The pitch-black night of the new moon of the month of Ashvayuja. Even though there is no moon in the
sky, Diwali is a festival when the entire earth is lit up with the glow of lamps, as if crores of stars have
been scattered. Diwali means "the row of lamps". That small lamp, which is lit with cotton wicks and
filled with sesame oil in clay pots in every Hindu home, tells us an eternal truth—"A small ray of lamp is
enough to dispel all the darkness!"

Behind the festival of Diwali are not just celebrations, but the victories of Dharma through the ages.
When Lord Rama returned to Ayodhya with Sita, Lakshmana, and Hanuman after killing Ravana, the king
of Lanka, in the Treta Yuga, and completing his fourteen-year exile, the people welcomed him with ghee
lamps and lamps in front of their houses.

This new moon day is also the day when Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, emerged from the
churning of the ocean of milk. However, the story behind Naraka Chaturdashi, which falls on the day
before Diwali, expresses the highest moral values ​​of Sanatana Dharma. According to the Puranas,
Naraka is actually the Varaha avatar of Vishnu and the son of Bhudevi. But due to bad company, he
adopted the nature of a demon. He performed severe penance for Lord Brahma and received a boon
that "If I die, it should be at the hands of my mother who gave birth to me and not at the hands of
anyone else." This was his arrogance. With that arrogance, Narakasura harassed the saints and sages. He
stole the glory of Indra, the king of gods. Moreover, he attacked all the kingdoms of the earth and
kidnapped sixteen hundred (16,100) princesses and kept them in prison as prisoners. When the injustice
became too much, in the Dwapara Yuga, Lord Krishna went to war against Naraka along with his
godmother Satyabhama. Since Satyabhama is an incarnation of the goddess Bhudevi, the demon's boon
required the mother to strike the death blow. On the battlefield, Lord Krishna performed a small Leela
and pretended to lose consciousness from Naraka's arrows. Seeing Krishna's condition, Satyabhama,
furious, took up her bow and shot deadly arrows at Narakasura with her amazing archery skills, bringing
him to the ground. Immediately, Lord Krishna rose and used his Sudarshana Chakra to finish the killing.
Normally, parents cover up their children's wrongdoing with filial affection. But Satyabhama (the earth
goddess) could not tolerate the unrighteous path Narakasura took or the oppression he inflicted on the
world. Saying that Dharma matters more than blood relations, she took up her bow and killed the
demon. Lord Krishna, without falling into the delusion of filial piety, stood by Dharma and led the
chariot, paving the way for the killing. This wonderful incident shows that blood relations and personal
affection cannot stand before Dharma.

After the death of Narakasura, more than 16 thousand princesses who were languishing in prison were
released. But society at the time was suspicious of women who had been in the demon's prison and
hesitated to return them to their homes. Lord Krishna, the Lord of Jagannath, reassured those
unfortunate people who were lost. He gave them shelter, respect, social security, and the right to live in
society; he accepted them as his wives and granted them the status of 'Maharajni'. In the joy of
Narakasura's defeat and the women's liberation from prison, people burst firecrackers, lit lamps, and
celebrated. The sounds and lights that drive away darkness have been part of Hindu culture since then,
in the form of firecrackers. But today, unfortunately, a group has emerged in our country that makes
strange criticisms of Hindu festivals. When thousands of industries release toxic gases throughout the

year, when millions of vehicles smoke, when bombs explode during festivals of other religions and New
Year celebrations, the voices that would otherwise be silenced... suddenly rise up when Diwali, which is
celebrated by Hindus, arrives. They start spreading poison, saying, "Fireworks are increasing pollution;
smoke is destroying the environment." Finally, in the country of Hindus, in the capital, courts are passing
judgments banning the firecrackers that children happily burst on Diwali. On the other hand, some of
the carnivores who slaughter and eat animals- sheep, chickens, and cattle in the most brutal way every
day... when Diwali arrives, they become big animal lovers. They make a fuss saying, "Dogs are scared of
the sound of bombs, cats are trembling." The lack of animal love when millions of innocent animals are
slaughtered on the streets in the name of festivals and left to run away in streams of blood, and the
awakening of Hindus when they come near the firecrackers and kakara candles that they blow one day a
year, expose their hypocrisy and intolerance towards Hindu festivals.
Diwali is not just about lighting up the external world; it is also about dispelling the darkness of
hypocrisy and ignorance that has crept into society with our wisdom and devotion to Dharma.
Remembering the courage of Satyabhama, who did not tolerate injustice, even in the smallest detail,
and the compassion of Lord Krishna, who helped the unfortunate, today's Hindu society has a duty to
celebrate our festivals in traditional ways with pride, without any sense of inferiority.

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