Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji on lighting Kartīka Masa Lamps – November 26, 2023 – SGS DYC Center, New Jersey, USA
Jaya Guru Datta
Lighting Kārtīka Māsa lamps is important. Always be safe and place a glass enclosure around the lamp. Indians tend to be reckless and it can lead to grave disasters. That is why I asked the team here to set up electric lamps.
In places like Kasi, we can light as many lamps as we wish in the outdoors. But at home, we should be very careful. Lighting a lamp gives great merit. It improves our health. Lighting a lamp during Kārtīka Māsa grants good health, improves lifespan, grants Vaikuntha. It even bestows wealth. When we light a lamp, its light i.e the Vishnu and Shiva of the lamp, is good for us.
Nowadays a one-lakh wick set up is available. It is said the benefit of lighting such a lamp will be with us for 7 births. Lighting lamp during Kārtīka Māsa brings blessings of ancestors as well. It grants fame and health. This is also called Dīpotsavam (Festival of Lamps) in various regions.
From the spiritual point of view, there are 4 parts to a lamp – the cotton wick, the oil, the flame and the fourth is the lamp base. The fire is Atman, Jeeva. It is our Prana that we inhale and exhale. That cotton wick is our nervous system. The lamp base is our body and the oil is our sādhana. So, from the spiritual perspective too, lighting a lamp has a great significance.
There are different traditions of worship. In Kavalāchāra, they follow a Tantrik method. There is no idol or form, the light (Jyoti) receives all the worship. This is a kind of sādhana. With Pranayama, they meditate on the God within. That means, the body is the lamp base, the nerves keep lighting up as the sādhana keeps getting expended and finally merges in the light. Just as we merge with the light, after this body drops. That light is God.
We will all merge with the light one day. The body will drop. The body did not come from there (afterlife), it came from here (mortal world). Therefore, the body will fall here and all the parts will get dissolved here. What comes with us is our sādhana alone. That merit alone comes with us into the light. That is why lighting a lamp is very important in worship. It is like we are placing our body at the altar, the moment we light the lamp.
Even the electric lamp represents Jeeva. It is Jyoti too. Wherever we see light, it is Jyoti – the Sun, the Moon, the stars etc., are all Jyoti. Where there is light, there is God. God is present in the night too. He shines in the dark as well as in light. How is He shining in the dark? When you go out in the dark, you can see up to three feet without any light. You can see enough to take a step. Where is that light coming from? Your eyes. Your eyes are your batteries. That means, light is everywhere, in every part of the body. Our speech, sight, etc., all have energy. Light is energy. That energy is also called vibration. That vibration is everywhere.
When I speak, you can understand me if you concentrate even if I don’t use a mic. Sound is everywhere. In music too, the sound waves touch our Nādis and vibrate them. Every nādi in the body has a frequency. All of them respond to sound/music. Music/sound has as much importance as Deepa/light. We heard Bhajana vibrations, Gita vibrations. These vibrations, including the vibrations of good words, fill the Earth.
Light removes darkness. Light is God. God removes darkness and gives Jnana. What does He do thereafter? He merges us into Him. That is enough. We shouldn’t wish for Chandra loka and moksha (salvation) and such. If you ask for Moksha (salvation), you are saying you are different from God. Just pray to God to help you merge with Him.
In Kārtīka Māsa, the 300 crore rivers in Deva Loka take the form of a woman and enter the rivers on Earth. The full moon day is even more important. Wherever there is pure water on Earth, the Devatas will be there. They are even in the artificial water bodies like the swimming pools and so on.
The Devatas present everywhere will bless us if we light the lamp. You must light the lamp without causing danger to anyone. It’s not needed to place so many lamps. Two lamps are enough. Place them in a way that it doesn’t cause danger to you, or the house, or anyone else.
If you want to light many lamps, do it outside while looking at the sky. You are all here because of your great punya (good merit). You being here since morning tells me you are very strong and stubborn devotees. Swamiji blesses that your desires be fulfilled.