Women empowerment and their indelible role in everyday life is a central concept of our Sanatana dharmam. There have been many instances where women have helped to get rid of the different demonic forces plaguing this world and one such instance is the killing of Narakasura by Lord Krishna and Sathyabama that we celebrate as Deepawali.
As we all know, Sathyabama, who is none other than the incarnation of Bhoomi Devi killed Her own son Narakasura for the benefit of the world. He was polluting the earth and its environment including all its people and sages, and Sathyabama felt it was time to end this menace.
This incident clearly showed the important role that women have played in upholding dharma and bringing peace to this world. Even after millions of years, women continue to do the same and make this world a better place for us to live. They impact us with their soft (and sometimes hard) touch to help us realize our mistakes and improve ourselves, so we can lead a healthy and happy life. This Deepawali too let us take a moment to think of all the women who have impacted us in more ways than we can imagine.
Also, it is said that all prayers come true on Deepawali because of Lord Krishna and Goddess Sathyabama’s grace. It is a common practice to do Laxmi pooja on Deepawali so we can get more wealth. But what really is “Wealth”? It is not just money, but also physical and mental health, satisfaction, contentment, good children, happy families and a clean and thriving society – all of which can take us closer to God.
To get the true blessings of the Lord, let us all vow to protect our environment and clean all the “demons” like Narakasura who pollute it. In the process, let us also remove the “demons” that reside in our own hearts and minds so we can get the true “wealth” that we aspire for.
Happy Deepawali to one and all. May all your wishes come true this year.
NOTE: This article is based on upanyasam excerpts and ideas given by Sri APN Swami and written by his sishyas.
Adiyen
Lavanya Badrinarayanan.
Sri APN Swami 