DIWALI: The Festival of Light

“Rama conquered Ravana and this victory established Ramarajya in India. But alas! Today there is no Ramarajya in India. So how can we celebrate Diwali? Only those who have Rama within can celebrate this victory. For, God alone can illumine our souls and only that light is real light. Crowds of people go to see artificial illumination but what we need today is the light of love in our hearts. We must kindle the light of love within.“

Mahatma Gandhi’s Diwali Speech on 12th November,1947

On the most auspicious occasion of Diwali, the Indian Festival of Lights, I take this opportunity to wish and yours a spectacular, sparkling, and sizzling Diwali full of happiness, laughter and good cheer!

The meanings of the holy day of Diwali are innumerable. Whether one looks at the story of the return to the ancient kingdom of Ayodhya of Lord Rama or the victory of Lord Krishna over Narakaasura (Demon from Hell!) or the fall of Bali, the monkey king, Diwali is a day which symbolizes the vanquishing of evil by good and the return of righteousness and divinity.

Diwali is the day when after 14 long years of exile in the forest with his wife Sita and his brother Lakshman, Lord Rama returned to Ayodhya. The people were so exuberant at the return of their King, that they lined the roads, the shops, the homes, and every conceivable place with brightly burning lamps. Today, throughout India and wherever Indians have settled in the world, one can see beautifully lit oil lamps and candles glowing in the darkness of night.

And all parts of the lamp are important! What is the deeper meaning of the Diwali oil lamp? From the oil lamp one learns humility, one learns to be a nameless and faceless part of a team working for the betterment of humanity. There is a beautiful saying which goes as follows: “Karta kaam koi hai. Naam kisi ka hota hai. Jalte tel aur bati. Naam diya ka hota hai.” It means, “Someone may do the work. Someone else may get the credit. In an oil lamp it is the wick and oil which burn, but we give credit to the diya.

” This happens in life as well. There are always those who get the credit, those who are always in the centre receiving the appreciation and reward, while those doing the nitty-gritty work frequently find themselves in the background. This should not bother us. We must learn to be like the wick and the oil of the lamp. Just keep burning and bringing light to others. Don’t worry whether people acknowledge you properly or not.

Whose name gets the credit is not what’s important. What’s important is that light has been brought to the world. Typically, when we find ourselves in the position of the wick and oil, feeling like we do all the work and not getting the credit or appreciation, what do we do? We sulk. We complain. We grumble. This is not the divine way, and it is not the message of Diwali. As we watch the Diwali lamps burn, bringing beautiful illumination, we must take the message that all parts thereof are crucial.

If there were no oil, or no wick, or no clay pot in which to hold them, there could be no flame. Each part is essential and of equal worth. No one is small and no one is big. In our lives as we work to bring light to our families, our communities, and our world, let us worry less about who is doing what and who is getting credit and let us worry more about whether we are being the very best wick, the very best oil and the very best pot we can be.

Another message to be taken from the lamp is that it burns for others, with no selfish motivation and no expectation.  The sole purpose of an oil lamp’s existence is to bring light to others. They burn for others, with every minute, every moment of their lives and every ounce of their existence. We also burn. But we typically burn from others rather than for others. We burn with anger, jealousy, and frustration.

The heat is on, but rather than bringing healing, it brings agony to us and to others. The flames of our internal fire engulf us, suffocate us and burn the very core of our beings. We must learn to burn for others rather than from others. Look at Lord Rama. How easy it would have been for his stepmother Kaikeyi’s insistence upon his exile to ignite the flames of anger and resentment within him. How easy it would have been for him to burn with jealousy for his brother Bharat who was undeservedly being given the title of King. How easy is it to become indignant, to sulk and complain. However, He did none of that. Rather, Kaikeyi’s pronouncement and his father’s compulsion to acquiesce, caused the lamp of compassion, love, and service to burn even brighter within Him. He was overjoyed at the opportunity to offer these years of his life to Kaikeyi and to help his father fulfill the vow of the brave Khatriyas. 

Lord Rama’s life was truly a divine lamp, burning for others and bringing light wherever He went. Another important and rarely discussed aspect of Lord Rama’s exile to the forest is how it really began. What was the root cause, the fundamental cause? It was not Kaikeyi who was evil, but rather her maidservant Manthara who slowly and insidiously poisoned Kaikeyi’s mind against Lord Rama. Manthara convinced Kaikeyi, deliberately and deceitfully, that if Lord Rama became King, he would deprive Kaikeyi of her role as favorite wife and Queen. Manthara so successfully turned Kaikeyi against the members of her own family that she insisted upon Lord Rama’s exile.

So Lord Rama’s exile and his father King Dasaratha’s tragic death is due not to Kaikeyi’s selfishness but rather due to the ignorant, conniving nature of her trusted servant. This happens frequently in our own families, communities, and workplaces. Our minds and hearts get polluted against our loved ones, colleagues, friends, and co-workers by others who are acting either out of their own ignorance or through cunning ulterior motives. If Kaikeyi had trusted her sister and friend Kaushalya, her husband Dasaratha and her stepson Lord Rama as much as she trusted her servant, none of the tragic events would have come to pass.

So, at this time of Diwali, let us renew our commitment to let the light shine not only in our lamps,homes and temples, but to let the light of faith,love and loyalty shine in our minds and in our hearts. Let us not be blinded by the darkness of discrimination, ignorance, negativity, jealousy, anger and greed. 

The debilitating Global Crisis has led to a new set of challenges throughout the world. From the Foundation Frison Horta, I pray to the Lord Almighty to bestow

His divine light upon us all bringing the light of wisdom, peace, joy, and love to your lives in these very polarized times.

Courtesy The Sublime India Issue by Vissionaire.

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