Hundreds of tiny lamps are lit on the evening of Deepavali and kept in rows before and within every house in India; but few are the lamps that are lit in the cavity of the heart to destroy the darkness that lies thick within. (SSS Vol.8, p. 215)
Deepavali is also a day dedicated to the Goddess of Riches, called Dhanalakshmi. Riches when one comes by them, have to be revered as something given on trust, and must be used for the amelioration of the wants of society, and not for personal aggrandizement. (SSS Vol.8, pp. 217-218)
From the very name of today s festival – Deepavali, it can be seen that the Divine effulgence is manifest in it. Deepavali means ‘the array of lights.’ ‘Tamaso Maa Jyotir Gamaya’ (Lead me from darkness to light) is an Upanishadicprayer. This means that where there is darkness light is needed. What is this darkness? Sorrow is one form of darkness. Peacelessness is another. Loss is another. Disappointment is one form of darkness. Misery is yet another. Lack of enthusiasm is another. All these are different forms of darkness. To get rid of the darkness of sorrow, you have to light the lamp of happiness. To dispel the darkness of disease, you have to install the light of health. To get over the darkness of losses and failures, you have to usher in the light of prosperity.
These apparently opposing conditions are not totally separate from each other. They are interrelated. You see in the world the prevalence of heat and cold. They appear to be opposed to each other. But nevertheless, according to the prevailing situation, both are useful for man. During the cold weather, we welcome heat. In the summer, coolness is desired. Hence, it is clear that both heat and cold are aids to man and not harmful to him. Likewise, joy and sorrow, loss and gain are helpful to man and not inimical. If there is no sorrow, one cannot know the value of happiness. If there is no darkness, the value of light cannot be appreciated.
Hence, if the greatness of light is to be realised, darkness is necessary. It is rightly said: ‘Pleasure is an interval between two pains.’ The truth about sorrow and joy will be realised when they are considered as equal from the spiritual point of view.
From the practical worldly point of view, the festivals have one aspect. From the spiritual viewpoint they carry a different significance. But there is a common purport in both. Only the ignorant will give diverse meanings to them and miss the essential significance.
Origin of Deepavali from scientific point
Looking at the Deepavali festival from the scientific point of view, it should be noted that at one time in the distant past, our ancestors lived in the Arctic region (the polar region). In this region, darkness prevailed for six months. The sun appears on Mesha Sankranti day (the sun entering the Aries sign of the Zodiac). The sun sets in this region on Tula Sankranti day (when the sun enters Libra). In the movement between these two signs, there is an interval of six months. After the sun sets in Libra, the dark half-year starts.
The month is called Kaumudi. The people in the polar region used to start lighting their lamps from this day. The lighting of the lamp is not without other significance. As they would be in darkness for a long period, they described the lamp that was lit as Nitya jyothi (the perennial light).
Different events that caused the celebration
Five thousand years ago there were some planets going round the earth. Some of these planets disappear from time to time. There was one planet called Naraka which used to go round the earth. In the course of their orbits, sometimes the moon and the Naraka planet used to get close to each other. At one time, the Naraka planet appeared to be approaching close to the earth. The inhabitants of the earth were filled with dread of the approaching catastrophe. They prayed to the Lord for averting the imminent disaster and saving them. At that stage, Sri Krishna used His Prajna (extraordinary knowledge) to destroy that planet. This extraordinary knowledge of Krishna was termed Satya. That is to say, Krishna destroyed the Naraka planet in association with Satya. The denizens of the world started celebrating that day with lighting of lamps and adoring the Lord who saved them. That day of the Lord s triumph was celebrated as a festive occasion.
(Rama s Coronation)
It was on Deepavali day that Sri Rama s coronation took place after his victorious return to Ayodhya from Lanka vanquishing Ravana and his Rakshasa brood. For a long period Ayodhya had been plunged in darkness when Rama was in exile in the forest. In the absence of the effulgent Rama, Ayodhya was a city of darkness. The forests were filled with light. The return of Rama was hailed by the people of Ayodhya as the return of divine effulgence and hence they celebrated the event by the lighting of lamps everywhere.
Nor is that all. Today s festival is marked by other significant features. This is the day on which the Lord in His Vamana incarnation sent the Emperor Bali to the Nether World after He had got the promise of three feet of ground (measured by the Lord s foot) from Bali. Vamana (as the incarnation of Vishnu) used the gift of three feet of land to put down the Ahamkara (egoism) of Bali. Bali is described as Chakravarti (sovereign lord).
Deepavali signifies suppression of the ego
In every human being there is a sovereign who presides over all his qualities. That sovereign is the Ego. This sovereign Ego--Ahamkara Chakravarti suppresses all the good qualities in man. Ahamkara has another meaning. It is the very form of Aham the ‘I’. The egoist is one who identifies the body with his Self. But you are not the body. The body is only an instrument. It is an agglomeration of material substances. How can this inert body be equated with the Self? It is the association of consciousness with the body that it is able to undertake various activities.
Deepavali is a festival which is designed to celebrate the suppression of the Ego by the Higher Self. Man is plunged in the darkness of ignorance and has lost the power of discrimination between the permanent and the evanescent. When the darkness of ignorance caused by Ahamkara (the ego-feeling) is dispelled by the light of Divine knowledge, the effulgence of the Divine is experienced. Deepavali is also the day on which Emperor Vikramaditya ascended the throne.
It is for these various reasons that Deepavali has been observed by Bharatiyas, young and old, as a day of great rejoicing. However, the lights lit on Deepavali day remove only the external darkness and not the darkness within man. Even when the sun shines brightly, his light cannot dispel the inner darkness. For this purpose, you have to learn a lesson from the external light. For instance, if you want to light a lamp, you need a container. You have to fill it with oil and place a wick in it. You need a matchbox to light the wick. Only when you have all the four accessories can you light the lamp.
The lamp cannot be lit if any one of them is lacking. This lamp dispels the external darkness. As the wick burns, the oil is consumed. When the oil is exhausted the flame goes out. Saint Ramadas compared human life to a lighted lamp and declared in one of his songs that when the oil of life ebbs away, neither the wick nor the light will follow the departed.
Man has to dispel the darkness of ignorance
If the darkness of ignorance is to be dispelled, man needs a container, oil, wick and a matchbox corresponding to what an external lamp needs. For man, the heart is the container. The mind is the wick. Love is the oil and vairagya (sacrifice) is the matchbox. When you have these four, Atma-jyoti (the Divine flame of the Spirit) shines effulgently. When the light of the Spirit is aflame, the Light of Knowledge appears and dispels the darkness of ignorance.
The flame of a lamp has two qualities. One is to banish darkness. The other is a continuous upward movement. Even when a lamp is kept in a pit, the flame moves upwards. The sages have therefore adored the lamp of wisdom as the flame that leads men to higher states. Hence, the effulgence of light should not be treated as a trivial phenomenon. Along with lighting the external lamps, men should strive to light the lamps within them. The human estate should be governed by sacred qualities. This calls for the triple purity of body, mind and speech —Trikaranasuddhi (purity of the three instruments). (SSS Vol.24)
The inner significance of Deepavali is to lead man from darkness to light. Man is perpetually plunged in darkness. Every time he is enveloped in darkness, he should light a lamp that is ever shining within him. Carry that lamp wherever you go. It will light your path wherever you may go.
Hence, the first requisite is the practice of the Karma Marga (the Path of Action). Make the divine effulgence within you accompany you all the time by faith in its illumination. (SSS Vol.24, p. 144)
This Amavasya day is the day of liberation for the gopikas, It is moonless day when the night is utterly dark. The gopikas prayed that as on that day they had got light of freedom it should be marked by illuminations which would make everyone rejoice as on a full moon night. It is for this reason that the day, which is a New Moon Day, is illumined by lamps and fireworks and turned into a Full Moon Night.
There is a scientic reason also for this celebration. When the end of the rainy season water stagnates in many places and surroundings areas teem with mosquitos and othe insects. The smoke from the crackers and firework destroys these insects and disinfects the stmosphere.
The inner meaning underlying the Bharatiya festivals should be rightly understood. Note, for instance, the fact that the whole array of lamps are lit by the light from one lamp. The others symbolises the Supreme Effulgent Lord. The others symbolis the light in individual selves. The truth of the Vedic saying, ‘The One willed to become the Many’ is exemplified by the lighting of lamps by the flame of one. The Deepavali festival thus bears out the profoundest spiritual truth.
The lamp points to another significant fact. Wherever it may be placed, the flame goes upwards only and never moves down. Likewise, the flame of Jnana (Spiritual Wisdom) leads one to a sublime level through the path of Rightousness.
Deepavali has to be observed as a day for getting rid of all the bad qualities in us, symbolised by the demon Narakasura. The Gopikas who were freed on that day represent the imprisioned good qualities in us. They should be manifested effulgently.This is the inner significance of the festival. As long as the demonic qualities remain in man, he will be immersed in darkness. Bad qualities and thoughts have to be got rid of altogether. (SSS Vol.21, pp. 244-246)