The True Meaning of Diwali: Beyond Lights, Wealth and Celebration

Diwali is one of the most widely observed festivals in India. Every year, people light lamps, worship Goddess Lakshmi and follow various traditions associated with the occasion. But have we ever stopped to ask what Diwali actually means? Is it simply about following rituals, or does the festival point towards something that we need to understand and bring into our lives?

Before searching for the meaning of any festival, we must first examine our own intention. Why do we celebrate it? Are we interested in understanding its message, or have we become accustomed to observing it without questioning what it represents?

Today, almost every festival has been turned into a market-driven activity. Diwali, too, has increasingly become associated with transactions, competition and outward display. People compete over how many lights they put up, how much they spend and how grand their celebrations appear. Even Dhanteras is often presented as an occasion when purchasing something is considered necessary for prosperity.

But is this really what Diwali is about?

The Return of Truth

The story of Lord Rama’s return to Ayodhya after fourteen years of exile is central to Diwali. When Rama returned after defeating Ravana, people lit lamps in his honour.

What was this lighting intended to represent?

It represents the return of truth in victory. When light pierces through darkness, when truth prevails over falsehood, that is when Diwali happens.

Rama represents truth, while Ravana represents ego and arrogance. Their conflict is not merely a story of two powerful individuals. It points towards the conflict between truth and ego.

Diwali is therefore a festival of light overcoming darkness and knowledge overcoming ignorance. Its message is not fulfilled merely by lighting lamps. The message must find a place in our conduct.

Ravana and the Ten Senses

Ravana is traditionally depicted with ten heads. These ten heads represent the ten senses through which we experience the world. Ravana himself represents ego and arrogance.

His story tells us something important: no matter how knowledgeable or powerful a person may be, if ego remains at the centre, the consequences will eventually follow.

Look at how we behave during Diwali. Someone puts up fifty strings of lights, and we want to put up two hundred. Someone bursts crackers worth a certain amount, and we want to spend more. Someone gives a gift, and we feel compelled to give something more expensive.

Why does everything become a competition?

Because the ego wants validation. Even an occasion associated with truth and righteousness becomes an opportunity to establish our importance.

Rama’s life points in the opposite direction. The question is whether even one of his decisions came from selfishness or the need to validate his ego. Following Rama means placing truth at the centre of our decisions rather than allowing personal interests to govern them.

Shubh-Labh: The Meaning of Auspicious Gain

During Diwali, the words Shubh-Labh are commonly displayed outside homes and workplaces. But what do these words actually mean?

Shubh refers to auspiciousness. What makes an action auspicious? Can an action driven by selfishness be considered auspicious when selfishness itself strengthens the ego?

Similarly, Labh is often understood as financial profit. But the real meaning of profit is the gain of Dharma.

Dharma means upholding truth. When we move towards truth, there is genuine gain. When ego prevails and Dharma is lost, there is loss.

This is why the actions of Lord Rama are considered auspicious. They point towards the upholding of truth, not the fulfilment of selfish interests.

Goddess Lakshmi and the Meaning of Sampatti

During Diwali, Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped with the wish that the home may be filled with wealth and riches. But have we understood what wealth truly means?

The word Sampatti is explained in the discourse through the ideas of Sam and Patti, pointing towards the proper attainment of wholeness. And what is wholeness? It is truth.

We often hear that Lakshmi does not stay in one place. This itself invites us to question our relationship with material wealth. What we consider ours today may have belonged to someone else yesterday. The money and property we possess are not permanent, nor can we carry them with us forever.

Yet, we behave as though our possessions will remain with us indefinitely.

The real effort should be towards attaining wholeness, not endlessly accumulating things. This requires moving away from imperfection and weakening the ego that constantly demands more.

Ego is like a well that can never be filled. It wants all the wealth, property and luxuries for itself, but no amount of accumulation can make it complete.

The Golden Lanka and the Ego

Ravana had everything. He possessed a golden Lanka and a magnificent palace. Yet, Hanuman set Lanka on fire.

The message is clear: neither ego nor the things associated with ego ultimately survive.

We must question why we give so much importance to possessions that are temporary. Wealth can provide comfort, but can it give us peace when there is turmoil within? Even the most luxurious surroundings cannot provide what we truly desire if we remain disturbed by our own minds.

The same question applies to the gambling associated with Diwali. The discourse refers to the prohibition of gambling in the Vedas and questions how an activity associated with such consequences became connected with a sacred festival. Winning money does not necessarily mean gaining anything worthwhile.

The Real Celebration of Diwali

In the Yoga Vashistha, success is connected with scriptural knowledge, guidance from a Guru and one’s own effort. Purushartha is the effort towards attaining self-knowledge. Self-knowledge means liberation from falsehood.

This is the message we must bring into our everyday lives.

Can we see our own ego? Can we recognise what sits at the centre of the decisions we make? Are we acting from truth, or are we constantly trying to strengthen our assumed identity?

Diwali is a celebration of truth, of light overcoming darkness and knowledge overcoming ignorance. Its message cannot be fulfilled through rituals alone.

Place truth at the centre. Place righteousness at the centre. Following Lord Rama in this way is the true celebration of Diwali.