Day 3: Lakshmi Puja

Lakshmi Puja

The third day of the festival of Diwali is the most important day of Lakshmi Puja which is entirely devoted to the propitiation of Goddess Lakshmi. This day is also known by the name of Chopada Puja. On this very day sun enters the second course and passes Libra which is represented by the balance or scale. Hence, this design of Libra is believed to have suggested the balancing of account books and their closing. Despite the fact that this day falls on an amavasya day it is regarded as the most auspicious.

The day of Lakshmi Puja falls on the dark night of Amavasya. The strains of joyous sounds of bells and drums float from the temples as man is invoking Goddess Lakshmi in a wondrous holy "pouring-in" of his heart. All of a sudden that impenetrable darkness is pierced by innumerable rays of light for just a moment and the next moment a blaze of light descends down to earth from heaven as golden-footed Deep-Lakshmi alights on earth in all her celestial glory amidst chanting of Vedic hymns. A living luminance of Universal Motherhood envelopes the entire world in that blessed moment of fulfillment of a long-awaited dream of the mortal. A sublime light of knowledge dawns upon humanity and devotion of man finally conquers ignorance. This self enlightenment is expressed through the twinkling lamps that illuminate the palaces of the wealthy as well as the abodes of the poor. It is believed that on this day Lakshmi walks through the green fields and loiters through the bye-lanes and showers her blessings on man for plenty and prosperity. When the sun sets in the evening and ceremonial worship is finished all the homemade sweets are offered to the goddess as naivedya and distributed as prasad (prasadam). Feasts are arranged and gifts are exchanged. On this day gaily dressed men, women and children go to temples and fairs, visit friends and relatives.

One of the most curious customs which characterizes this festival of Diwali is the indulgence of gambling, especially on a large scale in North India. It is believed that goddess Parvati played dice with her husband, Lord Shiv on this day and she decreed that whosoever gambled on Diwali night would prosper throughout the ensuring year. This tradition of playing cards- flush and rummy with stakes on this particular day continues even today.

On this Diwali day, we light lamps to commemorate the sacred memories of those great men who lived to brighten the lives of millions of their fellow beings:

1. Lord Shri Krishna around whom revolved the entire story of our great epic Mahabharat and the philosopher, who preached Karmayog through his Geeta to Arjun on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, discarded his body.

2. Bhagwan, Mahavir, the Jain prophet also attained nirvana on this day.

3. Swami Ramtirth, the beloved "Ram Badshah" of millions of Indians was not only born on this day and took both sanyas and samadhi on this day.

4. Swami Dayanand Saraswati, founder of Arya Samaj in 1875 in Mumbai, with his superb yogic powers freed his soul from his body and mingled with divinity on this auspicious day of Diwali.

Another very interesting story about this Diwali day is from the Kathopanishad. In this story, a small boy called Nichiketa believed that Yam, the god of Death was as black as the dark night of amavasya. But when he met Yam in person he was puzzled seeing Yam's calm countenance and dignified stature. Yam explained to Nichiketa on this Diwali day of amavasya that by only passing through the darkness of death, man sees the light of highest wisdom. It is only then only his soul can escape from the bondage of his mortal frame to mingle with the Supreme Power. It was then that Nichiketa realized the importance of worldly life and significance of death. All of Nichiketa's doubts were set to rest and he whole-heartedly participated in Diwali celebrations.