diwali

[Guest guest]

Namaskar Mitra,

The festival of lights is celebrated in the month of Kartik ( october and

november ). Besides India, it is a national holiday in Fiji and Trinidad. Deepa

means lamp and Avali means rows so deepavli means a festival where we have " row

of lamps". Amongst the many stories behind the festival, two are most popular.

For some ( more North ) it is the celebration of the triumphant return of Lord

Ram to the Ayodhya after killing Ravana. During the festival, people light rows

of oil lamps along houses and windows to welcome Lord Ram and Sita home.

For others it is the celebration of the death of the titan of hell, Narakasura (

N ), at the hands of Lord Krishna. The story of N ( son of earth ) written in

the Sabha Parva of the Mahabharata. By virtue of boons received from Brahma and

Shiva, he conquered and plundered the earth and hell. He carried away 16,000

fair daughters of the gods and imprisoned them in his harem. N robbed the

earrings of Aditi, the mother of all Gods. Left with no choice the Gods

requested Lord Krishna to kill N. In a fierce battle the Lord killed N. After

his death his mother prayed that her sons downfall might be recalled by the

world as the day when good triumphed over evil.

Businessmen worship goddess of wealth Lakshmi, on diwali. They seek her

aashirwad to be blessed with more wealth. Some of you might wonder whether it

is wrong to do so. No where in our philosophy is earning money considered an

evil activity. What is important is the proper use of this wealth and the

killing of desires. Unfortunately, western education has made us obsessed with

acquisition of materialistic objects ( there are many pluses of education too.)

The Rishis felt that even when we busy earning money, we should think of God,

hence the worship of goddess Lakshmi.

Like other festivals, this one too relates to man overcoming ignorance and ego

to attain realization. The darkness of the night represents the desire-ridden

ego, which causes the mind to get agitated. The 16,000 damsels represent the

desires that arise in an egoistic man. All desires cannot be fulfilled.

Approaching Lord Krishna to kill N shows the lack of ego on their part. When in

trouble the mighty gods had no problems in approaching Krishna. For a man to

overcome desires he has to look inward. Desires get killed one by one. This is

represented by the fireworks on the night of Diwali. With dawn, the darkness is

over, all ignorance removed and desires destroyed. We get up before dawn, apply

oil for a holy bath to wash out the contamination caused by N. The bath at dawn

indicates the cleansing of the egocentric desires.

In Maharashtra the festival of Bhaubeej is very popular. It is similar to raksha

bandhan except that the reasoning behind it is different. The sister worships

her brother with a Arati. The brother stands for Krishna who did the noble deed

of killing N. Before stepping into the special square, lined with various

designs in corn powder, to receive the worship, the brother taste a particular

bitter fruit ( Karith in marathi ) which Krishna is said to have tasted before

setting out for the kill.

Some of you might argue that the origins of these festivals are deep rooted in

our mythology. But a myth, it may be noted, is no yarn. It was Ruskin who

described the myth as a story with a meaning attached to it other than what is

apparent, and a characteristic feature of it, he went to add, is something

extraordinary about its circumstances.

Have a great time, not forgetting to share some of your happiness and wealth

with the less fortunate.

This essay is based on inputs from my Email Guru and Symbolism in Hinduism by

the Chinamaya Mission.

cheers & om sanjeev

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