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Deepavali greetings to all. Please find an article on Deepavali, with best
regards, MG Prasad
 
DEEPAVALI
M.G. Prasad,   <mailto:mgprasad@xxxxxxxxxxx> mgprasad@xxxxxxxxxxx,
<http://www.taranga.us/> www.taranga.us 

 

            A Hindu festival is a celebration that integrates spiritual,
philosophical, religious and cultural aspects of human life. The spiritual
aspect is based on the basic human instincts of joy and happiness. The
philosophical aspect is based on the basic principle of the victory of good
over evil in the constant struggle between them. The victory of good is to
be celebrated. This is to remind ourselves and future  generations that in
the constant fight between good and evil, the good shall win. The religious
aspect deals with the particular rituals of that festival. The mythological
stories that are related to the particular 

manifestation of the God (Supreme Being) provide the religious strength for
the festival. The cultural aspect deals with the customs, activities, food,
dress, social interaction with family and friends etc. In the words of
Sriranga Sadguru, a yogi-seer, "The planetary positions are favorable to
spiritual development on these festivals and one should make use of these
special timings"

 

            DEEPAVALI is a major Hindu festival that comes in early part of
November. Deepavali means "Row of Lamps". The festival is celebrated on New
moon day that is a day of darkness. Several stories are associated with this
festival. The major story is that of Lord Krishna killing the demon
Narakasura. Also, "Naraka" means "Hell". The demon Narakasura had kept
several good kings, citizens including thousands of women in dark prison. It
was the helpless cry of these innocent people as prisoners that brought the
Supreme Being in the manifestation of Lord Krishna to kill (through His
Sudarshana chakra) the demon Narakasura and free the prisoners. Thus
Deepavali is to celebrate the glory of Lord Krishna (Supreme Light) and the
end of tyranny (darkness. The lighting of lamps spiritually signify removal
of one's darkness. The day of Deepavali  begins with special bath with oil,
wearing new dress, ritual of worship, special foods and in the night
lighting the lamps and firing crackers to celebrate through the sounds of
joy. The family and friends meet on this day to wish greetings and celebrate
together. 

 

            Also, on Deepavali day the merchants observe the beginning of
new yearly accounting. This signifies the review of the accounting both in
their business and also in life. The revision of accounting signifies the
"forget and forgive " principle and restarting our joyful relationship with
family and friends. Goddess Lakshmi represents the wealth both materialistic
and spiritual. On Deepavali, worship of Goddess Lakshmi is also carried out
for Her blessings on restarting our worldly and spiritual accounting. 

 

            Also, on the next day to Deepavali as part of the festival the
King Bali is also worshipped. The King Bali gave his entire kingdom and
surrendered himself by requesting the Lord Vishnu (as Vamana) to place His
(Lord's) foot on his (King Bali's) head. In some places, Rama's return to
Ayodhya after killing demon Ravana is celebrated

 

Thus we see that Deepavali encompasses all domains of human life namely
physical, emotional, philosophical and spiritual. The celebration includes
both the individual and societal levels. Thus the Hindu festivals provide
enlightenment, education and joy at the most basic levels of human
experience.



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





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