The significance of the Diwali festival

Diwali is the Festival of Lights, an ancient and widely celebrated event in Hindu culture. Many people who faithfully practice the festival’s traditions may not know the deep significance behind them The word ‘Diwali’ is derived from ‘Deepavali’ which means ‘cluster of lights’, and the main theme of the festival is to dispel darkness of the night by lighting lamps to bring in light.

Darkness here is not physical darkness but spiritual darkness, which is ignorance of the Divine Self within each of us. Ignorance of Self leads the individual to the darkness of stress and strain, addictions and depression. At a global level terrorism, war, corruption, greed. All of these problems can be traced back to the selfishness, self-centeredness which arises out of this ignorance.

Lighting the lamps symbolizes gaining the knowledge of the Self within. This knowledge is traditionally referred to as Vedanta, which literally translates as the highest wisdom.

Diwali, like any festival, any ritual, any observance is a reminder of your purpose in life to gain this light of wisdom by removing the darkness of ignorance. This path of spiritual growth is not easy, the lighting of firecrackers through the night signifies the battle within to remove selfishness and attain the Supreme Self.

The next morning signifies the final conquering of the ego, discarding your old identity and adopting your new identity of Self-realization. This is symbolized by the traditional wearing of new clothes and celebration of the new year. Distribution of sweets to friends and relatives represents how a Self-realized person, who has reached their true identity, distributes happiness to the world.

In North India Diwali is celebrated as Rama killing the demon Ravana and returning to his abode of Ayodhya, and in South India as Krishna killing the demon Narakasura. Rama and Krishna represent the divine knowledge of the Self and Ravana and Narakasura the demons of ego and egocentric desires. Thus, the essence of Diwali is the victory over the inner demons of ego and egocentric desires and the unfoldment of the Self within.

-Adapted from a talk on Diwali by Gautamji. For more information including how you can gain this knowledge of life and living, visit VedantaUSA.org