“On behalf of the Co-Chairs, Trustees, Directors and Executive Committee of the Hindu Council UK, we wish you a Shubh Deepavali” – the Festival of Lights: Sunday 30th October 2016: Karttika Krishna 15th Amavasya- Samvata 2073, Shaka 1938, Yugabda 5118
May Goddess Lakshmi (‘Bhudevi and Shridevi’ together) and Goddess Primordial Light ‘Gayatri’ bless you with prosperity with piousness, happiness, harmony, pleasure, kindness and we pray that all your good wishes and noble causes will be fulfilled….
“From the falseness lead me to the truth…From the darkness lead me to light…and From death lead me to immortality; Om (the universal sound of God). Let there be Peace, Peace and only Peace”
Asato mā sad gamāyā/ Tamaso mā jyotir gamāyā, Mrityur mā amritam gamāyā; Om Shānti Shānti Shāntih” (as in the BrihadāranyakUpanishad, 1.3.27-28).
Let we all worship the Sun at dawn, while beseeching him to receive the power of light through motherly blessing. The prayer, composed by the great sage Vishvamitra, refers to the most commonly and powerful sacred verse in honour of the Sun god in ‘mother-form’ as the “Nature Energy” from the Rig Veda (3.62.10), called Gayatri Mantra:
Om bhurbhuvah, sva tat savitur varenyam, bhargo devasya dhiyo yo na prachodyat.
“Let us obtain the adorable splendour of the Sun; may the spirit inherent (Gayatri) arouse our minds and wisdom.”
The Rig Veda (1.164.24) describes the Gayatri as the ‘sound of life’ on the Earth and the ‘way’ to know the cosmic order (rita) linking the Earth to the universe – the deeper understanding of which is the ultimate goal of our quest, awakening and compassion.
Svami Vivekananda (1863-1902) has envisioned and popularized a message for Global Understanding, based on Upanishadic teaching: उत्तिष्ठत जाग्रत प्राप्य वरान्निबोधत – Uttisthata Jāgrata Prāpya Varannibodhata (‘Arise, Awake and Stop not till the Goal is Reached’; the Katha Upanishad, 1.3.14). Let us realise this and follow the path…..
From Where to Where : march somewhere —
From known to unknown,
From visible to invisible,
From simplicity to complexity,
From uniqueness to commality,
From analysis to simplicity,
From realizing to revealing,
From microscopic to wholeness,
From finite to infinite,
From self to companionship,
From mind to soul,
From thought to awakening,
From generality to rationality,
From input to output,
From something to nothingness,
From culture to nature,
From vision to envisioning,
From static to march … march..march….
Charaiveti, Charaiveti…[Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, 7.15] — “Keep going, keep going – this is our mantra. Never stopping and never tiring, we keep steadfastly moving forward”…..
With all good wishes,
Sanjay Jagatia
Director/Secretary General
Hindu Council UK