Diwali—the Festival of Lights
Deepavali will be celebrated this year on November 6, 1999.
The human being is a composite of man and beast and God, and in the inevitable struggle among the three for ascendance, you must ensure that God wins, suppressing the merely human and the lowly beast. This festival of Deepavali (row of lights) is to express gratitude at the defeat of the naraka tendencies in man, which drag him down from divinity. Naraka is the name for hell, and the asura (demon) whose death at the hands of Krishna is celebrated today is called Narakasura, the personification of all the traits of character that obstruct the upward impulses of man.
He is said to be the son of bhumi (earth) and he is also called bhauma. This is very appropriate, for the earth and all attachments for things earthly lead us down into the regions of pain and grief. Earthly domain, earthly riches are powerless before spiritual domain over the senses, spiritual riches of self-knowledge and self-confidence. Man goes out into space with his rockets and spaceships and sputniks, only to acquire superior striking power over his rivals on earth. Man must know the Universe as basically Brahman and so as fundamentally knowledge and love and peace. He and the universe are one; they are subsumed in the same unique entity.
The cosmic vision can be acquired either by watching the universe or one’s own inner cosmos. Man has only to discover himself. In the citadel of the body, there is the lotus temple of the heart, with subtle akasa within. In it are contained heaven and earth, fire and air, sun and moon, stars and planets—all that is in the visible world and all that sustains it and all into which it submerges. Instead of rotating round the earth in the higher realms of space and planning to land on the moon or Mars, if only man plans and prepares himself to travel into his own inner realm, what sublime joy and peace he can attain. His attainments at present in the vast silence of outer space are all prompted by fear and spread only further fear. Victory won through weapons and guarded by armor is not something to be glad about; it is flimsy and fragile. It is fraught with danger and may topple at the lightest gust. But, victory won through love and sympathy transforms the defeated and makes him a willing collaborator forever. Nara falls into naraka, through over-indulgence in ‘ka’ or intelligence; ‘ka’ generally runs wild and like a raging flood, it spells destruction and grief. ‘Ka’ has to be subdued by humility and devotion, to the source of all intelligence, the Lord.
What is a festive occasion? It is when great men are born or when wicked men end their careers of vice. Deepavali celebrates the death of Narakasura (a demon); and how did he meet his end? He died at the hands of Krishna, with the Lord standing before his fading eyes. That is a consummation to be wished for.
Nivritti [the inward path] confers fearlessness, even while you accept a little of it. It gives strength and courage, for, it is desire that weakens man and makes him cringe before those in authority and with influence. Detachment endows you with self-respect, and the capacity to stand up to slander and calumny. There are some who weep at the slightest sign of defeat or disappointment. This is despicable behavior. Why should you have fear or sorrow, when the Lord installed in the altar of your heart? Do you not know He is there, guarding you and guiding you? He is in all beings, at all times. Endeavor to remember this fact whatever you may be doing, whoever you may be contacting, in whatever manner. You will succeed in this, provided you do not give up the recitation of His name. The home where the name of the Lord is not heard is a cave, and nothing more. As you enter it, as you leave it, while you in it, perfume, illumine it, purify it with the name. Light it as a lamp at dusk. welcome it at dawn, as you welcome the sun. That is the genuine Deepavali, the festival of lamps.
Source: “The Lamp at the Door,” Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 5.
