diwali has been celebrated by vedik
peoples for at least 2057 years now...but the genesis of diwali goes back
into creation history to at least part of the current kalpa which is about 2.2
billion years old out of its total duration of 4.32 billion years of brhmah's
day.....
....diwali
is celebrated.... for the end of summer harvest season which brings
in wealth...or ...for preparing the fields for the next crop in autumn season or
the next summer...or.... for the sun reaching Libra and starting its southern
journey....or...
...for remembering the coronation day of shree raam after the 14 year
exile in forest and saving the universe from the pain of raavan's
kingship....or..
....for remembering the coronation day raajaa vikram of ujjain
who was the last of guptaa dynasty and whose coronation day was the start
of the vikram savant calendar which is used by current day bharat-desh
for 2057 years now.....or.....
...for the killing of narkaasur by vishnu-dev for the theft of
ear-rings of adiiti, the mother of the first living beings and abduction
of 16,000 women who were ultimately freed and became wives of shree krishna....or...worship
for the regain of the empire lost by raajaa baali who was made by
vishnu-dev in His vaaman-avataar to abdicate his entire kingdom of the
universe ....or....
...for the worship of cows instead of the worship of indra-dev
proclaimed by shree krishna in gokul as cows are the descendents
of kaam-dhenu who is the milch cow who grants all desires of all
creatures in the universe.....or......
....for worship of laxmi-devi as the sustainer of the creation and
especially the wealth giver...or...for celebrations of vaishya varna of
the 4-varna vedik system....or...
....for just having a family and societal celebration honoring the
family elders, ancestors and devo in general and asking blessing for another
prosperous year to come....
...but behind all this there is a clear message of
upholding dharma and living life by dharma by all mankind...dharma
which forms the foundation of existence...without which creation
perishes.....
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The genesis of diwali as indicated in the preceding write-up is as old
as creation itself. In the current times the meanings and purposes of diwali
celebrations among vedik peoples of varying faiths, traditions and
customs are described below. The write-up is what has been observed across the
whole spectrum of how to celebrate diwali...some parts will definitely be
practiced in your family, your gotra (lineage), your community....One can
start gleaming the dharma behind the activities....
- DIWALI AND NEW YEAR DAY ACTION PLAN
diwali celebrations starts with celebrations of dhaan-teras,
kali-chaudas and diwali on the respective three day prior to the end
of aaso maas. The last day of the month is diwali day. The celebration
continues on the first day of the new year. On dhan-teras day
laxmi-devi is worshipped. On kali-chaudas day kaali-maataa is
worshipped. On diwali day business men offer puujaa to their
current year's accounting books and the new books for the coming year.
On the
first day of the new year, the entire family getting up at about 4.00 am. Every
member in the family takes a both in oil before sunrise to purify oneself. If
the oil bath is not taken before sunrise the punya of the oil bath is not
gained. This oil bath is the equivalent of the bath one takes after the death of
a relative or a friend. narkaasur was killed by shree krishna on narak-chaudash,
14th day of aaso vad and hence the bath is for this death. This oil bath
is considered equivalent to taking the bath in the waters of river gangaa.
After the bath, one eats a small portion of special medicinal potion prepared of
ginger powder. Then males females dress up in brand new clothes suitable for
showing off the festivity environment and especially bought for diwali.
Then praathnaa and puujaa is performed by the entire family in
their mandir in the household. After the puujaa, the younger ones
in the family get blessings from their elders through the performance of "paage
laagvu". The elders also give cash as gift along with the blessing to
younger ones. Then a light breakfast of vaanagi prepared for diwali and
fruits is eaten together by the family. Children then go and enjoy
fireworks.
The elders
in the family take another bath after the sunrise and then the entire family go
to a temple to worship and perform puujaa to their ishta-dev.
After the temple visit, relatives and friends are visited in their homes to get
blessing from elders and to exchange the greetings of the festivities and also
prosperity for the coming year. paan-supaari, specially made for diwali
is offered to visitors at home at the end of the visit. At noon the family has a
dinner feast with food specially made for diwali.
The above
festivities is not observed by a vedik family in which a death had occurred
within a year of any diwali as a sign of mourning, respect and reverence
for the departed. However, the children in such a family in mourning are
allowed to enjoy fireworks.
- SPECIAL ACTIVITIES ON THE NEW YEAR DAY
- Groups of musicians with pipe instruments and drums visit houses in a
community around 3.00 am to wake people up. They play music for a few
minutes at each house. Later in the day they would re-visit the house in
expectation of bakshish or gifts.
- Workers, employees, people in service business expect bakshish or
gifts on this day from the people they serve.
- Married couples who are celebrating first diwali together are treated by
the parents from bride and bridegroom sides to lavish presents befitting the
wealth status of the families. The treat would include gold jewellery,
clothes, personal and communal utility items, dry food, and whatever fancies
the giver and sometimes to meet the expectations of the couple.
- During the entire diwali celebrations of 4 days, earthen divaa
(lamps) are lighted every morning and evening at the doors and windows of
each house. The divaa are also arranged in artistic manner. This is
done as a symbol of welcome to all devo and guests to the house just
as a divaa is a must in every puujaa. As this lights up the
entire community, the festival has the name diwali or dipaawali
in which dip means a divaa and awail means a row - a row of
lamps.
- rangoli is made in front of every main door of a house and also in
the yard of house where a small mandir may be located. A new rangoli may
be made in the morning of each of the 4 days of diwali period or only one rangoli
is preserved for the 4 day period. A rangoli is tapestry like
drawing made on a floor using rice-flour and various colours. A rangoli
could display a face of a dev or devi or some scene from puranic
itihaas or have intricate vedic art work of flowers, and nature
or any other notion that conveys festivities, prayers or acknowledgement of
beauty of life itself. rangoli style and colour differs from peoples
to peoples and locales to locales and usually follow age old traditions and
styles of local art.
- Fish is served on the new year day as part of the noon feast as eating
fish is considered to be auspicious.
- Among vedik peoples of bhaarat there is saying that "
thousand year old toddy will be drained on diwali day".
toddy is fermented sap tapped from the top of a coconut tree and has a alcohol
content as it ferments after tapping. On the new year day, toddy is
drunk to the maximum one can drink or till one gets drunk. In current times
toddy is substituted by current alcoholic drinks. Drinking on this day is an
acceptable activity for who ever wishes for all persons except those who are
in brhamacharya-ashram.
- Gambling is another activity which is accepted without its evil
connotations on this day for all persons except those who are in brhamacharya-ashram.
Gambling on this day was blessed by paarvati-devi as a test
indication that if one wins at gambling on the first day of the year then
the person has potential for a very successful
year.
(The above compilation has been made from
gnan-bhakto such as b. a . gupte and s. m. natesha shastri to whom
we are all indebted forever for the knowledge of diwali they left for us
their progeny. This knowledge has been compiled and presented on this web site
of Prajapati Vishva Ashram in the same hope that the knowledge will be preserved
by generations to come.....and with the prayers that the foundation of this
knowledge which is dharma will be the foundations of the lives of all
existing mankind and mankind to exists in future....)
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