Diwali or Deepavali is amongst the
most celebrated Indian festivals. The
word Deepavali originates from two
Sanskrit words ‘Deepa’ which
means ‘light’ and ‘Avali’ which
means ‘a row’. This is why Deepavali
is called ‘the festival of lights’.
It is celebrated on the 15th day of
the Hindu month of Kartik which is a
new moon day (Amavasya). Deepavali is
celebrated by lighting diyas (earthen
lamps), drawing rangolis
(multico loured designs drawn on the
ground with coloured rice flour),
cleaning and decoration of homes,
wearing new clothes, preparation of
sweets in homes, lighting of
fireworks, veneration of cows as
incarnations of Goddess Lakshmi
(Goddess of wealth) and Lakshmi Puja.
There are two main mythological
stor ies that signify the importance of
Deepavali. The first story is that
Deepavali denotes the return of Lord
Rama’s return from exile after his
victorious conquest of the evil king
Ravana. This story has greater
significa nce in Northern India. In
Southern India, Deepavali marks the
victory of Lord Krishna over the
mighty asura (demon) Narakasura.
Narak asura had become a menace to the
gods in heaven and had snatched the
magnificent earrings of Aditi (the
Mother Goddess) and imprisoned sixteen
thousand daughters of the gods in his
harem. In desperation, the gods led by
Indra requested Lord Krishna to
destroy the demon as he was wreaking
havoc. Krishna readily agreed, fought
a fierce battle and emerged
victoriou s. It was after this that He
accepted the sixteen thousand damsels
as his wives at their request.
The meaning behind these mythological
stor ies is that the villain of the
piece represents the desire-ridden
ego . In our lives, it is our egos and
desires that create problems for us.
In the story of Lord Krishna above,
the sixteen thousand damsels represent
our numerous desires. When they are
controlled by our egos, they cause
destruction and rob us of our joy.
However, when we work selflessly,
dedic ating our actions to a higher
goal, the desires remain in check, and
most importantly, get sublimated. Each
one of us has positive and negative
tendenci es. When we identify with the
good in us, work towards something
beyond our selfish interests the
lower, negative tendencies fade away.
Our desires get sublimated and through
constant sadhana (spiritual practice)
we overcome our ego and desires. The
darkness of ego and desire are
banished, replaced by the light of
wisdom. Knowledge that we are not
incomplete and limited as we think
ourselves to be. But that we are that
Divine Self that is free and
independent of all the world has to
offer.
The scented bath by pouring gingerly
oil from your head until your legs and
washing your hair with “shikakai”
powder before the break of dawn and
the cleaning of homes during Deepavali
signify the cleansing of the
personality of desires and ego. The
new clothes represent our newly
acquired state of Realisation or at a
more basic level our new spiritual
orienta tion and commitment to self-
development . This change brings
sweetness in our lives which is why
sweets are made and distributed in the
community. It represents the fact that
once we turn spiritual and begin
looking within, we experience a quiet
sense of peace that we cannot
experience while chasing objects of
the world.
Thus Deepavali or Diwali has a
tremendous spiritual significance in
our lives. And like all our festivals,
they are reminders for us to retain
and cultivate that spiritual element
in our lives. Because life is more
than just a journey, it is a search
for meaning.
