The Night of the Lamps: What It Means to Come Home

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode! Dharma Katha · Season 4: The Road to Diwali · Episode 152 The sun has gone down. The new moon of Kartik is somewhere in the sky, invisible. This is the darkest night of the month. And in front of millions of doors, someone is crouching on the ground with a little bowl of rice paste, drawing small footprints. Two at a time, pointing inward. From the doorstep, across the threshold, into the house. Toward the place where the puja is set. They are the footprints of Lakshmi. And they all point one way. Home. Missed the previous story? Listen to Episode 151 first. Source note. Label: tradition. Lakshmi Puja at pradosh with Ganesha and Kubera, the drawn footprints, new account books and open doors are living practice and vary by family and region. Kali Puja on this night in Bengal, Assam and Odisha is living tradition; Kali's appearance is from the Devi Mahatmya, chapter seven, told in Season Two, episode eighty-four. Mahavira's nirvana at Pava on the new moon of Kartika, and the eighteen confederate kings of Kashi and Kosala lighting lamps because the light of knowledge had gone, are in the Kalpa Sutra of Bhadrabahu. Guru Hargobind's release from Gwalior with fifty-two kings and the lighting of Amritsar are remembered in Sikh tradition as Bandi Chhor Divas; historians discuss the details and dates. The reflections are my own. Note: this episode is narrated with an AI voice and the script was written with AI assistance. Sanskrit verses are checked against published editions; corrections are welcome.