--svatantramasvantantraM cha dvividhaM tatvaMishyate--
--svatantro bhagavAn vishnuH--
Sri Madhvacharya, in his tatvasaMkhyAna
Deepavali Significance
Condensed practice as per Bala Krishna on SVBM list
Aswayuja bahula triyOdashi
1. During pradOsha kAla on Aswayuja bahula truyOdashi, Lamps(ellu yenne deepa i.e lamps lighted with sesame oil) is to be lighted OUTSIDE home. The deepa should
face in south direction. This is called yama deepa and by doing so yama devara antaryAmi Sri Lakshmi Narasimha devaru will completely destroy apamrutyu.
The lamps are to be placed on a evevated place and not directly on ground. Do Sri Krishna arpana at the end.
2. During the evening hours of Aswayuja bahula triyOdashi, The hot water boiler (hande to be more precise), has to be cleaned and decorated with ranga
valli and flowers. Fill the bowl with pure water. Where to get “hande” here, it’s a problem right? Take a clean bowl(tumbige, preferably made of silver) and
use it to decorate. Use this bowl as a kalasha. Do sankalpa (Sri bhArati vAyu antargata sri Trivikrama preraneya, Sri Trivikra preetyartham), Perform Sri
Vishnu pooja by offering various bhaksha and bhOjya. Milk, Mangoes are acceptable too. Later, perform GANGA pooja to the kalasha after avAhana
(gange cha yamune chaiva gOdAvari saraswathi,
naramde sindhu kAveri jale smin sannidhin kuru).
Do Sri Krishna arpana and pour the water in the kalasha into hot water vessel by doing sankhA nAda(if available) and gantA nAda.
Naraka Chatrudashi
Aswayuja bahula chaturdashi is very sacred which is Naraka Chaturdashi. On this day, wake up early in the morning hours, take hot water(use the kalasha water
which had the pooja done on the previous day), Sesame oil / coconut oil, sEge pudi(an equivalent is ok) and garike (grass leaves) and place it in front our beloved lord Sri Vishnu. On this day, there is special sannidhAna of Sri Lakshmi dEvi in sesame oil to give wealth and prosperity round the year to all bhaktas. The ganga
sannidhAna will be specially in the water.
With the anusandhAna that Sri rama dEvi is doing abhyanjana(oil bath) to Sri Hari paramAtma, offer all the items used for taking bath to the lord and perform
namaskAra. If it is feasible and possible, at the sannidhAna of your gurugalu, get the enne(oil) shastra (i.e applying oil to the body) by sumangalis. Chanting
the names of chiranjEvees is very benificial
| AshwathAma BalirVyAsO HanumAnshcha VibhEshanaha |
| Krupaha Parashu rAmascha supthIthE Chiranjeevenaha |
Use the garike leaves, smear it in oil and apply coconut oil using garike to bhoomi(ground) three times, apply oil using garike leaves on the head. later, apply oil on
all parts of the body. Do abyanjana snAna later chanting the names of lord. Perform devara pooja with lighting lamps in front of the lord.
On this day, Sri Krishna killed narakAsura and protected Sri Brahma’s daughter ‘Chaturdashi’. At the time of moon rise, the lord had abyanjana snAna for
the welfare of good people on this Earth.
By having abyanjana snAna, all the diseases and poverty will be eradicated and everyone has to have abyanjana snAna. Those who not, will have consequences
of naraka. This is as per skanda purAna.
Deepavali Amavase
On deepavali amavAse, Sri Lakshmi pooja is performed in a special way. Remember that our lord went on a yOga nidra on ashAda shukla Ekadashi and ChAturmAsa began. The lord will wake up on kArtIka shuddha dwAdashi and
Sri Lakshmi dEvi will wake up a couple of days before the lord does. It is during deepavali, our kind mother Sri Lakshmi dEvi will wake up. To welcome our devine
mother, lamps (deepa) are lighted in front of the lord. All this sleep(yOga nidra) by our lord SRi Vishnu and Sri Lakshmi dEvi is lOka vidambana to bless
the devotees.
Bali PAdyami.
gOvu pooja kArtIka shudda pAdya – Bali pAdyami
On this day, after performing devara pooja, draw a nice ranga valli, draw a padma mandala and place a swastIka on it. Place the sacred sAligrAMa on this mandala and perform Balindra antargata sri Vamana pooja.
gOvu (sacred cow) is worshipped specially on this day. Apply oil and perform abhyanjana snAna to the cows. Can be done using a photo of kamadhenu with the
anusandhAna that kamadhenu sa nnidhana is present.
Apply arisina, kumkuma and flowers to the gOvu and decorate the cows. Long time back, Sri bhavAni offered pooja to Sri Lakshmi dEvi in the form of a cow.
Perform sri dEvara pooja and then gOvu pooja later. Ok, for us here, outside India, we can worship gOvu in a picture. Govu antargata Sri gOpAla Krishna is to be
worshipped.
Govu prartana.
| sarva kAmadhuge dEvi sarva thIrthAbhi shechini pAvanee surabhee shreste devi thubyum namostute |
Is possible, offer your help to protect our cows and help in Govu samrakshana. Many places like Poorna Prajna Vidya peetha, Sri SripAda raja matha, Sri Sode matha have great programs to protect cows. Please donate to these great
institutions generously.
Govardhana giri pooja is also done on this day to please Sri kArtIka dAmOdara devaru.
After all the duties, offer Sri Krishna Arpana.
During evening hours, have 5 lamps lighted on a harivAna (plate filled with rice). Offer the lamps to the lord and with gantA nAda show the lamps at all places in your house.
Since this is the beginning of kArtIka mAsa, perform Tulasi pooja in a special way till uttana dwAdashi.
During deepavali and the whole of kAtIka mAsa, deepotsava and deepa dAna is performed. Deepa represants our eyes. Since our eyes are on the face(evelated place), the deepas are to lighted on a elevated place (i.e on a plate filled with rice, or a wooden plank or on banana leaves). The abhimAni for drusti (thru eyes) is sri sUrya devaru. In the purusha sUkta it is mentioned that (Chaksho sUryo ajAyatha)
i.e from the eyes of our parama purusha Sri Vishnu, sUrya devaru was born and so he is the abhimAni for eyes. BY performing deepa dAna with right anusandhAna
and true dedication, there is no doubt about that person will have wonderful eyes. What it means is, the devotee will be blessed with the darshana of our
beloved lord Sri Lakshmi Narasimha dEvaru.