Tattva

 As a part of the Hindu culture there are many practices which we follow diligently. We have often wondered what is the explanation behind them. One such practice is lighting a lamp. In almost every Hindu home, a lamp is lit daily before the altar of the Lord. All auspicious functions commence with the lighting of the lamp, which is often maintained right through the function.  What is the reason behind this practice?

Light symbolizes knowledge, and darkness, ignorance. Knowledge is a lasting inner wealth by which all outer achievements can be accomplished. Hence we light the lamp to bow down to knowledge as the greatest of all forms of wealth. Why not light a bulb or tube light ? That too would remove darkness. But the traditional oil lamp has a further spiritual significance. The oil/ghee in the lamp symbolizes our vasanas or negative tendencies and the wick, the ego. When lit by spiritual knowledge, the vaasanas get slowly exhausted and the ego too finally perishes.  The flame of a lamp always burns upwards. Similarly, we should acquire such knowledge so as to take us towards higher ideals.

Ravi Kiran is a PhD student at the Computer Science Department at University of Washington. You can reach him at kiran@cs.washington.edu 

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