“Deepavali” – Is Kali black?
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On Sunday, the 4th November 2018, brother monk Swami Shantatmananda requested me to deliver a Talk on the “Deepavali” Festival. It was held at the Sarada Auditorium. Deepavali is not a stand alone Festival as it is preceded by two other holy occasions and followed by another two holy occasions, thus can be in effect it is a Five-day Festival! I gave a synopsis of these five days’ occasions and went into introspective mode of discussing whether these five days can be imagined as linear progress in material and mental spheres of the human soul. While bringing up the topic of Kali Puja that is widely observed in the eastern parts of India on the Deepavali amavasya night, obviously the discussion veered round to a point of view on the subject of Mother Kali and the concept behind Her worship…
This lecture can be heard here:
A few snaps of that evening below:
Vedanta in Practice 
What an illuminated talk!!
Pity I am thousands mile away from Maharaj.
It is said that listening is much better than reading, watching is much better than listening but above all realising is the best of all!
Dr Hiru Mukherjee
Reading, UK
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||Aum Sri Ramakrishna sharanam||
Dear Hiru Babu
Thanks for your visit to this Blog! And for the kind words!
Shubho Diwali to you and members of your family!
Here, in New Delhi whole night Kali Puja was done by Swami Shantatmananda Ji. Quite a good gathering formed for the Festival.
You are one of our senior devotees. I do remember you as we met in Patna for the first time many years ago. I am eager to see you when I shall visit UK as I am now positioned at Dublin.
May the blessings of Kali Ma be on you is my prayer!
Swami Vimokshananda
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Revered and dear Maharaj,
Please accept my pranam.
My mind is still drawn to your talk on ‘Deepavali‘ bringing out clearly the road map for one’s spiritual journey and highlighting the significance of Kali worship.
‘Is Kali black’ involuntarily prompts one to hum the famous song of Kamalakanta ‘Shyama ma ki amar kalo re…’ This was very dear to Swamiji. He was singing this song after his long meditation on the day of his Mahasamadhi.
Reflection on your observation on ‘bhai duj’ that love and affection should not be restricted to only siblings but extended to all led me to an interesting note in Wikipedia on how Rabindranath Tagore tried to inculcate this spirit of amity amongst Hindus & Muslims during the partition of Bengal in 1905. Please let me reproduce it below:
“In 1905 Rabindranath Tagore extended the symbolism of ‘Brother’s Second’, a ritual of bonding between brothers and sisters that is celebrated right after the Pujas have concluded, to evoke friendship between Hindus and Muslims: Members of both communities would tie red threads of brotherhood on each others’ wrists. All throughout the partition period, these rakhi-bandhan ceremonies were regularly announced in the Bengali and English papers.”
With pranam once again,
TSSitaraman
Hyderabad, India
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||Aum Sri Ramakrishna sharanam||
Dear Sitaraman
Thanks for your beautiful comment to my Post on Deepavali in this Blog!
I deeply appreciate the quote on KaviGuru‘s efforts in bringing amity and peace between two warring communities in his time. No nation can stride the roads of development unless there is internal peace amongst its citizens. Through religio-social ideas, it is definitely possible to bring the desired goal. The concept one day can be extended to include the citizens of other countries who may be different in language, culture, race etc. Swami Vivekananda dreamt of the Universal Oneness when no differentiang elements can mar the potential unity. At a spiritual level this Oneness has been emphasised again and again in our scriptures.
May the blessings of Kali Ma be on you is my prayer!
Swami Vimokshananda
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Pranam Maharaj.
Very blessed to listen to your talk again. Its gave me much more understanding regarding Deepavali and Mother Kali.
Thank you.
Komathi
Malaysia
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||Aum Sri Ramakrishna sharanam||
Dear Komathi
Thanks for your visit to this Blog!
Shubha Deepavali to you and members of your family!
Here, in New Delhi whole night Kali Puja was done by Swami Shantatmananda Ji. Quite a good gathering formed for the Festival. If you have enjoyed my (!) talk then no credit for me; it is all Her grace!
May the blessings of Kali Ma be on you is my prayer!
Swami Vimokshananda
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