We are in the midst of five-day long Tihar festival, referred to by many in English as a “festival of lights”. Just recently we bid “good bye” to Dashain, or Vijaya Dashami. Now, to most people it’s another occasion to celebrate and to some people another excuse to revel in the way they want.
The five day festival begins on the 13th day of dark lunar fortnight when is moon is waning, and the fifth day falls on 2nd day of fortnight when the moon is waxing.
The five days starting from the 13th day of dark fortnight of the month of Kartik, the seventh month of Bikram era calendar, are dedicated respectively to worship of crow, dog, cow, ox and male siblings or brothers. The third day/night, the darkest night or new moon night, is celebrated as Laxmi Puja – worship of Laxmi, the goddess of wealth.
The five days are collectively called “yam panchak”. Worship of the above five is considered to save one self from the untimely clutches of “yam”, the god of death.
Crow is regarded as the messenger of death, dog as a loyal protector, and cow as mother and goddess of wealth.
Viewed from a different perspective, this worship of the five reflects an occasion to offer gratitude to each of them because of the importance of the each in human life, especially in old agrarian south Asian society.
Why is cow, an animal, regarded as “goddess of wealth”? To explain the esoteric connection between cow and wealth, one needs an understanding of esoteric science. Explaining this connection, I think, deserves another detailed write-up.
The most important day among the five is, of course, the Laxmi Puja day, the third day, when Goddess Laxmi is worshiped. Houses and premises are cleaned, decorated, and in the evening innumerable butter lamps are lighted.
Laxmi is the goddess of wealth and prosperity. Prayers to Goddess Laxmi and chanting of mantras dedicated to her by those who know are done on this day/night,
Like most of the Hindu festivals, there are variations across geographies and regions in the way Tihar or Deepawali is celebrated. Similarly, there are differences in the emphasis or importance placed on a particular day among the five.
The entire atmosphere is marked by cleaning of home and surroundings, a sense of joy and revelry.
All the above description relates to the external aspects of the Laxmi Puja and the entire sequence of the five day festival.
However, there is also a deeply spiritual side of the period, or the “esoteric” side known to a selected few people, who are deeply into the quest of ultimate truth or god.
According to the “esoteric” meaning, the light in the butter lamp simply signifies illumination of inner light of a spiritual aspirant. Many great spiritual people of the yore attained enlightenment during this period, especially on the third night, the darkest night.
Though the external environment is enveloped in complete darkness, inside a rare few spiritual aspirant, they experience the illumination of inner light, and by extension they have an experiential realization of the ultimate truth or God. This phenomenon is also referred to by spiritual people as “enlightenment”.
An ancient Sanskrit prayer says: lead me to truth from untruth, to light from darkness, and to immortality from death.
The rare few who attain enlightenment experience all the three at once. The truth is unveiled and ignorance is gone; darkness is replaced by divine eternal inner light, and for them, mortal death loses meaning as they realize their “immortal self”. For them, the existence or “goddess of wealth” opens her door and showers the bounty of wealth, of course if they have any such desires left.
Most of us have perhaps read and heard about the last message of Lord Buddha to his cousin and disciple Ananda: was “app dipo bhava” or be a light unto your self. What Buddha perhaps meant to say is discover the inner light and also chart out your own path.
So, I wonder, if on this Deepawali day, we will also be inspired to embark upon an intense spiritual journey to discover that inner light!
In common parlance this discovery of inner light might be referred to by some people as, I think, “lighting of the inner lamp”, though that “lamp” does not need to be lighted. It is eternal light within each of us, which according to spiritual people, also pervades the entire existence.
Therefore, this Deepawali, let us try to discover that inner lamp!
(The author worked as a lecturer in engineering in a college in Kathmandu and as a senior systems engineer in an IT company in Bangalore, India.)
