dharma of
divaali
New year's day in the vikram calendar
created by vikramaa-ditya raajaa
is also a day in history of creation on which shree
raam, the seventh avataar of
vishnu-dev, was coroneted as
the king of ayodhyaa after shree
raam returned to ayodhyaa after completing his
14 year exiled imposed by his co-mother kaikayi-raani,
the third wife of his father dashrath-raajaa.
The supreme karma of shree
raam's 14-year exile in forest was his prayers to
durgaa-maataa
for nine days of war with king raavan of
lankaa to get back his wife sitaa-devi
whom
raavan had abducted while shree raam was spending his last year of
the 14 years of exile.
The primary purpose of the seventh avataar of vishnu-dev
as shree raam was to relive the entire universe from the
terror reign of king raavan. raavan managed to
conquer and rule over the entire universe because of the boons of
powers he had from his tapasya (bhakti (devotion)
and penance) to brahmaa-dev
and shiv-dev. These powers
were used for adharmik karma
of injuring all creations and hence brahmaa-dev
requested vishnu-dev to eliminate raavan
which was done as vishnu-dev's 7th avataar.
durgaa-maataa is a functional
svaruup of mahaa-maayaa
or bhuneshvari-maataa, the
first manifestation of our creator bhrmah's vibhuti (powers). Information
about durgaa-maataa has been in various prayers and
is in the write-up
about navaraatri posted on this web site. durgaa-maataa provides
eternal and continual su-rakshaa (protection
against adharma) to all creations. su-rakshaa is
the protection by a dev or devi provided as sevaa to
a creation for the creation to be protected and thus empowered to do its
dedicated function as nimitt of brhmah, our creator.
This day is the first day of the calendar started by vikramaa-ditya
raajaa (king) 2059 years ago. vikram raajaa
was a emperor of Ujjayanii in bhaarat
(India). He was the son of mahendra-ditya
raajaa and his wife
saumya-darshanaa raani (queen). vikram
raajaa was an upholder of dharma and there are
many well known life anecdotes about his dharmik acts
among all vedik peoples. The 25 stories of
vikram and vetaal (ghost) are very famous and
popular among vedik peoples. The compilation of these 25
stories is known as vetaal- panch-vimashti
and are part of the compilation called som-dev's
kathaa-shrit-saagar. Each of these stories ends with a
question which confounds the most learned including vikramaa-ditya.
But the answer to the question is hidden in the story itself. These
stories blend magic, fantasy and imagination with realism. These
stories were originally written in sanskrit and have
been translated in every language of bhaarat (India) and
English.
vikramaa-ditya was an avtaar
(incarnation) of a dev (god) called maalyavaan
who was a paarshad (an
attendant and companion) of shiv-dev.
shiv-dev had asked maalyavaan to take
birth as the son of mahendra-ditya raajaa to
carry out this mission on earth: "You should exterminate all adharmik
peoples and reinstate vedik vidhio (rituals and
ceremonies). These adharmik peoples who are yaKSsha
(devo (gods) with adharmik tendencies), raaKSHas (devo
with adharmik tendencies), pichaas (ghosts) will be
under your control. You will be an emperor there with divine
powers." This mission was required at the request of all devo
(gods) to shiv-dev as at that time dharma
was being destroyed by asuraa (gods with adharmik
tendencies who normally reside in paatal) who had taken birth on earth
which is beyond the limits of paataal, the domain
reserved for asuraao. devo's request to shiv-dev
was thus: "bhagvaan, all the asuraao
exterminated by yourself and mahaa-vishnu
are born on the earth as adharmik peoples. They commit great paap
(sins) such as killing the braahmano (vedik
peoples learned in ved),
obstructing yagna (vedik
ceremonies with offerings to devo) and carry away women
from aashram (hermitages) of rushio and
munio (sages). The performance of yagna with mantra
(aphorisms which empowers divine powers) and the offerings in the yagna
is the "food" which sustains devo. As these asuraao
are obstructing the performance of yagna, devo are
not getting their "food" and are thus becoming weak and
unable to perfrom their functions in this universe of creation,
sustenance and cyclic dissolution of all creations for rebirth.
Therefore a being mighty and powerful to destroy all these asuraao
should incarnate on earth."
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