The Diwali Story

Written by Sandeep Nath on Nov 7, 2010 3:06 am

A long time ago there was a greedy king. He wanted to possess all the riches of the world and did not want even the people of his kingdom to share any of it. So on Diwali day he ordered that only his palace be lit for Laxmiji (Goddess of wealth) to come to. The rest of the citizens were suppose to stay in darkness.

That night when Laxmiji came to the city she was troubled by the darkness. She kept stumbling along the way. Soon she reached the kings palace which was so brightly lit that it hurt her eyes and she fled. There at distance she saw a small flicker of light which was just right for her to see and find her way. She reached the small weathered cottage from where it came.

Laxmiji knocked at the door and a lady answered asking her who she was. She introduced herself as Laxmi – the Goddess of weath. She requested the lady if she could come in as she was very troubled. She told her about how the whole city was in darkness and the palace was lit so bright that she could not tolerate it, and how the candle light coming from her house was just right and so she wanted to come in and rest. The lady heard Laxmiji’s story and said that if she wanted to come in she had a make a promise that once she came into the house she would never leave it, else she should not come in at all. Laxmiji promised her that she would never leave and requested her to please let her come in. The lady agreed.

The moment Laxmiji entered the house an old frail man tried to run out. He was Dalidra, the man of poverty. The lady caught hold of him and asked him as to how he could leave her when he had infact in the past told her that he would stay with her forever. Dalidra asked for forgiveness and said that in a place where Laxmiji resides he cannot stay. So the lady made him promise that now that he was leaving her house he should never return. He gladly promised her so and left.

The next morning the king woke up expecting to find all the riches that Laxmiji would have left for him. To his shock there was none. So he sent his men far and wide to find out where Laxmiji went the night before. His men came back and told him that far in the wilderness there used to be a small cottage which has now become like a grand palace overnight. The king sent for the person who lived there.

The lady came to the palace and the king asked her angrily as to how she could build a palace overnight. She informed the king that it was because of Laxmiji coming to her house. Hearing this the king became even more furious and asked her if she had lit anything the night before. She told the king that she had not lit anything for Laxmiji to come but was burning a small candle to help her sew the dresses she had to stitch to be able to earn enough money for the next day to eat. She was only doing her work to support herself and told him about her conversation with Laxmiji.

Hearing the story the king realised his mistake. He realised that true wealth comes to our door only when we strive and do our work with honesty and dedication. It does not come our way when we are greedy and selfish.

So festival of lights is a day when we share and spread light to the lives of all we meet. We commit to work hard and start another new year with hope, zeal and faith. And we always find Laxmiji smiling down upon us!

Note: Reproduced from a Mumbai psychologist site.