Vijaydashmi is the day of victory, representing the day of enlightenment when all vasanas are destroyed and the knowledge of the Self has dawned on the individual. The individual is said to have attained Self-Realization. The triumph of having moved from the ignorant state of JIVAHOOD (embodied soul) to the enlightened state of SHIVAHOOD (liberated soul). This day marks the triumph of spirit over matter, of victory of divine qualities over evil qualities, of the removal of ignorance by the light of wisdom and knowledge.

- Shri Ramesh Jain

‘Most of us celebrate festivals by following various rituals but without really understanding the significance of the festival and the message it is trying to give. You are right when you said that every festival or puja or ritual should be understood from its knowledge aspect and then connect our emotions while performing it or celebrating it. I tried and found that it’s working wonderfully well. Thanks for giving a new direction of celebration.

Q: What is the significance of rituals such as pooja, homa, aarti, yagna, fasting etc. during religious festivals?

A: Rituals are designed to help invoke the power of our emotions during various festivals as on those particular days (days of festivals), the whole universe is in a particular format and our rishis and munis have devised rituals so as to format our emotions and synchronize them with the format of the universe. If one is able to emanate required emotions with required intensity then one need not really follow any rituals.