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Diwali is the festival of lights. A long row of gleaming lamps illuminate the streets and courtyards, houses and huts, celebrating the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance and good over evil. But beyond those flickering lamps that illuminate our homes, there is a constant and sublime, eternal and radiant light that shines within the human heart – forever and ever.
That light is what Vidyaranya Swami’s Panchadashi calls Kutastha-Deepa – the eternal lamp within. In its deepest sense, Diwali is about awakening to this inner light, grounding ourselves in the light of this eternal consciousness.
In the Deep-Panchaka section of Panchadashi, Vidyaranya Swami beautifully describes the layered presence of five types of light in human existence – the physical light of the lamp, the light of the senses, the light of the mind, the light of the intellect, and the light of the self (Atma Jyoti). The eternal soul itself is called Kutastha-Deep. Every higher light illuminates the lower light: the eyes see through the attention of the mind, the mind acts through the guidance of the intellect, and the intellect in turn is guided by the cosmic light of witness-consciousness – the witness, the soul.
This blissful, bright, unbreakable and unchangeable consciousness – Kutastha-deepa – illuminates every aspect of our lives. It is the basis of all thoughts, feelings and actions, yet remains untouched and untainted by the fluctuations of the mind. It is the light that lights the lamp of our soul. This is the soul itself.
Therefore, Diwali is not just about dispelling outer darkness or lighting up a night with festive lamps. Deep introspection reveals that it should be about removing the long night of avidya (ignorance) – the darkness that creates confusion, conflict and chaos within and around us. Avidya blinds us from our true nature and the essence of our existence.
Unfortunately, the spirit (spirit) of Diwali has been eclipsed by bhoga (indulgence). In today’s consumer-driven societies, Diwali has become a spectacle of shopping sprees, social media displays and market-driven emotions – all of which show how the outside world directs the flame of our happiness. This outer flame keeps flickering, blown by the winds of desire, anxiety and comparison. The result is fleeting happiness followed by tension, stress and a growing feeling of emptiness – a crisis of meaning, self and identity.
The sparkling night of Diwali provides a golden opportunity to look within ourselves – to go beyond these momentary lamps of worldly pleasures and rediscover that ever-shining lamp of awareness that spreads inexpressible joy forever. Amidst the lamps and lamps lit outside, Diwali becomes a moment of introspection – a moment of spiritual-research (self-inquiry).
As the Kena Upanishad beautifully asks: “What is the light behind this light? What illuminates this outer light?” Those small, delicate lamps that we light on the night of Diwali remind us that all lights ultimately arise from and merge into one eternal consciousness.
The Bhagavad Gita expresses this truth clearly:
“Beyond darkness itself is the light of light; the source of all light.” (13.18)
Panchadashi takes this further: “You are that light” – a light that is not lit by oil or wick, unaffected by the winds of consumerism, anxiety or unfulfilled desires. Constant, blissful and ever-illuminating, this inner glow leads us from avidya (ignorance) to vidya (knowledge), from darkness to the luminous presence of knowledge and bliss.
Classical Indian philosophy provides us with a profound framework for accessing this inner lamp of reality – the Kutastha-deepa. This Diwali, let us awaken our consciousness to the eternal light that illuminates life forever and ever.
You are that Kutastha-Deep. Then Diwali will no longer be just a night of lights – it will become a constant and joyful state, a celebration of what Indian philosophy calls Nitya Diwali – the eternal Diwali of the soul.
(The author is Rakesh Ranjan Das, PhD candidate, Center for Political Studies, JNU)
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