DEEPAVALI - PART 3

Festival of Lights - Part 3

In the north, Deepavali is celebrated over a period of four days. Deepavali heralds the arrival of the new accounting year and it is time for closing old books of account and open new accounts.  The thirteenth day of the new moon in the month of Ashvin-Krithiga is celebrated as the day of the advent of Lord Dhanvantari, incarnation of Bhagavan Maha Vishnu from the milky ocean when it was churned by the Devas and Asuras. The first to come out of this churning was the terrible poison Alahala spit by the great serpant Vasuki, which was taken and retained by Lord Shankara in His throat (Neela Kantam). Then came Dhanvantari bearing the pot of ambrosia, the nectar of longevity. Dhanvantari is the Lord of good health and His blessings are sought for an active and healthy life free from any ailments or diseases.
There is also a folklore that on this day the son of good king Hima was destined to die, but his clever wife light rows and rows of lamps and scatterd gold and other precious metals on the floor and keeping her husband with her in the centre of the lights, the young girls kept singing the praise of Devi Kathyayani. Lord Yama came as a serpent to take the life of the boy, but was dazed by the dazzle of lights and its reflection on the metallic objects and was lured by the sweet song of the girl that he forgot his task and remained in a state of enchantment throughout the night. When day broke, the time for taking the boy’s life had come and gone and Yama returned to his abode after blessing the girl and her husband. The practice of buying gold and other jewelery on the day of Danteras perhaps has its origin in this tale.
Chaturdasi, the day following Danteras is dedicated to the worship of the Lord of Death Yama Dharmaraja, with prayers for a full and long life.  The fourteen names of Lord Yama are chanted with fervor to earn his pleasure. In Bengal, this day is celebrated as Booth Chaturdasi and people cook fourteen different vegetables that grow in creepers and offer them to Lord Yama and his retinue of ghosts to ward off trouble from the bad and evil spirits (bhuta, pretha and paisacha).
The goddess of wealth Maha Lakshmi and the custodian of wealth Lord Kubera are worshipped on the day of Amavasya with elaborate pujas and offering of different varieties of sweets. The new books of accounts are opened on the night of Amavasya and the entire house is lit up with rows and rows of lamps of different shapes. Deepavali is celebrated with great gusto in the night of Amavasya with the bursting of crackers.
The day following deepavali is considered to be the day when Yama visits His sister, the sacred river Yamuna.  He carries a lot of gifts for her and in turn she welcomes him with an aarthi and decorates his forehead with vermillion. This ritual is still followed in the northern and eastern parts of the country with brothers greeting sisters and sisters in turn applying tilak on the forehead of their brothers what Yamuna did.
There is a deep meaning behind all these celebrations and festivities.  The month of Thulam – Vrischigam occurs during the middle of the Dakshinayana period which is considered to be the night time for the Devas.  Devas are divine beings and their blessings are invoked by lighting lamps to keep light up their night time.  It is a period of the dark six months of Dakshinayanam when the souls leaving their bodies are taken through the dark passage of hell to their destination and hence the belief that one should wait till the coming of Uttarayanam to leave the human body. But all are not blessed like Bhishmacharya to invite death at their will and therefore prayers are offered to Lord Dhanvantari to bless us with good health and cure us of ailments and then to Lord Yama to bless us with the boon that he will not take us away from our bodies during the Dakshinayana period.
We spend our life running after pleasures and acquiring wealth to enable us to fulfill our pleasure cravings. When the moment of reckoning comes in us that this life can ebb away and nothing comes with us, we are determined to close our old account and wash away the sins that keep on accumulating in our relentless efforts to seek pleasure. We understand that evil cannot triumph always and we make a good effort to annihilate the asuras within us, first the three headed Mura representing the three fold evil of Kama (lust), Krodha (Anger) and Ahankara (ego) which are the root cause for all our sufferings through the help of Lord Krishna the supreme being. Then we wipe away the latent tendencies that bind us to action (karma) in this physical and spiritual planes represented by Bhumi Devi. Again this happens with the intervention of the same Devi who binds us and when we are freed like Narakasura, there is unfettered joy waiting for us and we find ourselves in the company of the Divine beings of light, the Devas which we symbolically bring into a ritual by lighting lamps, bursting crackers and eating sweets, and so on. We then determine that we shall acquire wealth for the welfare of all around us forsaking our selfish desires and pray to Lord Kubera and Maha Lakshmi to give only what we deserve and then share the same first with our relatives to start with and spend the rest for the welfare of the community which ultimately extends to all the creation.
When we understand the meaning of the festivals and rituals it helps us in greater involvement and to look beyond the outer garb of the rituals. Let us therefore enjoy the festival of lights and welcome light and radiance into our lives. Let us dedicate our lives for the welfare of all creation, starting with our families and slowly expand the circle to embrace all humanity and finally the entire creation.

OM TATSAT