Spread the brightness of love

The return of Lord Rama from exile after his victory over the demon king Ravana is celebrated by lighting diyas and burning crackers across India. In South of India, Deepavali also marks the victory of Lord Krishna flanked by his consort Satyabhama over Asura Narakasura, who imprisoned 16,000 daughters of Gods.

While the festival of lights beats everything else in its pomp and gaiety, one wonders about the relevance of festivals in the modern times. Yes, on one side it is about our culture and significance of our rituals.

On the other, it is also that time of the year when the troubles, tensions and struggles of daily life are forgotten and life is celebrated in all its glory. In the age of social media and Facebook, people take the trouble to visit friends and family and shower them with gifts as a token of their love. It is the time of love and togetherness.

However, a deeper philosophy does seem to be hidden in all our festivals, Deepavali included. Today the demons are our inner thoughts, our egos, our hatred, our unlimited desires and our pursuit of happiness that does seem a mirage, due to our inability to enjoy smaller pleasures and joys that life does throw our way, as we walk away ignorant of the same.

The inner Asura in us holds on to the 16000 and more egos, desires, hatred and greed which tend to disallow us from leading a life of fulfillment, no matter how hard we try. Deepavali, today, is about killing this demon –these desires and egos. And the diyas we light on this day must dispel the darkness that clouds our hearts and spread the eternal shine of love.

By: Rajeshwari Kalyanam