Diwali
“You know Sitaji was the daughter of Rishis?”
It was the night of Kali Chaudas. This was the time of year that proved the darkest of nights always bring the brightest of beginnings. This day marks a very significant event; yes, it was the day Lord Ram, along with Sitaji and Lakshman, returned to Ayodhya. But that is just the brink of significance. Lord Ram established the Ram Rajya. He reformed the way of life and how societies functioned. The idealistic way of a kingdom came into force. That was truly eventful.
The diyas and lighting fixtures gave India a golden radiance that was truly evidence of the divinity the night held. The festival was not just about the righteous king returning to his kingdom; it was about a son who had gone away on a learning journey, to be with the people, among them. Ramji went as a tender prince and returned as a pukht man. He, along with his shakti, tap, and discipline, was finally the complete man, where shakti meant Sitaji, tap meant Lakshmanji, and discipline meant Hanumanji.
It was quite literally as if the devtas left their temples and pedestals and traveled far and wide in their kingdom to understand their praja.
Ramji had threefold aims behind his avtaar: one, to clean out the evil from its roots; two, to bring about a revolution and reform in society’s functioning; and three, to show us the ideal ways or roles we have as human beings.
“Both Valmiki Ramayan and Tulsidasji’s Ram Charit Manas are beautiful works, relevant to the yug they were created in. Still, they come from a single person’s lens, which means they aren’t perfect,” Jaanbai continued.
“Sitaji’s character is depicted as that of a warrior in the Ramayan, while she is portrayed as more of a secondary character—tender and tame, yet of the highest grace—in the Ram Charit Manas. Similarly, King Dashrath is said to have three hundred and fifty wives in the Ramayan,
but in the Ram Charit Manas, he is described as having three wives: Kaushalya, Kaikeyi, and Sumitra. In Hanumanji’s case, Valmiki mentions that Hanumanji was a human from the Vanar tribe, while Tulsidasji describes him as very much a vanar, or monkey god. Now we get to my favorite part of our meeting,” Jaanbai said to her audience.
People were all amped up this time of year—new clothes, new lights, new decorative items, and a new zest for life. When a tradition is as ingrained as Diwali is in our minds, we can’t help but feel that it is indeed a new beginning in our lifetimes. Today, in the spirit of the festival, no bidi movement had taken force among the elder men. It was a different time for real!
“We now look at these events through our unique lens.”
“You know what I think?” Nandini seemed to take the cue and began thinking out loud.
“It’s like this is a very simple yet effective strategy to hold the magic of Diwali. The blessings of health and prosperity are delivered, and we have worked for them! The storyline says that people cleaned their homes—as if their homes were part of a whole temple for their Devi and Dev—lit diyas, and were excited to have their king and queen return home. They cooked fresh foods with the nicest ingredients and were elated beyond measure. We mimic that! And thus, thanks to clean, germ-free homes, eating good foods, and exercising a positive mindset, we truly manifest good health and wealth. We buy gold, new clothes; it’s as if the purging concept has been practiced by us long before the West!”
“Yeah, exactly, Nandini. I was wondering along the same tangent!” Jaanbai took the conversational lead.
“Be it Samudramanthan, the vanishing of evil forces in each yug, or Ramji’s return marking the start of Ram Rajya, or even the beginning of the agricultural cycle, this timeframe has somehow been monumental since its inception. The earth even positions itself in a very unique and unusually aligned way!
This is a much bigger and deeper topic to handle right now. Let’s focus on Ramji for now, yeah?”
“Ramji behaved and grew like a normal human being and didn’t attain enlightenment until the age of 14. Why?” asked Krishna.
Her excitement matched that of the others, creating an amazing aura around them. The kids were happy, enjoying a variety of delicious foods and sweets, and now playing around the paadar with their firecrackers.
“Thanks to Raavan!” said Jaanbai with a smile. She looked at Akshat, Mukhimaa’s grandson. He and Jaanbai shared the same question, having surfed the internet for answers. Jaanbai signaled him to speak.
“Raavan asked for a boon of immortality from Brahmaji, who refused his request. Thus, Raavan asked that he could not be killed by any celestial being or any creature created by Brahmaji. Therefore, Lord Vishnu, among the handful of other gods who qualified under this criteria, decided to take the avtaar, as it was part of a much larger play involving Lord Vishnu and his Dwarpals. Ramji’s avtaar was meant to fulfill these conditions and wipe out evil at its roots.
Sitaji was the real silent hero and the catalyst for making that happen,” Akshat concluded his monologue.
Dadibaa picked up instantly.
“When the atrocities of Raavan peaked, the distressed Rushi munis all thought of one last resort. They collected their blood in an earthen pot and decided to hide it in a place no one would ever look, allowing it to manifest into a force so strong that it would lead to Raavan’s end and the end of his atrocities. This pot transformed into the beautiful, lotus-like Sitaji, a manifestation of Lakshmiji. The abandoned, dried-up field was where Janak Raja ploughed to manifest khushali in his kingdom. And how! He had Lakshmiji as his daughter, and thus wealth, prosperity, and happiness unfurled in his kingdom!”
Everyone had gotten chills by now.
“She was like the antidote to everything Raavan represents. She was the penicillin that removes the virus called Raavan. It’s amazing to think that while Raavan and his empire were the ailment, Sitaji was the medicine that triggers the release of the army of everything good. We all know that the belly button and stomach are headquarters for addressing any illness.
I feel that Sitaji was the more powerful of the two. Once you look closely at her attributes, you learn about her and Ramji in their tatva forms. It seems as if this was a planned strategy of Maa Lakshmi and Lord Ram. She finishes Raavan from the inside; with her resilience and indifference toward him, she breaks Raavan’s arrogance, ego, and resilience, while Lord Ram works toward external destruction.
I also considered another angle: perhaps Ramji, in his role as king, had to learn about networking, army strategy, and leadership skills, while Sitaji, the future queen of the entire Bharat Khand, was to learn the functioning of the greatest kingdom there was, as she would act as the CEO of her realm. Ramji could also be aware of the entirety of his kingdom and how to leverage each region to his strength. It was as if this was all a plan to prepare a king and queen for their roles.
Anyway, they both teach us how to maintain gruhastashram perfectly while upholding all sorts of maryada. The importance of keeping good people close and practicing fairness and kindness is illustrated beautifully. Ramji made a quid pro quo with Sugriv and managed to get Angad on his side. That requires great communication skills. He chose the perfect person for specific tasks; for example, when searching for Sitaji, he chose Sugriv to search far and wide, as he was knowledgeable about the geography of the land.
He selected Angad to communicate with Raavan because he was a master communicator and strategic by nature. For advice, he listened to Jambavant, and for tasks that required pure devotion and no second thoughts, he trusted Hanumanji. And so on and so forth.
“But why was he to arrive only on the new moon day, didi?” asked Reva.
“We consider the waxing moon days as auspicious and good, especially when you want to do something new or work towards achieving fruitful results. These days are favorable. The waning moon days, on the other hand, are said to be for reflection, allowing us to contemplate the previous fifteen days. The new moon day signifies the end of a cycle and, consequently, the beginning of a new cycle. Thus, this historically defining event had to coincide with this day!”
Krishna and her jethani came in with trays of warm milk for everyone.
The milk had hints of saffron and elaichi and tasted divine.
Everyone did Ram Nam Sangkirtan and parted for their homes.
—
The heaviest and darkest nights of all were now over. The sun shone on the last day of the Hindu year. It was Diwali! The kids were brimming with energy as they woke everyone up at 4:30 in the morning, blasting off their entire stock of firecrackers. Their innocent laughter and the sparkles in their eyes made it all worthwhile. Everyone gathered at the temple by 7 in the morning. Nandini and Reva were preparing to leave for their next journey;
they had been with them for the last four months and were now headed to Varanasi. For their departure in the afternoon, Mukhibapa had decided to organize a feast, funding a full meal plan for the entire village. The caterers were busy at work near the paadar bus stand.
Everyone attended the aarti together and even managed to wash the temple by 6 in the morning! The kids cleaned up their firecracker mess too. Now they were all at the otlo, sipping on their coldrinks.
They had decided to continue their story session right then, as they had nothing better to do than discuss Ramji and Sitaji. Plus, with Nandini and Reva leaving, it made sense to conclude the story together. So they all gathered around Jaanbai, and she started her vaktavya.
“You know, I had this theory that Ramji waited for Navratri to duel with Raavan. He first cleared out the web of Raavan’s atrocities as in, the asurs and the rakshas army—and the spread of his evil forces. Then he gained Maa Bhavani’s ferociousness and her blessings to defeat Raavan during Navratri, ultimately killing him on the same day that Maa Durga killed Mahishasur. I also found that Raavan had a boon from Maa Bhavani that no one could defeat or kill him without her permission.
Thus, leading up to Navratri, Ramji lessened the burden on Prithvi by weeding out the asurs and rakshas, then attacked the root of all these evils—Raavan—by delivering the final blow to his belly button.”
“Why was that the root, didi?” Akshat asked.
“According to my theory, our belly buttons are magical and serve as the roots of our existence as humans.
“From our mother’s womb, that part communicates with our mothers through the umbilical cord. It is said that the umbilical cord has great powers to cure almost every disease—it’s like a custom-made medicine for us. Both the baby and the mother heal and provide for each other when one is sick. So, imagine the power of that point. Our belly buttons still hold the power for our entire body.
Remember the time Dadibaa applied castor oil when you had stomach problems? It’s scientifically proven that the belly button can help heal any part of our body, as if it is the root of a plant. I think that’s why this metaphor was chosen.
I also feel that if we put things into objective forms, Sitaji represents the metaphorical ark of God, Ramji embodies resourceful parishram—where skill meets humility—and Lakshmanji symbolizes faith, discipline, and that element of fierceness. When we weave them into a storyline, we get the pathway to sadhna, to attain the ultimate levels of divine consciousness. And of course, that journey wouldn’t be complete without the focused devotion of Hanumanji.
Now here’s the catch: if you try shortcuts to attain that divine element, you won’t be ready to digest it, which will cause havoc in your surroundings, ultimately leading to your downfall—just like Raavan. It somehow applies to Ramji too! Despite my theories, I know this much: Sitaji was never a damsel in distress who would sit wallowing and waiting for Ram.
“So would that mean that the image of Sitaji we think of or are shown is false? As in, is it nothing but a flawed interpretation?” asked Nandini.
“I believe so. That is the beauty of our scriptures—they are always understandable, but decoding them or reaching their core message may require much greater intellect and blessings from the gods above.
Morari Baapu presented this idea beautifully. He interpreted the death of Indrajeet in this way: Meghnaad was wreaking havoc and had managed to injure Lakshmanji. Morari Baapu points out that Meghnaad symbolizes Kaam; he was extremely attractive. To counteract the effects of Kaam, specifically the poison of his arrow on Lakshmanji, only one person could do it: the one who embodies brahmacharya—Hanumanji. To defeat Meghnaad, Lakshmanji, who represents tap—having not slept for 14 years nor looked at any female and teamed up with Hanumanji,
whose pure devotion and brahmacharya were all that was needed to kill Meghnaad. I hope I’m explaining this right,” Jaanbai paused.
“My opinion is that Sitaji was much stronger, more solid, and more powerful than Ramji himself. What do you think about this, Dikra?” asked Dadibaa.
“Could be. She gave the great learned Raavan a really hard time by breaking his spirit. She intimidated him. She was also the one who was ready to defend her honor—first by giving the agni pariksha to show the power of her purity, and second by leaving Ramji while pregnant when questions were raised about her character. In my honest opinion, she was more pujya and not at all bichari. Morari Baapu even offered another angle on Sitaji’s departure: because she was the daughter of Rushi munis, it was customary for a pregnant woman to return to her parents’ home. So, her leaving to defend her honor was all a facade.
For me, the bottom line throughout all these stories is that all the purush can do is Purusharth. It is the Shakti that ensures victory.”
As the sabha dispersed, everyone felt transported to ancient times, and the impact of Jaanbai’s speech seemed particularly intense. After lunch, Nandini and Reva received heartfelt goodbyes, and Diwali was welcomed with more divinity than ever.
Fin.