The Jain Side Of Diwali Equation

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IT has always been a mystery for our Hindu colleagues, friends or acquaintances of any kind to know how and why Jains celebrate Diwali. We have all been asked at least once if we celebrate Diwali at all, haven't we?

Thanks to our team, the mystery has been unfolded! Feel free to share this article explaining in laymen language the significance of Diwali in Jainism.


Known as the festival of lights, Diwali is the one of the most popular Indian festivals celebrated by people all around the globe.

The word 'Diwali' is a refined version of the word 'Deepawali' which in turn has been doctored from a Sanskrit word 'Deepalikaya'.

The oldest reference to 'Deepalikaya' is found in an ancient text 'Harivamsa Purana' written by a celebrated Jain author and Acarya Jinsena.
Which literally translates to
"the Pavanagari was illluminated by lamps to mark the occasion. Since that time, the people of Bharat celebrate the festival of "Deepalika" to worship the Jinendra (i.e. Lord Mahavira) on the occasion of his nirvana."

Yes. You read that! One of the most cardinal reasons for Jains to celebrate Diwali is that it marks the occasion of the Nirvana, salvation, liberation of their twenty-fourth, final, and the very popular tirthankara Mahavira.


As confirmed by an ancient composition 'Tilyapannatti' of  Yativrashabha (500-570 AD) who was a contemporary of the famous mathematician Aryabhata, Mahavira attained Nirvana on this day at Pawapuri on 15 October 527 BCE, on Chaturdashi of Kartika, at the dawn of the new moon.


According to the Shwetambara Jain text Kalpasutra, "during the final moments of Mahavira many heavenly beings were present there, illuminating the darkness".

But the following night was pitch black without the light of the heaven or the moon. To symbolically keep the bygone light of their master's knowledge alive the laymen lit the earthen lamps and hence the festival of lights 'Deepalika' or Diwali.

Interestingly, 'Deepalikaya' is an amalgamation of two words: Deepali (light) and Kaya (body) roughly translating to 'light leaving the body', indicating Mahavira's Nirvana.


But wait! There's more. The Jain tradition holds that this day also marks the attainment of supreme knowledge by Indrabhuti Gautam, the chief disciple of Mahavira only doubling its importance.

The Jain calendar known as 'Vira Nirvana Samvat' was formed keeping the Nirvana of Mahavira as the start year. A Jain new year starts with Pratipada following Diwali and their year 2544 will start with Diwali of year 2017.

So now you know everything!


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