🪔🌺Auspicious Deepavali, the Festival of Light 🌺🪔
🪷 धनत्रयोदशी Dhanteras 🪷
🪔🌹शुभ दीपावली 🌹🪔
May You connect to the Light of Universal Consciousness as the essence of life and our unity with all.
🙏🏼Vamadeva & Shambhavi🙏🏼
🪔 “Tamaso Maa Jyotir gamaya…. lead us from darkness to the Light!
May we hold the highest Dharma in our hearts and lives!
🪔 Bharat India celebrates its cultural and Vedic heritage with Diwali. In the Hindu calendar Dhanteras marks the auspicious beginning of ‘Panch Parva’ or five festivals of Dhanteras, Kali Chaudash, Diwali, the Vedic New Year and Bhai Dooj.
🪔In Sanskrit ‘Deepavali ‘ or ‘Diwali’ means ‘a row of earthen lit lamps’. Diyas or earthen oil lamps are the sacred tradition of India’s Diwali celebrations. Light signifies purity, jnana and auspiciousness. Lighting the diya guides us through the darkness to seek the eternal truth in our own personal lives.
We should all celebrate Diwali worldwide with lighting ghee lamps 🪔 in our homes, villages and cities.
🪔In ritualizing our lives we draw ourselves into a space of gratitude where every moment of our existence awakens an inner awareness of the Shakti forces around us.
🪔Diwali celebrations unfold through 4 auspicious days – the thirteenth and fourteenth day of Krishnapaksha, the waning crescent moon phase in the month of Ashwin.
🪔The day preceding Dhanteras is celebrated as ‘Wagh Baras,’ Sri Krishna herded His cows for grazing. Women traditionally revere cows on this day with special puja and sacred rituals.
🪔🌹The day following Dhanteras is the auspicious night of Kali Chaudas, where Maa Kali is deeply revered for Her transformational powers.
These days are celebrated as Dhanatrayodashi (Dhan Teras), Narakchaturdashi, Lakshmipujan and Balipratipada, respectively.
🪔🌾In rural India, Diwali signifies the end of a harvesting season, when rice is harvested, and prayers of gratitude are offered for Mother Nature’s abundance.
🪔The home and workplace are cleaned and decorated with Rangoli, flowers and incense in deep reverence for the Divine in every heart.
🪔Sacred celebrations, festivals and rituals draw us to understand our Vedic culture and share its auspicious tidings with the world.
🪔Dhanteras or Dhanvantri Jayanti 🪔
Shubh Dhanatrayodashi धनत्रयोदशी
Dhanteras marks the first day of auspiciousness and awakening us to the spiritual nectar of Life. Dhanteras also known as Dhantrayodashi or Dhanvantri Triodasi, falls on the auspicious thirteenth lunar day of the Krishna Paksha in the Hindu month of Kartik (October/November).
🪔Dhan signifies wealth, ideally meaning spiritual and worldly abundance. This is an auspicious day for making efforts for fulfilling our desires and wishes. One must stay clear from any harmful wishes or rituals as they hold a deep karma which effects our well-being and eventual happiness.
🪔It is the auspicious revering of Sri Dhanvantri the deity bestowing immortality. Hindus revere Sri Dhanvantri as the celestial healer and physician of the Gods. He is also called Sudhapani, which means ‘carrying nectar in his hands’.
🪔 In Ayurvedic realms this is a very important day where every Ayurvedic practitioner or Vaidya (doctor) worships Dhanvantri. The ancient text “Charaka Samhita” explains Ayurveda as the science of Life, rasayana and Longevity.
🪔Celebrating Global Ayurveda Day shares an awareness of the wisdom of Ayurveda as Nature’s intrinsic healing power inspiring the individual to live a life in sync with the cosmic rhythms of Mother Earth and Mother Nature.
🪔Ayurveda is the holistic approach to a way of life understanding the inner and outer manifestations of our being. Dhanvantri carries the kalasha or pot of amrita, the rejuvenative and life-giving nectar.
Amrita is the nectar of immortality which enriches the soul stirrings in our spiritual path. Devotees worship Lord Dhanvantri to seek his blessings for sound health.
🌾🥥 Dhantrayodashi Sankalpa 🥥🌾
Sankalpa is the deeper manifestation of a sacred vow, intention and desire. Our sankalpa should connect us to the universal dharma of peaceful sacredness and abundance for all.
🪔 🐚Puja and Rituals🐚 🪔
Auspicious Muhurat for puja
The time of Pradosha Kal, is usually followed as a most auspicious time for the Pujan of Dhanteras.
For good fortune mix turmeric powder with rice powder, pour some water and make a paste. Draw the “Om” sign with this paste on the entrance door. Or one can use rice grains mixed with turmeric.
🪔Pranayama for Ritualizing our Prana Shakti
The Surya nadi or right channel is accentuated on this day. Performing pranayama is very helpful and should be continued as a daily ritual in our lives.
🪔Abhyangasnan
After performing Pranayama, one must massage oneself with oil as a sacred ritual on this day.
🪔🙏🏼 Yamadipadan 🙏🏼 🪔
On the evening of Dhanatrayodashi, Puja for Dhanteras is performed after sunset by the women of the house. A diya with four wicks and ghee or oil is placed in a copper plate or banana leaf.
🪔Light this Diya (Yamadeep) for gratifying Lord Yama. Sprinkle water (achaman) from the panchpatra around the Diya, perform pranayama followed by the Puja with applying some sandalwood paste, turmeric, kumkum, rice grains and a flower whilst offering prayers for one’s well-being as well as our universal well-being. Take four rounds clockwise around the Diya (parikrama).
🪔One may also light thirteen wheat flour lamps with oil in them outside the house, facing southwards. Or a lamp with four wicks (charmukha diya) is lit outside the front door on the right-hand side.
Rituals help to invoke the divinity within each of us.
It is the Shraddha and devotion which is most important in our rituals.
🦉🌹🌾Honoring Sri Lakshmi🌾🌹🦉
Devi Lakshmi rules over both outer and inner abundance, filling our lives with divine grace, bliss and beauty. Mantras for Goddess Lakshmi are very auspicious.
🪔To welcome Devi into our lives, home, and workplace small footprints are drawn with rice flour and vermilion powder on all entrances. Lamps are kept burning all through the night. For 43 days chant 108 malas every day of the Sri Lakshmi mantra, beginning on Dhanteras.
🪔 Puranic history narrates the ocean of milk being churned by the Devatas and the Asuras in search of Amrita, the nectar of immortality.
Shiva Maheshvara consumes the ‘Vish’ or poison which endangered the world. In the churning unfolded the abundance of the inner and outer worlds as amrita the elixir of immortality, herbs, rasa and wealth in the form Goddess Lakshmi.
🪔Sri Dhanvantri emerges during the Samudra manthan or churning of the oceans carrying the kalasha or pot of Amrita. He is revered as the physician to the Devata or Divine Beings.
Sri Dhanvantri is the preserver of life allowing us to experience our spiritual evolving through our well-being. The amrita nurtures the higher self.
Dhanteras ushers in the auspiciousness of Diwali.
🪔Mantra Shakti for Well-being
Om Dhanvantaraye Namah
Om Shri Dhanvantre Namah
Om tat purushaaya vidmahae
Amritha kalasa hastaaya dhimahi
Tanno Dhanvantri pracodayat
🪔Om aadivaidhyaaya vidmahae
Arogya anugrahaaya dhimahi
Tanno dhanvantri pracodayat”
Aum Namo Bhagwatey Vasudevaya
Dhanvantarey amritakalashahastaya
Sarvamaya vinashnaya
