Posted on: 25 Oct 2003
Leave Blind Practices: Today is the festival of Lord Krishna. Deepavali means a series of lights. Krishna Himself told in the Gita “Jnana deepena” i.e., light means knowledge. In other verses also, Swami (Lord) told the same “Satvat sanjayate” “Prakasa upa” i.e., Satvam (good quality) is light. Satvam means knowledge. So light is knowledge. The Gita also says “Na pavakah” i.e., the sun, moon, and fire cannot shine before Lord. The Veda also says the same “Kuto’yam agnih”. This clearly discourages taking this light in the sense of physical light. The Veda and the Gita are the authorities. Other Sanskrit verses written by blind scholars are not authorities. Anybody who has learnt Sanskrit can write a verse. Even Charvaka, the atheist, wrote Sanskrit verses.
So, why are you burning lights and firecrackers, which cause pollution of the environment leading to the green house effect? It is even affecting rainfall patterns. By burning these lamps, the darkness of ignorance is increasing. Life is the light and hunger is the fire as said in the Gita “Aham vaishvanaro”. Give food to the beggars who are unable to do work and let their life-lamps glow. You are burning these lights for so many generations. Did the Lord appear or appreciate you at any time directly? Lakshmi (money) comes to you by your sacrifice and not by these lights. These lights benefit merchants alone. Adi Shankara did this real Deepavali. He enlightened the ignorant people by wandering throughout India. The Lord was pleased by His propagation of knowledge and appeared before Him in the cave in the Himalayas. Shankara dissolved in the Lord along with His body. Today, you must remember those real divine lights who propagated knowledge and devotion. Such divine eternal lights are Shankara, Ramanuja, Madhva, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Vivekananda, Ramana Maharshi, Meera, Tyagaraja etc. Inspired by those lights, you should also become a light by participating in the divine propagation of knowledge and devotion. You are burning a lot of oil and ghee today through these lights. Oil and ghee are food. The Veda says “Annam na parichaksheeta” i.e.; food should not be wasted. Food is also a form of Lakshmi (Dhanya Lakshmi). You are burning Lakshmi (Goddess of wealth). How can you get Lakshmi (wealth) by doing this act?
Today is the day of the victory of Satyabhama. Satyabhama was the incarnation of Goddess Earth. Naraka was her son. For the sake of the Lord, she fought with her son and participated in the festival with joy, on this day when the Lord killed her son. She crossed the bond of children due to her greater love for God. Satyabhama means real light. Rukmini is another light because she ran away with the Lord, opposing her parents and brothers. The Gopikas are the divine lights. They crossed all the bonds for the sake of the Lord. Radha became mad for the Lord. She is the topmost light as the queen of the fifteenth uppermost world called Goloka.
There are six bonds represented by the six whirlpools (chakras). They are the bonds with
Out of these six bonds the central two bonds are very strong. If these two are crossed, one can cross all the chakras. In Vrindavanam, the Gopikas danced with Lord Krishna (Raasakeli) leaving their husbands. They gave butter (their stored money) to Krishna without giving it even to their children. Hence only Goloka, in which the Gopikas are living, is bright with the real lights called as the Gopikas. Radha is the headlight. Hanuman is also equal to Radha. He never did any work for himself. He participated in the work of Lord alone throughout his life. Such sacrifice comes only due to the madness [mad love] for the Lord. Radha exposed her madness. Hanuman controlled the same madness because he had to do service for the Lord. Radha exposed whatever madness was hidden in the heart of Hanuman for the sake of the public to understand. If Hanuman had exhibited that madness, the work of the Lord would have been affected. Hanuman and Radha are the two eyes of the Lord, and are the lights of all the lights because any light can be seen only with the eye. Hanuman was a devotee of Rama, who was born in the dynasty of the Sun-god. Radha was a devotee of Krishna, who was born in the dynasty of the Moon-god. It is said that the sun and moon are the two eyes of the Lord i.e., Hanuman and Radha are the two eyes of the Lord. Krishna becomes happy with such real lights.
Spread Real Light
Worship the Sadguru, who is the Incarnation of God in human form. He comes down to enlighten the ignorant people in this world. Participate in His program of propagation of the light of knowledge. Become His servants and spread His divine knowledge. Then each human being becomes a light of knowledge. All the darkness of ignorance will vanish. This is the real Deepavali by which the Lord becomes immensely pleased with you.
Christians are also burning candles on Christmas day in the same manner. But what did Lord Jesus tell them? He told them “I am the light” i.e., God is Light. Before that light, no other light can shine, because the Light of all these lights is God. The Veda says the same thing “Tasya bhasa”. He also said “I am the path”. The light means knowledge as per the Gita and the Veda. Therefore, this means that the knowledge of Lord Jesus is the path. The preaching of Lord Jesus i.e., the Holy Bible is the path. The preachings of all the Human Incarnations of God, like the Gita, the Bible, and the Quran are the different lights and are one and the same i.e., the Light alone. So, all the holy books of all religions, are the lights and paths. Since God is knowledge and God is truth, knowledge is truth. The Veda says the same “Satyam jnanam”. Therefore, your participation in His divine program of propagating the Holy Bible is the real participation in the festival of candles. God came down in human form as Jesus for this purpose. Only then did you come to know the truth. This is the meaning of Jesus saying “I am the Truth”. This means that Jesus, who is God in human form, is the real form of God.
The Lord comes down in human form in every human generation. He preaches the same knowledge that was preached by the past Human Incarnations. Every human generation should participate in the program of the human form of God of that generation. Everybody should participate in the propagation every day and so every day is ‘Deepavali’. Every Human Incarnation is Lord Krishna. Every ignorant person getting rid of the darkness of ignorance by the divine knowledge propagated by you, is a real light of Deepavali.