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Diwali, the New Moon festival of lights
The twelfth day in the dark half of Ashvin, on the eve of diwali,
is Go-Vatsa dwadashi, also known as
Vasubaras, reserved for the worship of the cow and calf as a part
of a strong agrarian tradition. Diwali comes at the culmination of the harvesting
season, of abundance in grain and farm produce in general, along with corresponding
wealth.
The cow and calf represent the cattle that make this prosperity possible through
their toil on the farm. Besides being a symbol of the earth, a docile and loving
creature, the cow produces panchagavya, or five medicinal ingredients in the traditional
Indian ayurvedic system of healing, including milk, curds, ghee, urine and cowdung.
The cow also has strong sacred association with the legends and iconography of many
Hindu Gods, including Krishna and Dattatreya. Women and young girls observe a fast
on this day, perform the puja of the cow and her calf, and feed them consecrated
food, including sweets.
The five to six day festival follows the long period of monsoon rains over
many months, and it marks a sharp seasonal transition that underscores ecological
shifts as they influence human enterprise on earth. Diwali is a joyous celebration
at the end of the dark and overly wet months, of abundance of wealth, and it calls
for fragrant pre-dawn ritual of oil massage and a warm water bath, new clothes,
special shared feasts, dwellings decorated with rangolis or colourful floor mandalas,
earthen oil lamps, 'sky lanterns' hung from the roofs, and fire cracker bursts in
the night and early mornings. All this happiness is further augmented by long school
holidays!
At the subtle level, water signifies the unconscious; as the water recedes, along
with it recede the fears of famine, floods, disease and death. The demons of the
netherworld have been met and annihilated by the protective goddess energies of
the psyche.The polarities of good-evil, light-dark are integrated in a balanced
way, each needing the other for its culmination; for example, the all- powerful
demon surrenders in the end and asks the goddess for a boon, who grants him remembrance
on an auspicious occasion through sacred ritual.
Diwali is important for the invoking and pacification of Yama, the Lord of Death,
to avoid untimely demise in the household, in subliminal acknowledgment of death
as an inescapable part of life itself within the divine plan for humanity, through
celebration with the lights!
While the Navratris, Dussehara and the year-round nights of the Full Moon are unique
celebrations of the Night, Diwali comes into its own as the King of all night festivals
in terms of its connotation of material wealth, the sheer variety of rituals and
exuberance
that marks its arrival. Rather interesting that all this revelry is organised around
the period before and after the night of the New Moon, the only amavasya of the
year that is an occasion of Joy. This is perhaps a powerful device for dispelling
the fear of darkness, demons, destruction and death, through a powerful upsurge
of the spirit energies using multilayered rituals.
Diwali is also an occasion for the commemoration of Lord Ram's heroic return to
his kingdom in Ayodhya, alongwith Sita, Lakshman and Hanuman, after the 12 year
period of unjust banishment into the forests, which has ended with victory in the
battle against the demon Ravan.
The thirteenth day of the dark fortnight is Dhan Trayodashi,
which is the first day of Diwali, and traditional healers worship Dhanvantari, the
healer of the Gods who came forth with a pot of medicine and herbs from the churning
of the oceans. The pre-dawn bath ritual involving oil massage, application of uttan, a fragrant mixture on the skin before the warm
bath, and the eating of a herbal paste of the medicinal neem and sugar, all serve
to rid alimentary sluggishness on account of the monsoon fungal growth, as also
sluggishness of the etheric nadis. The loud bursts of the fire crackers, along with
the sulfurous smell of the gunpowder serve the same purpose, in terms of 'kick starting'
a seasonally depressed nadi and chakra system! At night, lamps are placed facing
the south, the only time that this is done, in honour of Yama, the Lord of Death,
who rules over the south direction. The ritual is known as Yamadipadaan.
The fourteenth day is Narak Chaturdashi, celebrating
the slaying of the demon Narakasur by Krishna. The demon had abducted and incarcerated
16,000 maidens in his eastern kingdom of Pragjyotishpur (Guwahati in Assam), who
were set free by Krishna. Since their victimisation had implied shame and loss of
social status, he chose to reinstate their honour by marrying them, so that they
would live a life of dignity and protection as his queens. At the archetypal level,
the 16,000 maidens represent the nadis or the etheric meridians of the body in bondage
to the lower chakras that represent the hell of Narakasur, until they are redeemed
through union with the in-dwelling divinity in the awakened heart chakra. The bitter
wild cucurbit fruit, symbolic of the demon, is crushed under the toe after the early
morning bath, and mothers wave the ritual lamp around their children's face to celebrate
Krishna's victory. Worship may also be offered to Yama to ward off untimely
death, in a ritual known as Yamatarpan.
The Ashvin New Moon is the event for worship of the Goddess Lakshmi, commemorating
her appearance in the Kshirasagar or the Ocean of Nectar, at the time of churning
the ocean. This is the main day of Diwali; it is also celebrated as Goverdhan pujan
or annakut according to the Krishna legend in Brajbhoomi in the north.
Lakshmi pujan is a ritual performed at nightfall with an array of lights to substitute
the fear of darkness with the sparkle and exuberance of spirit, ushering in a renewal
of faith and optimism. Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth who is fickle and offended
by sloth and ignorance. She must be propitiated with great positivity and invited
to take up residence with the household. In her train follow the virtues of wealth,
happiness, good luck, hope, wisdom, health, harmony and all things auspicious. Kuber,
the treasurer of the Gods, is also worshipped on this occasion. Traders perform
a symbolic puja of the books of accounts on that day, called chopda
puja. The remaining festival of Diwali is celebrated on the first two
days of the month of Kartik.
--Sahayog Promdak
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