need light in order to

subsist. But the ritual of celebrating the annual event is neither a

pagan custom nor a social event bespeaking a public holiday. Fire as

a whole is symbiotic with God, and diyas are auspicious symbols. The

scientific community too makes use of light rays for curing various

diseases. At a deeper level the ritual of oil bath as well as the

donning of new clothes is symbolic of purification and jettisoning of

all that is unnecessary to spiritual fulfilment.

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