From darkness to light!

 At times, it is great intellectual excitement trying to understand creatively the texts and the rituals that have been part of one's being, of one's very existence from the very childhood. That process, I think, is the journey from darkness to light, the "tamaso ma jyotir gamay" moment.

As it is, most human lives are spent as described in the Cave Metaphor Plato immortalised. If from shadows, from dim darknesses, one has to travel towards light, one has to understand such subtleties as the "jyotir gamay" feel, I think. 

Let me give a concrete example. Look at the Kartik Purnima. It is also considered the Dev Diwali. It comes  roughly fifteen days after the regular Diwali is celebrated. The faithful believe that on this day, all the gods, especially Lord Shiva, descend down from the Heaven to bathe in the Ganges.

A beautiful "aarti" gets performed on the banks of the Ganges. It is indeed a divine sight as so many videos can prove. May not be on that grand scale,  but the simple process of lighting a diya and offering it with a prayer to the river to let it flow down the stream has an intense lyricism that somehow links it to infinity. The flickering flame of the diya undulating with the gentle waves continues to shine till eyes can follow it downstream, and even thereafter it seems to flow forever.

Suddenly then emerges an epiphanic moment which clarifies the 'forever to eternity' feel, the "amritam gamay" sense. One suddenly seems to realise that life exists forever, one with every aspect of the universe. 

In such silent subtle moments, I suppose, even the most materialistic minds, too, would realise the ordinariness of banal earthly desires, of silly hatreds, of foolish jealousies of somebody who never even was concerned with your cheapness-es. Thus would start the process of traversing towards truths beyond all the lies with which base minds are (ful)filled. 

May be, that is the meaning of the Devdiwali festival? To cleanse the mind of all that is earthly, peurile, petty?  Is not this the real "sat gamay" luminosity which is captured in every intensely lyrical text, be it a poem or a prayer?

Pratima@"To see a World in a Grain of Sand/And a Heaven in a Wild Flower/Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand/And Eternity in an hour" is the real "amritam gamay, sat gamay, jyotir gamay" moment of traversing beyond all darkness-es to luminescence.