Deepavali, the Ganges, the cauvery and advaita

[Guest guest]

Namaste.

 

One of the chief consequential tenets of advaita philosophy is

that the Absolute para-brahman can and does (appear to?)

manifest itself in any form whatsoever and so the various ‘Gods’

and ‘Goddesses’ of Hindu mythology are nothing but different

saguna (with attributes) presentations of the same Absolute

Reality. This needs repeated emphasis, particularly in the

context of Hindu religion, because, both in the case of those

who practise the religion as well as those who just observe the

practitioners, there is always a slip-up in the understanding,

caused by the glamour and paraphernalia of the religious

observances and their rituals. It is with this background, the

following account of the mythological significance and symbolism

of Deepavali festival is written. All the matter found here goes

back to an article (1966) attributed to the Paramacharya of

Kanchi, but recently published in a Diwali issue (2001) of

‘Gopura Darsanam’, a Tamil magazine devoted to the promotion of

spirituality.

 

The Acharya starts with what looks like a conundrum: ‘You have

been traditionally told how the morning bath in hot water (after

an oil massage) on Deepavali day is equivalent to a dip in the

gangA. You also know that Krishna’s vanquishing of the demon

Narakasura is the stated reason for the celebration of

Deepavali. But do you know that Krishna himself on that day went

all the way south to the kAveri river to purify himself by a

bath in the kAveri?’

 

kAmAkhyA is the name of Goddess parA-Sakti located in the modern

state of Assam. The state itself was known in old literature

as kAmarUpa. When Lord VishNu took the manifestation of the

boar, killed the demon HiranyAksha and redeemed the Earth from

him from deep down somewhere, the location of the divine boar’s

teeth that held the Earth was exactly this region of mountainous

ups and downs of kAmarUpa. The Goddess of Earth thus had contact

with the Lord and from this was born the demon Narakasura. He

performed a great penance, pleased the Creator Brahma and got

valuable boons of invincibility from Him. He made the city of

‘prAkjyotisha-puraM’ in kAmarUpa his capital and ruled the whole

world as a dictator. He even went to the divine world and turned

it into hell by his atrocities. Because he was himself the son

of the Lord he was not complained against by even the king of

the divines.

 

Then came the manifestation as Krishna by Lord VishNu. One of

the many great miraculous deeds done by the boy Krishna was to

outwit and humble the creator Brahma himself –- incidentally,

Brahma, the first-born, is also a son of VishNu, because he

blossomed forth from the navel-lotus of VishNu - by a miracle of

parallel creation of the entire world of cows and cowherds of

Gokulam for a whole year. Seeing this wonder and learning from

it the lesson that Krishna has ‘na me dveShyosti na priyaH’

(gItA 9 – 29), that is, ‘I bear no enmity to anybody nor the

opposite feeling of friendship’, Indra, the King of the Divines,

made bold to complain against Narakasura, the other son of

VishNu. Actually he made this complaint only when Krishna had

settled in Dwaraka (in modern Gujarat) as a king with his two

Queens, Rukmani (the manifestation of Goddess Lakshmi, also

known as shrIdevi) and Satyabhama (the manifestation of Goddess

bhUmAdevi, Goddess of Earth). So Krishna went on a war to

conquer Narakasura , but this time he took his second Queen

SatyabhAma with him and also Garuda, the divine Bird-seat of

(Himself as) Lord VishNu.

 

Digression 1. (Note: Queen Rukmani was a quiet and peaceful

lady. She was never taken to any war or fight fought by Krishna.

Satyabhama has been mistakenly known as quarrelsome. Krishna

took her to this war for showing to the world that she had such

good qualities of objectives of world peace even though the

obstacle to that peace had come from her own son, Narakasura.

In the Ramayana King Dasaratha never took along his first wife

Kausalya to any war. But he took his second Queen Kaikeyi. There

she showed to the world how dutiful she could be).

 

After breaking through the mountainous barriers, and the

barriers of Water, Fire and Air, all raised by the mantra sakti

of Narakasura, Krishna Satyabhama and Garuda reached the armies

of the demon, routed them all and finally killed Narakasura

himself. The latter part of the night on which Narakasura was

killed was the 14th day of the dark fortnight when the Sun was

in the constellation Libra. That is the night prior to the day

when we all celebrate Deepavali. It was bhUmA-devi, who made

the request that this day be a festival day for the entire world

and indicate from the passage from Darkness to Light (tamaso mA

jyotir-gamaya). ‘Let my son be an eye-opener for this entire

world. Let everybody have an oil-bath in hot water at this time

of early morning and let them all who do so be benefited by all

the merits of a bath in gangA’. This was the prayer of

BhumA-devi, sanctioned by the Lord.

 

Digression 2. (Note: Remember advaita. The manifestation on

planet earth by the Lord ‘coexists’ with the original divine

from which it manifested. This is of course a condescension from

the advaita pedestal of non-duality, but the condescension is of

course mAyic, as everything else is, when you begin to talk with

precision in advaita. So it is that Sankara goes to Kailas and

gets lingas from the divine Lord shiva. Krishna goes to Vishnu’s

world and brings back to this world his six elder brothers –

who were killed by Kamsa as soon as they were born - for their

father Vasudeva to have a look for once. So it is that BhUmAdevi

comes down to request Lord Krishna for a boon on Narakasura,

simultaneously when SatyabhAma, her own manifestation, is right

there with Krishna. ). Digression over.

 

Note that usually after somebody dies, relatives and

well-wishers take a both in cold water in regretful memory of

the deceased. But the bath on Diwali morning is not a

‘regretful’ memory of Narakasura. All ritualistic bathing is in

cold water. But this is neither ritualistic nor regretful. It is

a joyful memory of a great mother who sublated her mother’s

affection for the good of the world. Since it is a joyful

memory, the bath is in hot water and not in cold water.

Buma-devi’s unusual request has deeper implications. An

oil-massage-bath before sunrise is taboo in Hindu regimen. She

thus created an exception for this day, and made it a memorable

exception by requesting that the great merit of a bath in gangA

should accrue to those having this oil-massage and hot bath.

Further she made another request that in that oil, Lakshmi, the

Goddess of Prosperity should reside at that time, thereby giving

prosperity to all who observe this formality. Note that

Lakshmi’s manifestation (Rukmani) is the co-spouse of SatyabhAma

(‘co-spouse’ is Indian English! It means one of the other

spouses of one’s spouse) and this shows that bhUmA-devi as

SatyabhAmA had no ill-will towards the co-spouse. The north

Indian tradition of importance to Lakshmi on this day of

Deepavali is significant in this connection. Another request of

bhUmA-devi, also granted by the Lord, was to name this festival

as ‘naraka-caturdashi’, both after the name of her son, Naraka

and after the fourteenth day of the lunar month when it

happened. But this name narka-caturdashi is found nowadays only

in the almanacs.

 

The significance of gangA. When Vishnu manifested as the dwarf

Vamana his divine feet was washed by the Creator Brahma. The

water that dripped from this washing is the gangA of Space

(AkAsha-gangA). This was what was brought down to the earth by

the gigantic penance-efforts of King Bhagiratha (A great

ancestor of Rama). When gangA poured down on the earth with

great ferocity it was Lord shiva who received it in the curls of

his hair. Thus gangA has its purification traced back to both

Vishnu and shiva. gangA in that sense is considered to be a

consort of shiva. bhUmA-devi in enunciating this great boon for

the welfare of the world and the celebration of her own son’s

death, thus demonstrated that she had no ill-will towards either

Lakshmi, the other wife of Krishna-Vishnu, nor towards gangA,

the consort of shiva. Also to seek the benefit of the whole

world through the merits of gangA-bath accruing to them all, she

has shown her magnanimity and concern for the welfare of the

whole world. Well, She is the world, after all!

 

Thus Deepavali is a great joyous festival, born out of a sad

circumstance of the killing of the son whose mother herself was

an accomplice to the killing!. gItA is a great enjoyable

scripture, born out of a circumstance of terror of the killing

of millions of human beings where brothers killed brothers,

disciple killed guru, relatives killed elders, and so forth. So

is not gItA a twin-sister of Deepavali? gItA is the Queen of all

scriptures. Deepavali is the Queen of all festivals. And gangA

is the Queen of all holy waters.

 

A verse of Bhaja govindam goes as follows:

Bhagavad-gItA kimcid-adhItA

gangA-jala-lavakaNikA pItA /

sakR^idapi yena murAri samarcA

kriyate tasya yamena na carcA //

 

meaning, He who does study of a little of gita, drinks a drop of

Ganges water and does once an offering to Vishnu, need not come

under the jurisdiction of Yama the God of Death!

Here the four items mentioned, namely, gItA, gangA, Vishnu and

Yama all have a connection with Deepavali! Probably Sankara had

Deepavali in his mind when he composed this sloka.

 

Now comes the kAveri, the most holy river of South India.

Emperor Rama killed Ravana, the brahmin and so accrued for

himself the demerit called ‘brahma-hatti’. To purify himself

from this he established the shiva linga in Ramesvaram and

offered puja to Lord shiva. (note the advaita here). Krishna

killed Narakasura, and accrued for himself the demerit of

‘Vira-hatti’ – the sin accruing from the killing of a great

Warrior. So He (Krishna) goes to shiva and asks for a method of

purification. And the Lord says, ‘Go to the kAveri and have

your bath there immediately. You will be purified’. So not only

Krishna, but a whole host of divines with him, namely, shrIdevi

(Lakshmi), bhUdevi, and all the other divines went to the

kAveri. Along with them shiva also went there. There the boon

was granted by Lord shiva that the whole month when the Sun is

in Libra, would be holy in the region of the kAveri. On the

particular day of Diwali, before sunrise, an oil-massage

followed by hotwater bath – thus bringing the merit of a dip in

Ganges – and this followed after sunrise by a bath in cold

water, brings to one the merit of both the Ganges bath and the

kAveri bath and purifies all sins. Of course Govindeti sadA

snAnaM is a permanent recipe. So all the time one should be

immersed in the thought of the Lord – that is the prescription

for moksha, release from the cycle of birth and death.

 

All the above ideas – including the digressions -- are quotes

from the Paramacharya’s article mentioned above. Jaya Jaya

shankara, hara hara shankara.

 

Happy Diwali to all. Thank you for giving the time to read the

above.

 

praNAms to all members of the Ramakrishna list

profvk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

=====

Prof. V. Krishnamurthy

My website on Science and Spirituality is http://www.geocities.com/profvk/

You can access my book on Gems from the Ocean of Hindu Thought Vision and

Practice, and my father R. Visvanatha Sastri's manuscripts from the site.

 

 

 

HotJobs - Search new jobs daily now

http://hotjobs./