Diwali: The Significance of Celebrating Diwali  

By Swami Shivananda Saraswati  

Diwali: The Significance of Celebrating Diwali  

Diwali is a time of the year when families, friends and communities come together in a spirit of celebration and joy. Diwali is the time, according to the version popular north of Vindhyas, when Lord Rama returned to Ayodhya after spending 14 years in exile.

However, the deeper meaning of Diwali is celebration of the message of Lord Rama's life of sacrifice and dharma.

Spending 14 years in the forest was neither a fun-filled experience nor an easy life for Lord Rama.

Rama underwent exile in order to uphold a promise his father had made to Queen Kaikayi, namely, that he would grant her any boon she wished. Lord Rama's banishment to forest was thus a way of fulfilling his father's obligation to the queen.

Today Lord Rama is worshipped and revered for the life he lived. We say he is the embodiment of the 'perfect person' a God manifest in a human form.

On the special occasion of Diwali, and every day henceforth, we must not only worship Lord Rama, we must also emulate him. We must take the message of his divine life as our lesson.

He lived in hardship and exile for 14 years, amongst the poorest of the poor, in order to fulfil the terms of his father's debt. Like Lord Rama, our debt is to the same impoverished ones amongst whom he lived.

Most of you received your education in India before going abroad to earn a living and raise a family. That education had probably cost you very little as it was 'subsidised'.

However, when we really ask ourselves, "Who exactly subsidised this wonderful education which enabled me to get a degree and then go abroad to prosper and thrive?", the answer is not as clear as we think.

Most people assume the government paid for this education. However, we must remember that the government is not a profit-making entity. The money that you did not pay came from the poor.

You were given free education because they were given nothing. The money to subsidise your education did not go to the poorest masses, so that it could be used for funding your education.

When a person leaves Mother India to go abroad, he takes with himself two things: A degree and a debt. The degree enables him to succeed in the foreign land and to prosper there.

However, what about the debt? The debt is to those who subsidised that education, so that other people could receive that subsidised education at a very small cost.

Now that debt must be repaid. In order to repay it, we must make some sacrifice. Remember that is dharma. Sacrifice for the sake of righteousness is the essence of Indian culture.

This is the message of Lord Rama's life. We must not only worship Lord Rama on Diwali; we must also take a pledge to follow him. We must vow to fulfil our own responsibilities, to give back what we have taken from the poor. When we too practise this dharma, we will really have something to celebrate.

Diwali is a symbol of a fresh start, a new beginning. I always say that God does not open our old files.

Whenever we go to him, whenever we bow our heads humbly and say, "God, I am yours", he will accept us. We must offer ourselves completely at his holy feet. Without his grace and his blessings, nothing is possible.

This year, on the occasion of Diwali, let us vow not just to offer God a cheque - a mere piece of paper - say a few mantras and then get on with our lives as before, but let us live according to the realisation that we owe everything to him, and we should make an attempt to offer at his feet, whatever we have.

Probably the most commonly celebrated aspect of Diwali is that it is the festival of lights. Homes, offices, shops and streets are lined with brightly lighting diyas or earthen lamps.

This is not only aesthetically beautiful but has a deeper meaning to it as we are warding off the darkness of ignorance, of anger, of temptations, with the light of wisdom, love and freedom.

It is wonderful to see the rows and rows of beautiful diyas, lighting up our streets. These lamps are meant as symbols, as a means to an end. But, what is this end?

What is the real darkness, which must be dispelled? It is the darkness within us, the darkness of ignorance, of selfishness, of duality that has to be eliminated.

Indian culture says that we are all one. Indian culture says that as our brothers and sisters suffer in darkness, so we too are suffering, although we may not be aware of it.

It is, therefore, our divine duty to help dispel the darkness in their lives and to help alleviate their suffering.

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See also: Diwali, Indian Festivals, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)