Ghar Lakshmi

Year after year, the auspicious and most celebrated occasion of Divali comes and goes. The masses, irrespective of religious preference, accept the universal message of “good over evil, light over darkness”. This is the popular message that passes from speakers to listeners, spiritual leaders to devotees and amongst non-Hindus. Is this the sole message of Divali? Why should deyas, fireworks and clean homes be definitive of this festival? The commercialization of any commodity demands simplification and “catch phrases” to sell to the public. Divali is not to be commercialized like other festivals whose core has been removed from that spiritual element and sold as gift giving and charity. This aspect allows for wider consumption but it does not do justice to the spirituality, values and fundamental principles the festival should be aligned with. In a changing society of shifting values and moral disintegration, what should be spread to the masses is that of Ghar Lakshmi – the importance of the Goddess in the home – the biological mother.

Any society that disfavours, ignores or absolves the importance of its women is doomed to failure and destruction. The woman in every home and country is the upholder of values, religious principles and that indestructible binding force that holds the family together. Divali and the message of Divali align the woman and embrace her position as one of the eight forms of Lakshmi Maa – Ghar Lakshmi. Sanatan Dharma is the only way of life that preaches and places utmost importance on Devi Maa and the female form. “Pratham Guru Maata, Satyam Maata” – Our first Guru is the Mother; if our biological mother is no more, then truth is mother.

Mother gives birth, God gives life. Our mother is that sole carrier of the future generations; while we develop in her womb, after birth and for as long as she is around, she nurtures us, cares for us and guides us to make the right decisions. A mother will never turn her back on her child. No sane mother will allow her child to fall or falter. As children, she bathes us, clothes us and puts us to play; we dirty ourselves, but she doesn’t get angry; out of unconditional love, she takes us up, bathes us and clothes us once again. Any man that has achieved success has only done so with the blessings and guidance of his mother. This is the true message of Divali: our mother as the most important of the forms of Lakshmi Maa.