All festivals, esp. the festivals of
Hindus, have an underlying symbolical meaning and connotation. Though it sounds
pretty frivolous to associate festivals with specific man-made faiths, there's
no denying the fact that Hindu festivals have deeper emblematic ramifications
and manifestations. Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan called this,
' Positive hydra-headed moments of joy and mirth.' Every festival has this
streak and spirit of merriment embedded in its bowels.
Two festivals of Hindus that vindicate the
spirit of boundless happiness and auspicious aura are Holi and Deepavali.
Deepavali carries even more significance in the
sense that it's a crystal clear symbol of light/brightness/goodness triumphing
over the Stygian darkness of evil:
Prakasham parabhootam timiraachhanam iti
devanaam vadanti (When
light eclipses darkness, divine effulgence spreads in all directions).
Deepavali is goodness triumphing over all
that's bad, undesirable and negative. A section of readers may be aware or
some may even be astonished to know that the earliest 'Diwali', in its other
avatar/s, predating symbolical connotation of present-day Deepavali, came
into being even before Vedic Hinduism.
There're hoary old texts in Prakrit, a
language some opine existed before Sanskrit, available at Poona's BORI
(Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute) which suggest that Mahavir's
enlightenment (deepam mandam jwalant pragya rit, prakasham chahun disham)
made the world rejoice in enlightened brightness. Classical Jainagams (Jain
texts) call Deepavali, a festival of individual enlightenment and
associate it with teerthankars or evolved souls; so it has a
Jain origin!!
Whatever may have been the reason of Deepavali coming
into the lives of our ancestors, one thing must be remembered that the
coruscating power of wisdom, the brightness of goodness, the sparkling glory of
beauty and the light of all that has been good in human consciousness were
enshrined into this magnificent festival that is aptly called 'Festival of
lights' (jashn-e-charaaghan/shab-e-charaanghan).
The enlightened Mughal prince Dara Shikoh
wrote in his Persian treatise (he later translated that into his impeccable
Sanskrit):
Choon adaz iften az-gizaaf
ifn-unsiyaat-e-shab roshan
(Who'll not fall in love with the divine
light of lamps embellishing the night of glorious brightness?).
He elsewhere said, 'Shee astam mee
nizaaf-e-bahisht/ Goyam mein aftaabam behar na 'eest' (I've
not seen the brightness of heaven/But I dare say, it can't be better than the
light ensued by scores of lamps on the night ofjashn-e-chaaraghan). Some
scholars and historians like Muhammad Mujeeb, Gooch and Collingwood
believe that this Hindu-inclined statement angered his fanatic
brother Aurangzeb so much that he decided to eliminate Dara, also refer to
Askari's 'Mughal Saga', 1953, Patna: Khudabakhsh Library, Ashok
Raajpath)
Let's celebrate this brightness and pure
light by evolving ourselves to the point of having no darkness and prejudice
even in the hidden crevices of our existence. This is the pledge we must take
on the forthcoming Deepavali and also on subsequent Diwalis.
'Aao karein roshni ki hi baatein/Zulmaat
se thak gaya hai insaan'
(Let's talk only about light/Man has had
enough of darkness).
Urdu poet Sahir penned Deepavali so
beautifully:
'Roshni se roshni badhaein/Taqayamat
Diwali manayein'
(Let light enhance lights/May we be able
to celebrate Deepavali till the Doomsday)
Diwali
greetings and messages for your friends and family:
· May the beauty of
Deepawali fill your home with abundance of everything that you desire and the
very festival of light can prove to be a harbinger of joy and prosperity for
the coming year
- · A festival that symbolizes enlightenment
Paves
the Way for Progress
And
makes a heart full of ecstasy
May
this Diwali be the dawn of heyday for the rest of your life
Wishing you and your
family A Very Happy Diwali!
- · Diwali is the darling day for all of us
As we enjoy the entire day with
delight from dawn to dusk
As we know that when the darkness
creeps in, we have
The all pervading illuminating
lights that make us ecstatic
With boundless of joy and the
pleasure that is all-pervading and contagious
Happy Diwali to You All
Happy Diwali to all the readers. May they
enjoy it to the hilt and spread light of universal bonhomie everywhere. We need
this all the more in these benighted times when the whole world is in the
throes of pains, sufferings, intolerance and scourge of violence.
---Sumit Paul