Diyas are lamps produced from clay burnt red, with wicks soaked in ghee. The lighting of diyas form a part of the celebrations and rituals of the festival of Diwali, where after being lit, they are placed around homes and temples and their surrounding areas.
On the night of Diwali, people around the world light millions of diyas. In fact, the name ‘Diwali’ is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Deepavali’, which means rows of diyas/ lights (“deep” means Diya and “avali” means row).
These beautiful diyas hold a deep significance and are symbolic of our journey to enlightenment. The oil in the diya symbolizes negativities in the human mind—such as greed, jealousy, hatred, lust, etc.—which human beings tend to nurture. The wick is symbolic of the atma, the eternal spiritual spark of life within the body and the diya essentially signifies purity, goodness, good luck and power. The lighting of diyas then signifies getting rid of selfish thoughts which are harbored in the mind. The presence of light means the non-existence of darkness and evil forces. Hence, lighting of the diyas serves to free us from all forms of sadness, guiding us to the path to enlightenment and connecting us with the Supreme Being.
Diya (light) also signifies coming to the mode of goodness through spiritual knowledge. Where there is light, there cannot be darkness of ignorance. Darkness makes us tentative, insecure, even paralytic. No wonder we constantly strive to keep our outer world well lit. Yet, we rarely strive to keep our inner world similarly lit. Therefore, it is the duty of every human being to study the Vedic scriptures and become enlightened into the spiritual path and thus get out of the darkness of samsara, the cycle of repeated birth and death.
The diya is very significant in giving us this reminder to make more efforts towards spiritual practices. Just as the setting of the sun takes away a person’s life daily and brings him closer to death, so the lighted diya should remind a human being of his on-going journey of spiritual salvation.
On Diwali night when we light our diyas, let us invoke the light of unconditional love in our hearts and drive out all materialistic thoughts from our lives. While cleaning our homes, as we throw unwanted things outside and unclutter our living space, let’s also purify our hearts and souls. Let us throw our ego, jealousy, anger and all the lower energies out of our life as well.
Only when our inner world is made bright and right can we make the best choices in our outer world, for gaining worthwhile achievement materially and eternal fulfillment spiritually.
So, as we light our diyas this Diwali, let us not be content only with the burning light to brighten the external surroundings; let us also burn, with the purifying fire of the holy names of Lord Ram and Lord Krishna, the living unwanted bad qualities in our own hearts. The Vedic scripture announces: “Godhead is light, nescience is darkness, where there is light, there is no question of darkness”.
By Paramatma Das—ISKCON Guyana
