 What is the point of lighting this lamp? What is the science behind it? Because this is a culture, this is a culture where we did not do anything, which is not scientific, which is not naturally for the enhancement of the human being to reach towards their ultimate well-being or liberation. So in this process, this light… lighting of the lamp is significant because in human experience, our visual experience is such, it's light which makes us see. So in this context, we have always seen that in our experience of these five senses, light plays a significant role in our perception of the world around us. If there is no light, there is no experience of anything around us. So in this context, light is important, but the significance of this day is not just about light, it is not just about lighting a lamp, it is the beginning of what we refer to as the Kaivalya Pada. It is in this context that we have made this Karthik Masam very, very significant because this is the shift from Sadhana Pada to Kaivalya Pada. What this means, I will go into it. Over fifteen thousand years ago, a yogi appeared in the upper regions of Himalayas. I see here there's an attempt to create the Himalayan atmosphere. Nobody knew where he came from, what his antecedents were. His name, his identity was not known. Not knowing who he is, but drawn to the power of his being, people assembled. Because he never introduced himself, not told his name. People started referring to him as Adiyogi, the first yogi. A huge gathering like this happened, but he did nothing. He said nothing, he did nothing. He simply sat still. If nobody says anything here on this stage or do anything on this stage, within ten minutes half the people at the rear part of the thing will slowly disappear. If we don't do anything for three hours, most of them will disappear. If we don't do anything for three days, only a few hardcore ones will hang on, the rest of them will be gone. The same happened to him. Thousands of people gathered initially. He said nothing, did nothing, simply sat still. Days, weeks, months passed, he simply sat still. People could not make out whether he's really alive or not. The only sign of aliveness was tears of ecstasy were dribbling down his cheeks, otherwise he did not even seem to be breathing. They were expecting a miracle. Their idea of a miracle is something dramatic to happen. But what they were missing is that for a human being to sit here unmoving for months, no water, no food, no attending to nature's calls, simply sitting here, if you have to sit like this, you have to transcend your physical nature. That is one thing they could not notice, just seven people hung on. And those seven people today are celebrated in this culture as the Saptarishis, these seven beings, the Saptarishis pursued him. And they're longing, they're wanting to know, they're wanting to transcend their own limitations, made Adiyogi. Who they started referring to as Shiva, because the word Shiva literally means Shiva means that which is not. That which is, is material. That which is, is creation. That which is not is the basis of creation. So they refer to him as Shiva, but he sat there as a yogi with them. And seeing their interest, when the sun shifted from Uttarayana to Dakshinayana, in the month of June, the first full moon after Dakshinayana, he turned south because the sun turned south, he turned south and started expanding the science of knowing the mechanics of what a human being is and what is his relationship with the rest of the universe and how we can make this into one. So this face of the ear, which is Dakshinayana, is referred to as the Sadana Pada. The Karthikmasam is significant because now it is moving into what is called as Khyvalya Pada. That means this was all the time of ploughing, seeding and cultivating. Now, the time for harvest, the inner harvest of whatever sadhana you have done to take the cream of that sadhana, to make it available to yourself. You have heard many stories about this with everybody is definitely aware of how Pithamahabhishma waited on the bed of Arus not to die in the Sadana Pada but he wants to die or leave his body in the Khyvalya Pada because that is the time you can harvest the fruits of life. The inner nature can be harvested very easily in the Khyvalya Pada. Right now, this is the transition from sadhana to Khyvalya and it is because of that in this month, lighting of lamp is indicative of enlightenment, awareness, consciousness and ultimate liberation. All this is symbolized with the lamps that we light. Now, this is not just about lighting one lamp, usually the tradition said that as the Karthikmasam comes, you must double the lamps that we light because one thing is the day has become shorter, so you need little more light to do your daily activity. Another thing is to indicate that you are multiplying the light in your life. We want 125 crore lamps in this country for every one of them, at least one for every one. We need seven hundred crores of lamps for every human being on this planet. You cannot do all that by yourself, you must do this much. One for yourself, one for somebody who is dear to you and one for somebody whom you do not like. The festivals of India were made in such a way in the past. In this culture, we had three hundred and sixty-five festivals because every day is worth celebrating. So every day was a festival, but slowly we moved from being agricultural families to office-going families. So only when the government gives you a holiday, that is a festival, otherwise it is not a festival. And gradually it is so happening that a festival means there was a time when the whole town or the village came together, it was a time of communion, it was a time of togetherness, it was a time of joy and celebration. But today festival means over-eating and watching cinema on the television. So it's very wonderful to see that in the name of festival all of you have assembled here and lighting a lamp together is very significant because lighting a lamp for each other, lighting a lamp for ourselves is a very important part of our lives.