Lalit Garg
Diwali - Special on 04 November 2021
There is no other extraordinary festival like Deepawali in the world, this is the festival of light that illuminates the Earth as well as the whole universe. It brings sweetness and harmony in relationships and its warmth creates a healthy environment between relationships. Diwali is also unique because it is the confluence of five festivals. In this, Dhanteras, Narak Chaturdashi, Deepawali, Govardhan Puja and Yamadvitiya are celebrated. The night of Diwali is known as Mahanisheeth. On this night, worshiping Mahalakshmi with various types of tantra-mantras is wished for happiness, prosperity, health and wealth benefits for the whole year. Although Deepawali has proved its prevalence as a religious and cultural festival in the public mind. Still, it has to be believed that the importance of this festival is associated with the incidents of historical great men like Lord Shri Ram, Lord Mahavir, Swami Dayanand Saraswati etc., they were the top men of the spiritual world. From this point of view, Diwali festival is a unique festival of spirituality along with secularism.
On the occasion of Diwali, everyone usually tries to clean, decorate and beautify their homes. In the same way, if the waste of karma accumulated in the courtyard of consciousness is cleaned by sweeping it, efforts are made to decorate it with restraint and the eternal flame of the lamp of the soul is lit in it, then one can attain eternal happiness, peace and bliss. May be obtained. Only then will we be able to heal the wounds of the corona epidemic and only then will we be able to establish Ram Rajya in real form by destroying the demonic powers prevailing in the society.
We celebrate Diwali every year and the five festivals associated with it. In fact, Dhanteras, Narak Chaturdashi (also known as Chhoti Diwali) and Mahalakshmi Puja – Diwali are a combination of these three festivals. According to the Indian system, in every ritual, there is a coordinated behavior of these three forms, Adhibhautik, Spiritual and Adhidaivik. According to this belief, On Dhanteras; Laxmi is worshiped in the form of gold, silver coins, and on Narak Chaturdashi, decorating the houses with lamps and beautifying the environment to highlight the beauty of the spiritual form of Lakshmi. In this way, Lakshmi is worshiped in all the three ways mentioned above in this festival.
When we meditate we thank the Universal Spirit for its abundance. We also pray for more so that we can serve more. Gold silver is only an external symbol. Wealth is within us. There is a lot of love, peace and joy within. What more wealth do you want than this? Knowledge is real wealth. Your character, your calmness and self-confidence are your real wealth. When you move forward in association with God, there is no greater wealth than this. This royal thought comes only when you connect with God and with eternity. When the wave remembers that it is connected with the ocean and is part of the ocean, then immense power is attained.
Diwali is celebrated on the Pratipada of Shukla Paksha of Kartik month. The next day is Govardhan Puja, this is the fourth festival of the series of five festivals. This year this puja will be held on 5th November. In many regions it is also called Annakoot Puja. It means group of food. In this puja, many types of food are offered to God. Later they are distributed as Prasad. Annakoot or Govardhan Puja was started from Dwapar Yuga. On this day people worship Lord Govardhan Nath (Shri Krishnaji) by making some designs of cow dung in the courtyard. Then to please Giriraj, people offer him Annakoot.
The festival of Bhai Dooj is celebrated on the fifth day of the festival. Bhai Dooj is also known as Yama Dwitiya. The festival of Bhai Dooj is a festival based on brother-sister relationship, which is celebrated with great reverence and mutual love. After Rakshabandhan, Bhai Dooj is the second festival dedicated to the love between brothers and sisters. On this day married sisters invite their brother to their house for food and worship and lovingly feed the brother. Sisters apply tilak to their brother and wish him a long life by giving gifts.
According to the belief related to Bhai Dooj, Yamraj and Yamuna were born from the womb of Suryadev's wife Chhaya. Yamuna used to affectionately request her brother Yamraj to come to his house and have food. But Yamraj used to avoid talking about Yamuna due to being busy. On Kartik Shukla Dwitiya, Yamuna suddenly became happy to see Yamraj standing at her door. I Was happy and welcomed the brother and got him food. Pleased with this, Yamraj asked his sister to ask for a boon. Then the sister said to the brother that you will come every year to have food at my place and on this day the sister who feeds her brother on this day should not be afraid of you. Yamraj went to Yampuri saying 'Tathastu'. It is believed that the brothers who take bath in the Yamuna on this day with full devotion accept the hospitality of their sisters; they and their sister do not have fear of Yama.
The spirit of service is also associated with the great festival of five festivals, Deepawali, any festival is incomplete without the spirit of service. Whatever we have got from God, we should also share it with others because whatever we have to share, we have also got it from somewhere, and this is the true festival. Happiness and knowledge must be spread and this can happen only when people come together in knowledge and share knowledge. Diwali means living in the present moment, so let go of past remorse and worry about the future and live in the present moment. It's time we forget about the year-long squabbles and negativities. It is time to shed light on the knowledge we have gained and make a new beginning. When true knowledge emerges, the celebration gets stronger.
We are more happy and excited to celebrate the festival of Diwali this year, because after centuries the temple of our beloved Lord Shri Ram is being built in Ayodhya. That is, just as the festival of Deepawali was celebrated after fourteen years of exile, Shri Ram, the greatest hero of the Indian folk, returned to Ayodhya, in the same way, after being away from the faith centre of the people for centuries, Shri Ram is now being established in the form of a temple, so this year Diwali has special meaning. The temple of Shri Ram being built in Ayodhya will be in such a way that the troubles of the people will be removed, there will be freedom from fears and disappointment; a life full of wealth, peace and prosperity will be established. Shri Ram is a supporter of the downtrodden and is united with the rhythm of nature. The formidable problems related to the environment will come to an end. With the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this year the festival of Diwali is going to be real and meaningful. Every Hindu and faithful person should try to establish within himself the message that reveals the eternal light of Shri Ram, then there will be no difficulty in establishing health, peace, non-war, good governance and friendship in the whole world and will see happiness everywhere and we can live happily ever after.