Deepavali is festival of enlightenment. There are many stories associated with Deepavali related to spiritual journey leading to enlightenment. One such story is the churning of milky ocean.
At the meta physical level (adi daivika), demons (asuras) and devatas (divine beings) decide to churn milky ocean to get nectar. Mahalaxmi appeared during the churning. In rememberance of Mahalaxmi, during Deepavali day we perform Lakshmi Puja. Bhagavan Dhanvantari who is Divine doctor also appeared carrying the nectar (amrita) on this ocassion and we do dhanvantari puja seeking the blessing of the Lord.
At the spiritual level (adhyatmika), churning of milky ocean represents the spiritul journey. Milky ocean represents the mind. Churning rod is spinal cord, the serpent used for churning is kundalini energy. Mahalaxmi represents the siddhis (miraculous powers) manifesting in seeker during sadhana. More importantly Mahalaxmi represents inner diivine qualities representing shat sampatti (shama, dama….). Dhanvantari represents the deeper inner healing of seeker and Amrita represents the enlightenment. Thus Deepavali stories are related to spiritual journey and enlightenment.
Sri Prabhuji
4th November 2024