The Many Layers of Diwali

This year, Diwali is on October 20. On Amavasya in the Kartika month when the sun, moon and the earth are in perfect alignment and darkness has descended on earth, the new moon makes Hindu calendar’s most festive reappearance. Diwali is short for Deepawali, or garland of lights.

On Diwali night, hundreds of millions of homes in India and all over the world light lamps and pray in celebration and joy. Nature conspires in tandem: in India, the air is clear and crisp, the monsoon has yielded its bounty, and year’s largest harvest is ready to reap. It’s just that time of the year when everyone finds joy in togetherness. 

Hindus all over the world associate Diwali with the celebration first held in ancient times in Ayodhya, the fabled capital of Kosala, whose prince Rama was banished into exile during which he defeated the demon king Ravana. Ramayana, the story of Rama, is revered and recited by hundreds of millions of Indians. In it, Valmiki, a bandit turned ascetic, asks Narada, the sage who could travel in all the three worlds, human, hell and heaven: “Is there a man in the world today who is truly virtuous? Who is mighty and yet knows what is right and how to act upon it? Who always speaks the truth and holds firmly to his vows? Who exemplifies proper conduct and is benevolent to all? Who is learned, capable and a pleasure to behold? Who is self-controlled, having subdued his anger? Who is both judicious and free from envy? Who, when his fury is aroused in battle, is feared even by the gods? That’s what I want to hear, for my desire to know is very strong. Great seer, surely you must know such a man.”

Ramayana is the story of Rama that Narada then tells Valmiki. 

Rama is purushottam, the finest human, and his reign is reverentially called Ram Rajya in which the weakest of the weak is protected and cared for. “While Rama ruled the kingdom, no widows mourned, nor was there any fear of snakes or threat of disease. The world was free from thieves and misfortune afflicted no one. The elders never had to perform funerary rites for their children. Everyone was content, everyone was devoted to righteousness.” Ramayana, Yuddhakanda, Sarga 116, 84-90, (The Complete English Translation of The Ramayana of Valmiki, Ed. Robert Goldman and Sally Goldman, Princeton University Press, pp 726-27). Such is the India Mahatma Gandhi dreamed of. 

Rama’s return to Ayodhya after victory over Ravana is widely celebrated as Diwali by Hindus. It is also celebrated by Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs for different reasons. But the story of Rama and his victory over Ravana reverberates most. Indeed, when I was growing up in Lucknow, India, many Muslims joined in the celebrations. The sentiment was best captured by the learned poet Iqbal (1877-1937):

“Hai Ram ke wajud pe Hindostan ko naaz, ahl-e-nazr samajhte hain us ko imam-e-hind.”

India prides at the personality of Rama. The discerning consider him the country’s foremost leader. 

Some strident Hindus today, however, are eager to remind Muslims that Muslims were Hindus before conversion into Islam and must therefore “fall in line” with Hindu sentiments. They might do well to know that Valmiki Ramayana does not mention Diwali and Amavasya is generally not an auspicious day in Hinduism.

On the day of his return, the regent of Kosala and Rama’s younger brother Bharata gives the following instructions for the welcome of Rama: “Let pious men worship all the divinities and the shrines of the city with fragrant garlands and musical instruments. And let the king’s wives and the ministers, the soldiers, the army troops and their womenfolk go out to see Rama’s face, which is like the hare-marked moon” (Id., p 721). There is no reference in the Ramayana to alighting of lamps in celebration of Lord Rama’s return to his kingdom. 

Also read: Why Permitting ‘Green’ Diwali Crackers in Delhi Defies Logic – and Science

Instead, Deepawali might owe its origin to the Jains, the ancient religion that celebrates attainment of moksa (liberation) as the ultimate human achievement. On the dark night of Kartika in 527 BC, Vardhaman Mahavira, the warrior prince, attained moksa. On that night, says Kalpasutra, a canonical text, nine Mallaki kings and nine Licchavi kings from Kashi and Kosala, respectively, instituted the spiritual practice of Deepawali and said: “As the omniscient light is not amidst us, we shall light lamps made of material objects [to keep alive his message]” (Kalpa Sutra, I, p 128).

Jains also celebrate the attainment that night of kevalgyan (omniscience) by Mahavira’s chief disciple Indubhuti Gautama. Legend has it that Gautama was very attached to Mahavira. Just before moksa, Mahavira sent Gautama to another village to teach a Brahmin, knowing that Gautama would not be able to bear the sight of his departure. Indeed, Gautama was inconsolable. But that’s when Gautama realized that unlike Mahavira, he was given to attachment. At the instant of that realisation, Gautama attained omniscience. Just as one lamp kindles another, Mahavira’s liberation kindled Gautama’s omniscience.

Such strident Hindus might also do well to know that until about sixth century, Jainism and Buddhism were India’s dominant religions. Diwali then might be evidence of the influence of those religions, chiefly Jainism. 

Regardless, like the Hindus, all associate Diwali with the victory of good over evil. Good as in love and peace born of illumination. Triumph as in changing evil into good, darkness into light. The Brhadaranyako Upanisad chant echoes the yearning: “asato ma sad gamaya, tama so ma jyotir gamaya, mrtyo ma amrtytam gamaya.” From the unreal, lead me to real. From darkness, lead me to light. From death, lead me to immortality. 

Jaipat Singh is a lawyer in New York City. 

This article was originally published at 1:30 pm on October 19 and republished at 9:55 am on October 20, 2020.

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