01/11/2024
*Happy dīpāvali (dīpālī ) to all*. The significance of the festival is generally explained as victory of good over evil. There is a secondary explanation that on this day Lord Krishna killed the asura, Naraka. That day being caturdaśī day, it came to be known as naraka-caturdaśī.
The "good over evil" theme is used for a lot of Hindu festivals. One must look at this from an "adhyātmika" level and recognize that the good dispositions (daivī sampath) and bad dispositions (āsurī sampath) co-reside in any human being. If one were able to accomplish with various religious and spiritual sādhanas a predominance of daivī sampath, then that achievement of self-mastery deserves celebration. Possessing such a self-mastery, if one exposes oneself to the spiritual teaching of one's reality as non-different from that of the Lord, from a competent teacher who has learnt from another competent ācārya, then the victory of knowing oneself, ātma-lābha, is certain. This victory, which is possible only through knowledge, is marked by lighting a row (āvali) of lights (dīpa) where the dīpa stands for knowledge and the āvali stands for the saṁpradāya, the lineage of teaching. This is the essence of the prayer by which the seeker salutes the entire lineage of spiritual teachers. *ओं नमो ब्रह्मादिभ्यो ब्रह्मविद्यासंप्रदायकर्तृभ्यो वंशॠषिभ्यो महद्भयो नमो गुरुभ्यः* ॥ oṃ namo brahmādibhyo brahmavidyāsaṃpradāyakartṛbhyo vaṃśaṝṣibhyo mahadbhayo namo gurubhyaḥ ||
