Why do we light a diya?
In millions of homes, the day ends with a small flame lit before the gods. Why a lamp? Why ghee or oil? And what prayer goes with it?
The verse
Light is knowledge
In Hindu symbolism, darkness stands for ignorance and light for knowledge. Lighting a lamp is a prayer: "tamaso mā jyotir gamaya" — lead me from darkness to light (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.3.28). The flame always rises upward, the tradition notes, as our thoughts should.
What the lamp is made of
Each part of the diya carries a meaning — the oil, the wick, the flame — and the evening prayer that families say as they light it has a beautiful logic of its own…
The journey continues for members
- The parts of the lamp
- The evening prayer
- Practice
Sources
- Brihadaranyaka Upanishad — 1.3.28
- Traditional deepa shloka