Diwali, the Festival of Light

November 04, 2021

Loving and divine souls,

May the greatest blessings of God and the masters descend upon you all. I take this opportunity to pray for you and send my best wishes on the occasion of Diwali, the Festival of Light, which will be celebrated this year on November 4.

Diwali is the day of the new moon in the month of Margashirsha (October-November). Diwali or Deepavali (Festival of Light)-on a cold autumn night, when there is no moon in the sky and the dance of darkness takes place, we light lamps to celebrate. Light is life. Light is love. Light is knowledge. Light is heat. The light is
heavenly, while darkness is described as hellish. The homes of the wealthy are always full of light and illumination.

Two days before the Festival of Light, the birthday of Dhanvantari, a heavenly doctor whose contribution is Ayurveda, is celebrated. Its birth everywhere symbolizes health and happiness. The day before Diwali is the day the ashura named Naraka (hell) died. Lord Krishna caused his downfall. Ashuric traits create hell in life.
When we live a life of light, knowledge and love, then peace, harmony and divinity will flourish.

On the day of the fourteenth moon, Naraka was defeated. On the day of the new moon is Diwali, celebrated in honor of Lord Krishna, who eliminated Naraka (hell) and freed sixteen thousand one hundred young princesses who had been kidnapped and held captive.

If we want to remove hell and enmity from our lives, we must strengthen our love for the Lord. It destroys our defects. Darkness is hell, and light is heavenly. We know our flaws and our weaknesses, and we must overcome them with the strength of our virtue and divinity.

On this special day of Diwali, I pray to the Lord to give us the strength to destroy our inner vices and social evils. I pray that we meet the challenge of being individually divine and collectively beautiful.

With love,
Prajnanananda