Tomorrow is Naraka Chaturdashi, the first day of Deepāvali (“the Festival of Lights”). Naraka Chaturdashi commemorates the victory of Lord Krishna over Narakāsura. Narakāsura was an incredibly powerful Asura, who was the son of Bhoomi Devi and Lord Varāha. He committed atrocities across all realms and was almost invincible. It took Lord Krishna carrying out an aerial assault on his palace at night to defeat and kill him. Lord Krishna flew on Garuda with his wife Satyabhāma to carry out a surprise attack on Naraka’s citadel in Pragjyotishpura to slay the Asura.

Narakāsura had defeated the Devas, including Indra and Varuna. He had imprisoned thousands of women and looted wealth from the Devas and many other regions. The Devas were never powerless. They are the Guardians of the 8 directions, with Brahma and Vishnu being the guardians of the Zenith and the Nadir respectively. Lord Shiva, called Eesha, is the guardian of the North East.

Being the Guardians and celestial beings, the Devas are very powerful and it takes an Asura of rare abilities who only seldom appears to defeat them. Just because the stories depict Lord Vishnu coming to their protection and rescue does not mean that they are always frail and in need of help.

All the Devas, in a show of strength, carry a specific weapon which is always depicted in iconography depicting them. I am sharing a video below that depicts these weapons and possible use of the same.

This is a video I made a few years ago as part of the Indian Independence Day celebration at work. But it fits into this post pretty well in my opinion. I am not editing out the Independence Day wishes at the end, because the occasion is not important, the depiction of the use of the weapons is.

Wish you all a blessed Deepāvali! 🙂

This video was made during a mild phase of the pandemic. Hence the masks on both demonstrators in the video.