Dhanteras: A festival of prosperity, happiness, and joy

Lalit Garg

(The writer can be reached at lalitgarg11@gmail.com)

Dhanteras is the festival of prosperity, happiness, and joy that can boost economic growth. The literal meaning of Dhanteras is a 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 worship is coordinated behaviour in 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.

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., the abode of wealth, 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 and silver are only external symbols. 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 your 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 it immense power.

Dharma (righteousness), 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 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 marginalised in society, and earning money and wishing for money are becoming the biggest goals. 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 that need to be churned out on a holy festival like Dhanteras.

Lakshmiji’s form is triangular. 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 (defence, security), Vijaya Lakshmi (Digdiganta Vijay), Vidya Lakshmi (knowledge, knowledge, art, science)—these eight forms combine to form the festival of Goddess Mahalakshmi. Diwali means the Festival of Lights. Wherever there is light in 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 light and prosperity. This means that Lakshmi resides in the mind. She is the confirmation of body, mind, wealth, family, and children.

May 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, and 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. Like world wars between Israel and Hamas and Russia and Ukraine. We created terrorism. Man-to-man has become insecure. Prohibitive rites such as violence, lies, theft, rape, and collection have caught men. Not only the faces have lost their identity but also the character. The centres of policy and loyalty have begun to change. The foundations of faith have begun to weaken. The blind race of meaning connected the individual with collection, convenience, pleasure, luxury, and selfishness. The problem that appeared was that the less the substance, the more the consumer. Individualistic attitude awakened. In the struggle for selfishness, injustice and exploitation started happening. Everyone feels alone. Surely there is an error in our worship of our wealth and the worship that is being done to achieve it. Our attitude towards money is dissonant. In this process, how is the true spirit of Diwali and Dhanteras celebrated? Because all social beliefs, human values, and dignities are being considered as the standard of success, whatever the amount of money collected, politics, literature, art, and 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 mindset 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. There is bitterness in the relationship between your loved ones, drawing lines of distinction. There is more competition for collections than necessary. Uncontrolled demand and sensory incontinence have risen. Rituals of violence and attachment awaken. With prosperity, a person’s habit, aptitude, aspiration, and many more are affected by upscale and taken in the wrong direction. The person makes false appearances in the glare of fashion. Drinks intoxicated by drugs break the dignity of food and drink. The so-called modern lifestyle of prosperity has led to a dislike for life values. The changing meaning of prosperity can become welfare only when character, loyalty, and morality are maintained along with prosperity. It is important to adopt pure means so that the means obtained in the form of prosperity are used with the right goal in the right direction. Awaken the consciousness of immersion with the collection. Desire is substantive restraint; moderation along with enjoyment is also necessary.

The changing patterns of prosperity give rise to formations, give creativity to the ideological outlook, stop the evils that flourish with modernity, and move forward by building faith and humanity. Where have you been safe today, with the ideal of prosperity reaching man with faith? Who moderates their facilities? Who is the immersion of goodness? Who is able to give restraint to selfishness? Even if we do not have a car or other luxuries, we must have the ability to have character qualities, because on the strength of this ability, we can make ourselves super powerful. Only then will our Dhanteras be meaningful.