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Bhagavān Śrī Rāma established a wonderful system of social work and education for the people, and above all, spirituality and satsaṅg. Bhagavān Rāma was never angry, no matter what happened. Only at the very end, when Rāvaṇa refused to accept Rāma’s words, did the conflict arise. He had kidnapped Sītā, but Sītā did not go with him to the palace; she remained in the park. There were guards, female guards there. So it was not that Sītā could be with Rāvaṇa. God Rāma said respectfully, "He should return Sītā." But he did not. And then the battlefield began. Such things happen from time to time. Eventually, he returned after spending fourteen years in the forest. The entire kingdom of Ayodhyā was happy, and since that day we celebrate Dīvalī, which we also call Dīpāvalī. This deepak, this light, is the light of Brahman. It is Brahman itself. Whenever the sun sets and Sandhyā, the darkness, comes, we light candles and flames. This light is the truth, and we light these lights in everyone’s heart. If we forget the sins of people, forgive them, and accept them, it means we light the candle again in their heart and consciousness. There is a song I sometimes mention: "Jyot Se Jyot Jagat Chalo, Prem Kī Gaṅgā Bahate Chalo. Jyot Se Jyot Jagat, Prem Kī Gaṅgā Bahate." So on this day, it is said, light the candle from a candle. With one candle, we light another. Jyoti se jyoti jagāte chalo. Prem kī Gaṅgā bahate calo. Let the river of love flow with you. Remember, where there is love, there is friendship. There is understanding, there is peace. There is no fighting. And where there is no love, negative qualities arise. If you see someone meek or suffering, you should embrace everyone with that love—the love of understanding, the love of peace. So the message of the Rāmāyaṇa and the message of Dīpāvalī is this song. In a film called "Mother India," there is a beautiful spiritual song. This light we hold in oil flames is a spiritual light. This light of Dīpāvalī is śubha, it is good, it is auspicious. It leads us to mokṣa, to liberation, to salvation. What is ārogya? Ārogya means health. Roga means illness, so arogya means healthy. That is the Sanskrit name. But in the country of Yogeśjī, there is also a good name: rogla. I don’t know what it means in your country, rogla? It is the name of a mountain, rogla. Here in India, it means an ill person, an ill dog, an ill animal or human. Rogla refers to that kind of illness which can give you infections. There is a beautiful rogla restaurant near our ashram in Philak, where Dayā leads her ashram. She is always careful about going there. So sometimes words have different meanings. There, it is not bad; it is good. Ārogya. Dhanasampadā. Dhan means prosperity, wealth. Sampadā means wealth, prosperity, and harmony. This is what happens when you light a candle, when you light a flame. Śubhaṁ karo tri kalyāṇam. And it destroys that intellect which is negative, like an enemy—the darkness. So it removes that, it kills negative thoughts. It destroys the enemies, turning them into the positive. How beautiful is this mantra? "Śubhaṁ karoti kalyāṇam ārogyaṁ dhanasampadā. Śatrubuddhi vināśāya vināśāya." Vināśa means destruction. Everything is finished. All your houses are burned. Humans die. Animals die. Everything is destroyed. When there is a big bushfire, and after it finishes, you look—Vena. And so, this light destroys everything negative, the śatru, the enemy. Your thought is also your enemy. Our thinking is our enemy, and our thinking is such an enemy that it will take you away from your years and years of spiritual sādhanā. Suddenly, you lose everything. Therefore, my adoration, my salutation to Dīpa Jyoti. Deepa means this flame which is held by the deep, the oil, the little pot. Deep Jyoti, inside which is this Jyoti. Deep Jyoti, namastute. I bow down, I adore that divine light. And so, with such an imagination, with such a vision, with such a realization, all these mantras which come from the holy scriptures—from the Vedas, Upaniṣads, and others—the ṛṣis have been researching how nice, how nice it is. So when you chant the mantra, when you understand that mantra, then you feel it within you. That is your purification. You are that one who is that light. You are that one who will get the light, happiness, and happiness in the house. Mahāprabhujī, Holy Gurujī, composed a very nice bhajan: "Āj Dīvalī, Param Śukradai Viśva Dīp Hari Āyā Jag Mahī." So, on that Dīvalī, when Mahāprabhujī incarnated—Mahāprabhujī incarnated in Brahma Mūrti—Dīvalī was there. "Āj Dīvalī Param Sukh Dai Vishwa Hari Aay Jag Mahai." Today, Dīvalī is the most wonderful, most divine. Param Sukh Dai. Param means the highest, sukha means happiness, pleasure, comfort, everything. So today our Dīvalī has brought happiness, joy, comfort, because there is no single word for "duḥkha" in the English or German language. There are similarities, but that word is not 'dukkha' in one word. You can say 'all miserable,' but still it cannot compare. So the light of the universe, Bhagavān Śrī Dīpānanda Mahāprabhujī, came into this world. Therefore, this day is very happy, very joyful. That is Gajanandajī’s writing—how to say—and my writing is different. Gajanandaji’s writing is scientific, and I am writing just locally. So local is better than this. Okay, so I don’t know how to pronounce it. I can’t translate what Gajanan said, otherwise I look stupid. So Dīvalī is not only for one day; Dīvalī is every day. When you open your eyes, you get the light, you see the light. When you put on the light in the evening, it’s a light. When you, morning and evening, perform pūjā and light a candle or an oil lamp, it makes you happy. So it is said, "O Lord, Bhagavān, my light burns for you, to give you light." There are three things. First is that little vessel or little pot, little cup. This part is very important to understand what this dīpak means. So, the dīpak is this body. Without this body, this ātmā, this light cannot be. Similarly, without a lamp, we cannot make the light there. Second, the oil. And this oil is prāṇa. This oil is prāṇa. And the wick, bati, that is our self. On that, which is a light, is our ātmā. So for us, this wick is burning and giving us the light. So this is a symbol: the pot, the oil, the wick, and the flame. That flame is the ātmā, that light. So our tapasyā—but we are doing tapasyā to produce this light, this spiritual light. Therefore, Dīvalī is not for only one day. Whenever you look in the morning to the sky and say, "Oh, beautiful day, oh how nice the sun is shining, beautiful night, the beautiful stars, oh beautiful sunset, sunrise, the dawn, beautiful new moon," wherever we look on this earth or in the sky, everything is beautiful. Nothing is ugly. Ugly are the thoughts. And these thoughts, which go through our karma-indriyas and jñāna-indriyas. Jñāna-dṛṣṭi versus dṛṣṭi-bhrānti. How you look at these different things—like that becomes this society, this world. So this is within us, and this light is burning, Jīvanjyoti. That’s called Jīvanjyoti. As long as this light is there, our life is there. When the flame goes out, life goes out. So, we shall take care that the oil doesn’t go out. What does it mean that the oil doesn’t go out? Good oil means good food, good practice, good prāṇāyāma. So that this dīpak, this light, remains a long, long time. Until then, we can read and write everything. When everything is done, the work is done perfectly, then we say, "Okay, now we can blow out the flame and go to sleep." So that light is always there, every Dīpāvalī. So Bhagavān Rāma, Bhagavān Rāma and Sītā. Bhagavān Rāma is that knowledge. Bhagavān Rāma is buddhi. Bhagavān Rāma is intellect. And Sītā is mercy, humbleness, kindness, buddhi, bhakti, dayā, dharma. That is Sītā. So that’s what Sītā and Rāma are. When we have Sītā and Rām, then we are very wise, very safe, very sure, and nothing can happen to us. Therefore, there are people chanting kīrtan, bhajans: "Sītā Rām, Sītā Rām,... Sītā Rām,... Sītā Rām, Sītā Rām. Siddharam, Siddharam, Siddharam, Siddharam, Siddharam,... Siddharam, I have forgotten you, O Lord. I have heard of you, O Lord. I have heard of you, O Lord.... Siddharam, Siddharam..." Every holy festival in the world is for positive things. Where there are no negative things, where there should be no dualities, and no offering of animals. There are many traditions in the world; in India too it was, and somewhere it is still going on—the killing of animals, offering of animals. That was never spoken by God, to do this to animals. Animals have the same kind of life as we do. They feel pain, they suffer, they have fear, they are scared. Because humans are the enemy of animals. A bird dares to sit even on the head of a tiger. The bird is not afraid. Sometimes, when tigers or lions are sleeping with their mouths open, birds go in between and take something, like a toothpick. They are not afraid. But if a human comes, birds are scared, animals are scared. Because the energy, the radiance, is full of hiṁsā, not ahiṁsā. Where there is ahiṃsā, then you love all animals. And when there is ahiṃsā, then you love only whom you love; others you can eat. So that’s not good. Every festival should be a festival of love, nonviolence, happiness, joy, and friendship. We should—the animals are best friends—so we should take care of them too. So Dīvalī is a very great festival for the whole world. Don’t say it’s only for Indians. No, no, it is for all. The festivals are not designed only for humans. They are for good things, for everybody. Deep Nand Bhagavān Kī Devī, Śiva Kī Mādhava, Kṛṣṇa Bhagavān Kī Satya Sanātana. Oṁ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ. Śabara Rāmacandra Bhagavān Kī Umāpati Mahādeva Kī Pavana Sudhānuman Kī. Oṁ Śāntiḥ.