True Significance of Deepawali Celebrations
Sunanda
Dubai (U.A.E)
In common parlance we say, “this is the Story of his Rise & Fall,” when otherwise Scriptures show us the way from Fall to Rise!
Maa reminded us of the ‘Ladder of downfall’ of man as expounded by Lord Sree Krishna, in Sreemad Bhagawad Geeta, chapter 2,
श्रीभगवानुवाच -
ध्यायतो विषयान्पुंसः सङ्गस्तेषूपजायते ।
सङ्गात्सञ्जायते कामः कामात्क्रोधोऽभिजायते ॥६२॥
The ways of the world are opposite to what is guided by our holy Scriptures. Our Scriptures guide us to live in ‘Divine Ambit’ and Not in ‘Devil’s Gambit’, which was the topic of the Call Talk this month.
Deepawali is just around the corner and we are all busy with the festive preparations; cleaning the house, shopping for clothes and gifts, making festive dishes, special sweets, preparing guest list, planning parties, and the list goes on….
But have we ever paid attention to the true Significance of the festival? And have we taken a moment to look into our guidebooks, the Scriptures before doing, all that we do? The answer is NO. We just blindly follow what we have been watching our parents and grandparents do and conveniently neglect and forget the spiritual significance behind any festival that they were practising.
Today pujya Guru Maa opened my eyes to the ‘True significance of Deepawali’ and this Deepawali, we know what we are actually supposed to do and the reason behind all that we do.
We have fallen into the devil’s gambit because of our own vasanas. We are guided by our desires to act, which pulls us even lower. Hence if we celebrate any festival with our existing mindset, we will fall further in the devil’s gambit and there is no escape. Therefore, we have to clean up ourselves intellectually, mentally and physically before welcoming the Divine. Unfortunately, what remained was the physical cleaning only!
The 1st day of Deepawali – Dhanatrayodashi, we should vow to adorn our 5 aspects of work with the 8 virtues (Ashtalakshmi), which is the true wealth that we can pray for on this auspicious day to be in the Divine’s ambit.
The 2nd day is Narak Chaturdashi. We celebrate it as the victory of Lord Sree Krishna and Sree Satyabhama Devi on Narakaasur, the devil. The devil in us are the 3 vices of kaam, krodh and lobh. These 3 close the doors to the Divine in us and let Narakaasur rule us. Maa explained this referring to Chapter 16 of Sreemad Bhagawad Geeta,
श्रीभगवानुवाच -
त्रिविधम् नरकस्येदम् द्वारम् नाशनमात्मनः ।
कामः क्रोधस्तथा लोभस्तस्मादेतत्रयम् त्यजेत् ॥२१॥
Therefore, we need to win over these 3 to open the doors of our hearts to welcome Sree Ram on the 3rd day and give HIM a thus, purified seat in our hearts. Humans celebrate their Deepawali on Kartik Amavasya while Devtas celebrate their Deepawali on Kartik Purnima. By following the scriptural injunctions and imbibing them, we can travel this journey from Amavasya to Purnima; from celebrating manushya Deepawali to Dev Deepawali.
My heart still reverberates with the beautiful Bhajan, that Maa ji concluded with,
अखण्ड ज्योति जगाओ, स्वामी मन मन्दिर में,
कोटि सूर्य सम तेज स्वरूपा,
स्वामी तुम हो दिव्य स्वरुपा |
दिव्य ज्योति… ज्ञान ज्योति… प्रेम ज्योति जगओ,
अखण्ड ज्योति जगाओ…
Humble Prostrations at the Lotus Feet of Pujya Maa ji.
Humble Pranaams Manish ji