Ray of hope

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Ray of hope

Monday, 21 October 2019 | Rajyogi Brahmakumar Nikunj ji

Ray of hope

It’s sad how people only remember Nagad Narayana or the lord of money on Deepawali. One should rather focus on enlightening the soul by lighting lamps, says Rajyogi Brahmakumar Nikunj Ji

Deepawali – the festival of lights is widely celebrated across the globe by Hindus to commemorate the triumph of good over evil, knowledge over ignorance and hope over despair.

The festival falls on a day before the new moon in the month of Ashwin as per Hindu calendar. There are a number of rituals associated with this festival. One should know the spiritual and philosophical aspect of them and why people celebrate this occasion with such great festivity.

During Diwali, people lit oil lamps and keep them at the entrance of their homes, along with colourful strings of electric lights. But what is the spiritual  significance behind lighting the lamps? In Hindu culture, light is a powerful metaphor for knowledge and consciousness. Thus, it is a reminder of the importance of education and self-inquiry, which brings harmony to the individual, community and between communities. This promotes respect and acceptance of others.

Lighting lamps reminds us to walk on the right path, to dispel darkness from our hearts and minds, and to embrace knowledge and goodness.

During the festival, utmost importance is given to Lakshmi Pujan, which means worshipping goddess of wealth — Laxmi. The word Lakshmi is derived from Lakshya or Lakshma, which means, goal. So, by semantic implication, Goddess Lakshmi represents ‘the final goal’ of life. The symbols associated with her and the rituals followed on the day of Deepawali imply that she stands for the highest stage of perfection and development which a human soul can reach. Her hands signify Dharma, Artha, Kama and Mukti, which represents the stage of fruition or beatitude. Her abhaya mudra shows the pose of assurance and safety. The 100 petal lotus flower on which she sits is symbolic of purity and detachment. There are many other lotus flowers too, which float in the ocean of milk which are symbolic of purity, peace and prosperity. Gold coins continually coming from her left hand signify unending material prosperity. An interesting feature of her portraits is the four elephants which pour water on her. They are symbolic of the four directions — East,West, North and South. Moreover, elephant is an emblem of strength, wisdom and faithfulness to the master. It is a sign of grace, majesty and the faithfulness of all her subjects and constant affluence. It also shows that she had her sovereignty on the whole world.

Invoking the goddess on a dark night by lighting lamps and candles is thus symbolic of enlightenment of the souls to attain the stage of perfection. Cleaning of houses and offices in advance is indicative of the observance of complete purity. The use of four elephants is symbolic of victory over the self to attain world sovereignty or chakravarti rajya in the golden age.

The door (of knowledge) is kept open all night to achieve knowledge, virtue and fulfillment of goal. But its sad to note that people only remember Nagad Narayana which means cash, worship mammon and forget the Almighty or the goal of life. Hence, the need of hour is to keep the lamp of knowledge lighted within us. We must try to enlighten everyone around us so that each one of us become helping hands in the process of world transformation by the supreme. So let’s celebrate this Diwali by focussing on our destiny and helping others too to make their life resolute.

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