Warm greetings and Deepawali best wishes to all Fijians from the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha of Fiji.
Once again the auspicious time of the Festival of Lights has arrived.
The values of the Festival of Lights are multi-dimensional.
Deepawali is a festival of moral values and social obligations.
It promotes unity in diversity, love for all and respect for each other.
Today we are crying foul as climate change is providing a worrisome future.
Being a farmers festival, Deepawali’s values are also embedded in the practice of good farm husbandry.
The respect for nature was and is a key factor for a sustainable future.
Human greed has adversely affected the environment and brought about negative impacts. Agrarian economy is largely dependent on good natural resources such as fertile land and plentiful water.
In God’s creation everything is reciprocal. One only reaps what one has sown.
If we humans abuse nature, nature pays us back in devastating forms such as floods, cyclones and prolonged droughts.
Deepawali promotes the value of truth against untruth, the triumph of light (knowledge) over darkness (ignorance) and life over sufferings.
These three elements are essential for healthy beings, a healthy environment and overcoming sufferings.
Deepawali also and significantly promotes the values of unity and enterprising, the values of understanding and reciprocity, and above all the values of caring and sharing.
The global COVID-19 pandemic has been a painful experience. Lives and livelihoods have been lost.
In the doom and gloom environment, Deepawali also brings the values of hope and interdependence.
May the Festival of Lights infuse in us the spirit and ability to overcome adversities through collective endeavours, strengthen our resolves through a united front, and build bridges and not barriers.
As a mark of deep respect, the ARYA fraternity globally observes the passing away of a distinguished social reformer of the present time and the founder of the global Arya Samaj Movement – Maharishi Swami Dayanand Saraswati – who left his mortal being on Deepawali night of October 30, 1883.
He brought the universal Vedic values to the fore, laid down the principles of equality and purpose of life, and unequivocally declared that women and girls had the right to education.
May Deepawali bring to every home happiness, peace, and greater enlightenment.
Happy Deepawali to all. Stay blessed. Stay safe.
