Rambachan celebrates Divali, speaks of the eternal struggle between good and evil

Foreign Minister Dr Surujrattan Rambachan presented an explanation of the origins of Divali and the worship of the Goddess Laskmi in an address at his ministry's Divali function in Port of Spain last Sunday.

He spoke of the common and popular stories of Divali - the return of Lord Rama to his kingdom of Ayodhya after 14 years of exile and the rise of the Godess Laksmi from the oceans following a remarkable exercise in cooperation between the forces of good and evil.

Dr Rambachan devoted a long time explaining the original story of "Samudramanthan" or the churning of the ocean before offering an interpretation for his audience.

According to Hindu scriptures the event took place during a period when the forces of evil had become stronger than those who represented what was good and virtuous. The forces of good sought assistance from Lord Vishnu, the preserver of the universe, to combat the evil.

The solution, the Lord explained, was to find the source of immortality, which lay at the bottom of the ocean. Both sides collaborated and began churning the ocean using a mountain as the swizzle and a snake wrapped around the mountain to churn the waters. The Lord manifest Himself as a tortoise and allowed the mountain to rest on His back.

Eventually all manner of poison came out of the ocean and Lord Shiva, the destroyer in the Hindu Trinity of Bramha (the creator) Visnhu (the preserver) and Shiva, consumed the poison to save humankind.

"At last, from out of the water emerged a pink lotus, upon which sat a radiant devi, a Goddess. Dressed in silks of green and gold, jewels gleaming at her neck and wrists, she held a garland of fragrant flowers in her hands. Gold coins fell from her palms and her anklets tinkled as she moved," Dr Rambachan said as he spoke of the emergence Shakti (power) from the ocean.

The Goddesss, whose arrival brought prosperity to the land, married the Lord 
Vishnu and became Mother Lakshmi. 

Before that, however, the task of finding the source of immortality continued until both teams discovered it. The Lord Vishnu had to intervene to ensure that only the forces of good drank from the cup of immortality.

The "birth" of Lakshmi from the oceans marked the first Divali, which was celebrated with the lighting of deeyas to symbolise the arrival of light to end the darkness of evil.

Dr Rambachan said the story of the churning of the ocean represents the eternal struggle for freedom from sorrow and immortality. "Not immortality in the sense of being ever alive but immortality in the sense of oneness with God, liberation from the cycle of births and deaths," he said.

"The achievement of this state, which is called Moksha, is dependent on knowledge of self (atman). Knowledge is symbolised by the potion of immortality that the forces of evil and good sought.

"That the Gods on having consumed it became powerful represents the state of being that accrues from knowledge," he said. He noted that to get to that state requires great effort.

"The ocean to be churned is symbolic of the mind of man. Within the mind of man resides qualities that are demonic as much as there are qualities that are divine. There is a pull and tug in the mind of man represented by the devas (good) and asuras (evil) pulling the rope in the from of Basuki, the King of snakes.

"The undivine must be removed. It can only happen through a process of distillation through reflection. Symbolically this reflection and distillation has to be undertaken through the application of intelligence.

"This intelligence is represented by the Mountain which is used as the churning stick. As reflection is pursued the possibility of failure looms large...God never abandons the one who really wants to change," he said.

He explained the symbolism further. "First the poisons of the mind must be removed. This is why before the emergence of Lakshmi who represents light, poison came out of the ocean. Light as spiritual wisdom comes only after all negative tendencies and values are destroy. Only then will come the coveted jar of nectar.

"The story of the churning of the ocean...is the story of man’s struggle against the forces of evil and temptation. It is the story of cooperation between man and nature. It is the story which tells us that when we cooperate in the pursuit of a noble vision there will be success.

"But it also tells us that human nature is such that greed and jealousy as well as the desire for exclusive power cause the loss of everything that is achieved. It is also a reminder to us that God is never a silent spectator to the plight of the sincere devotee .

"Where there is light there can never be darkness," he said.

Dr Rambahcan concluded his address with a well-known Sanskrit prayer, which translated means. "From the unreal lead me to the real, from darkness lead me to light, from death lead me to immortality."