Of light and illumination…

In continuation of the series of shlokas that I have been compiling in order to teach Rohāmrta, here is the Deepa Jyothi shloka. I did try hard to search for it’s original source, but was unsuccessful. But sometimes origins do not matter. Here is a shloka that a child can recite in the evening, after lighting a Deepa. Not a candle, but a deepa, with oil or ghee.

One Deepa, that lights the Jnana Jyothi(the inner wisdom)…the many diyas in your mind are lit by this one Jyothi…

What do you need to light a diya? Four main ingredients – an earthen diya, oil, a cotton wick and a match. Likewise, you need four ingredients to light your inner diya – Vairagya(detachment) as the earthen diya, Bhakti (devotion) as the oil, Ekāgrata (single-mindedness) as the cotton wick, and Jnana(knowledge) to provide the spark. 


शुभं करोति कल्याणमारोग्यं धनसंपदा ।
शत्रुबुद्धिविनाशाय दीपज्योतिर्नमोऽस्तुते ॥

śubhaṃ karoti kalyāṇamārogyaṃ dhanasaṃpadā .
śatrubuddhivināśāya dīpajyotirnamo’stute ..

Subham = good / auspiciousness; karoti = which does/brings; kalyanam = prosperity; arogyam = freedom from disease (good health); dhana = money (currency); sampadah = abundance of wealth; shatru = enemy; buddhi = intellect; shatru = enemy; shatrubuddhi = enemy of the intellect (ignorance); vinaasha =  complete destruction; deepa = lamp;  jyothi = light /glow / illumination; namaha = salutation / paying respect; astu = let it be; te = you; namosthute = I salute you.

Namaskara to the light that brings auspiciousness, prosperity, good health, abundance of money and wealth, and the destruction of the intellect’s enemy.