Dhanteras: The festival of Prosperity and Joy
By: Lalit Garg
Dhanteras is the festival of Prosperity, Happiness and Joy that can boost economic growth. Literal meaning of Dhanteras is qualitative correction of the economy. On this day, lamps of hope are decorated in homes and in markets currency is exchanged.
It is believed that things purchased on this day increase manifold. It has been told in the scriptures that by taking some measures on this day, the wealth of the grain is filled eternally in the house and the grace of Mother Lakshmi remains forever.
According to the Indian system, all the worship is coordinated behaviour of these three forms i.e. physical, spiritual and semi-spiritual. According to religious beliefs, in this festival Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped physically in the form of gold, silver, coins etc., and spiritually by accepting the relationship with the Divine Lakshmi.
A highly auspicious and significant Hindu festival, Dhanteras is celebrated on the 13th lunar day of Krishna Paksha in Ashwin, one of the months of the Hindu calendar. This year it falls on Tuesday, 29th October. The name ‘Dhanteras,’ is known to be a combination of two Sanskrit words, meaning ‘Dhan,’ or wealth, and ‘Teras,’ emphasizing the 13th day.
People on this festive day indulge in the age-old ritual of buying gold and silver ornaments, vehicles, and utensils to welcome prosperity in life with their full belief and faith. It is particularly a sacred day for seeking the blessings of Goddess Lakshmi, believed to be the goddess of wealth, and Lord Ganesha, the god of knowledge.
In Hindu mythology, Dhanteras is marked as the day on which Goddess Lakshmi emerged from the ocean during the oceanic churning of the Kshira Sagar, popularly known as ‘Samundra Manthan.’ It was also on this day that the god of medicine, Lord Dhanvantari, emerged with the ‘Amrit’, known for its eternal purity, divinity, and immortality. And so, on Dhanteras, material wealth, health, and well-being are brought into the home, making it an immensely important day in Hindu culture. Dhanteras has great historical, mythological, and cultural importance.
The decoration of houses with flowers, diyas, rangoli patterns etc. is done to reveal the beauty of Lakshmi’s spiritual form. The worship of Goddess Lakshmi i.e. abode of wealth and happiness and prosperity is done in this festival in the above three ways. When we meditate on wealth, we thank the universal soul for its abundance. We also pray for more so that we can become more prosperous.
This prosperity is not only of gold and silver but also of knowledge, joy, confidence, peace and love. Gold silver is only an external symbol. Wealth is within us. There is a lot of love, peace and joy within. What more do you want than this? Knowledge is real wealth. Your character, your peace and self-confidence are your real wealth. When you move forward in union with God, there is no more wealth than this. This royal idea comes only when you are united with God and his infinity. When the wave remembers that it is associated with the sea and is part of the ocean, it gives immense power.
Dharma (Righteouness), Artha(Prosperity),Kama(Pleasure) and Moksha( liberation) have been the objectives of life in Indian culture. There have always been efforts to achieve them.
Along with them religion has also been given equal importance and the need to coordinate between the two has also been expressed, but whenever their efforts to coordinate are weakened, then there is an imbalance and chaos in the society. It has been said in the scriptures that the meaning of wealth is only when the life of a person is full of virtues. But in recent years, our society’s mindset and standards regarding prosperity have changed. Today, prosperity has come to mean only financial prosperity. Human values and ideologies have been marginalized in the society and earning money and wishing money is becoming the biggest goal. Why did this happen? Are these the seeds of this trend in our traditions or is it a result of market pressures? Where will this kind of mentality take society? These are some important questions, which need to be churned on a holy festival like Dhanteras.
Lakshmiji’s form is trident. She lives in body, mind and money. There are five types of happiness – body, mind, wealth, wife and children. There are eight forms of Lakshmiji. Adya Lakshmi or Mahalakshmi (Virgo), Dhan Lakshmi (wealth, wealth, investment, economy), Dhanya Lakshmi (food), Gajalakshmi (animal and natural wealth), Sanatana Lakshmi (good fortune, health, age and prosperity), Veera Lakshmi (heroic) Lakshmi means Defense, Security), Vijaya Lakshmi (Digdiganta Vijay), Vidya Lakshmi (Knowledge, Knowledge, Art Science), these eight forms combine to form the festival of Goddess Mahalakshmi. Diwali means Festival of Lights. Whereever there is light of these eight forms, the spirit of Diwali definitely exists. Lakshmiji’s adobe is not restricted to a small unit. She resides everywhere. The richest of the rich and the poorest of the poor are entitled to the light and prosperity. This means that Lakshmi resides in mind. She is the confirmation of body, mind, wealth, family and children.
Let on this Dhanteras our prosperity be qualitative, but the new outlook that is flourishing in the name of prosperity is not only fatal but also a serious sign of danger to human existence.
Capitalism riding on the back of imperialism has increased the richness of the rich on one hand and on the other hand, poverty has also increased. The gap between richness and poverty is increasing rather than decreasing, as a result of which we can see the horrors of war, terrorism, communalism, which have the consequences of violence, hatred, malice in society, Greed, fierce competition, relationship cracks etc.
Most impacts have emerged as environmental imbalances and pollution. Due to limited prosperity in a few hands, not only large and so-called affluent people, but a large section of the country has fallen victim to zero degeneration due to ill- humanism. Many evils came home without being called.
Our attitude towards money is dissonant. In this process, how is the true spirit of Diwali and Dhanteras celebrated? Because all the social beliefs, human values, dignities are being considered as the standard of success, whatever the amount of money collected, politics, literature, art, religion are all being weighed on the scales of money. This trend is leading to very dangerous results.
Prosperity has been the dream of every era and has been included in the essentials of life. In a relative view, prosperity is not bad, but bad is the mind-set in which some people are distinguished by the basic needs of a large number of people by virtue of their exploitation. Bad is that glorious display of prosperity that opens opportunities for crime to flourish.
(The author is a writer and a columnist)
