Dr K K Aggarwal

Diwali the festival of inner Purnima on outer Amavasya

Diwali is celebrated on the day of Amavasya but the festival is symbolized by inner happiness, lighting or Purnima.

Moon in mythology is symbolized by cool positive thoughts. Normally on the day of Amavasya one encounters negatives thoughts and on the day of Purnima positive thoughts.

Diwali is the only day in a year where one experiences positive thoughts on the day of Amavasya, hence some people believes Diwali symbolizes Diwali with inner Purnima and out Amavasya.

Diwali celebrations also coincide with the terminal phase of Chaturmas, the four months of negative state of mind.

The purification process in Chaturmas starts with 1^st Navratre falling on Amavasya. During these nine days one undergoes mind, body and soul detoxification by not thinking negative, doing positive things and acquiring soul based knowledge.

The mind, body detoxification during Navratre ends with killing of Tamas (Kumbhkaran), Rajas (Meghnath) and ego (Ravan) and of consciousness (Rama) over the evil.

These benefits do not lead to inner Moksha or happiness until 20 days, the day of Diwali. In order to continue getting benefits of Navratre one needs to fast with positive state of mind every fourth day till Diwali.

On Sharad Purnima, the fast involves thinking positive with a cool mind to get health benefits. Four days later, on Karvachauth again, one fasts and worships the Moon with positive thoughts and acquires longevity benefits. Four days later on Ahoi Asthami again, one worships the moon and the stars with positive thoughts and acquires fertility benefits. On the day of Dhanteras one acquires a win over the fear of death (Yama). On this day, the fast involves deeper meditation ( samundra manthan) to get all the benefits of Samadhi.

At the end of the meditation in the state of Samadhi, one gets in touch with the consciousness or the God, the insight gets illuminated and a person experiences bliss, a state of ecstasy of inner happiness and that is what is called experiencing inner Purnima on the day of outer Amavasya and the festival is celebrated as Diwali.

Let us all worship this Diwali as a state of positive mental state. This one month of purification of thoughts helps one in combating the depression phase seen in winter.

Diwali is the only Amavasya where one does not do Shradh pooja.  On Diwali Amavasya (falling in Chaturmas) one is allowed to start any new project. Even deaths on this Amavasya are considered auspicious (unlike on other Amavasya days).

Subhadra in Hindu Mythology

Why Subhadra is worshipped along with Lord Krishna in Jagannath Yatra

In 2011 Jagannath Rath Yatra starts July 2nd and this yatra has a special significance when it comes to the relationship between brother s and sisters.

 The value of relation between brother and sister has been shown in many festivals and rituals in our country.

 Raksha Bandhan and Bhai Dooj are two major festivals devoted to this sacred relationship. In Raksha Bandhan, the brother vows for the safety of his sister and sister prays for the long life of the brother. The Raksha Bandhan rakhi or the red thread ‘moli’ works as a reminder and is removed on the date of Janmashtami falling after Raksha Bandhan. When Bahadur Shah of Gujarat attacked Chittor, Rani Karnavati sent a Rakhi to Emperor Humayun, calling him a brother and requested for his help. Humayun did come to his Rakhi sister’s help.

 In the ritual of Bhai Duj, the sister anoints her brother’s forehead with vermilion and performs aarti. This festival is similar to that of Raksha Bandhan. Only the ritual of tying Rakhi has been replaced with tikka (vermilion spot on forehead).

In terms of symbolism, the brother-sister relationship is depicted in Jagannath Mandir in Puri and is one of the temples in the country where Gods and Goddesses are not worshiped in the form of husband and wife.

The other example is Ganesha and Lakshmi worshipped together as brother and sister. Goddess Lakshmi is symbolic of good fortune and wealth and Lord Ganesh is symbolic of the intelligence required to utilize the wealth that we have.

At the Jagannath temple, Subhadra, the sister, is depicted in the center and Krishna and Balram (Lord Balabhadra) are shown on the left and right side of Subhadra. Here, Krishna is worshipped along with his brother and sister. Subhadra was married to Arjuna and a brave boy Abhimanyu was born to them.

A synonym of Purushottam is Jagannath and his abode. Puri is known as Purushottam Kshetra, which is one of the four most sacred places in India for the Hindus. The famous festival related to the Jagannath temple is the Ratha Yatra, or chariot festival, which occurs yearly in June or July. During this festival, the three deities are taken from the temple and placed in large chariots which are then drawn along Grand Road to the Gundecha temple, a few kilometers away. After they have stayed in that temple for seven days, the deities again ride the chariots back to their home temple. Then three idols are made of margosa (neem) wood.

Brother-sister relationship is always a sacred relationship in Indian law. Marriages or illicit relationship between brothers and sisters are prohibited. Consanguineous marriages are also known to end up with diseases. While in some religions, a marriage of the daughter with maternal uncle is allowed, but in no religion, a marriage between a brother and sister is allowed.  

Devaki and Kansa depict the extreme opposite of brother-sister relationship. Kansa was the maternal uncle of Lord Krishna and brother of Devaki. There was a prediction that the eighth child of Devaki would kill him. When Kansa came to know about that prediction he decided to kill all children born to his sister.

 All three festivals Jagannath Yatra, Raksha Bandhan and Bhai Dooj are observed in the last six months of a year in the period of dakshinayana, which is the period with darker or the negative side of the mind. In Chaturmas the mind is more negative, violent, irritable and with more non fulfillment of desires. All festivals which relates to purity of relationship are thus observed in this period.