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Friday, 10 November 2023

Shubh Dhanteras and Shubh Diwali

Dhanteras constitutes of two words- Dhan and Teras.

"Dhan" means- wealth

"Teras" means- the 13th Day of the Krishna Paksha (dark fortnight) of the Kartik (Kartika) Maas (Maasa or month).

13th day is also called- "Trayodashi".
Dhanteras is "Dhanwantari Trayodashi" or "Dhantrayodashi". On this auspicious day, Shree Dhanwantari is worshipped.
It is Dhanwantari Jayanti i.e. the appearance day of Shree Dhanwantari.
Shree Dhanwantari had appeared with a pot full of Amrit (nectar).
Shree Dhanwantari is the Hindu God of Medicine and Ayurveda.
Shree Dhanwantari represents good health and wellness.

"Happy Dhanteras" Wish Messages

The following are some of the Dhanteras messages of respective handles from X (formerly Twitter)-


Many of the "Happy Dhanteras" wish messages on social media feature Goddess Lakshmi and many pots filled with gold coins.
When and how did the pot full of nectar of Shree Dhanwantari get replaced by gold?

Pots of gold no doubt look great in images.
They are "golden" wishes.

There is also a Dhanwantari Yantra that is believed to bring good fortune.

Source: @i, X



Material World

Many associate Dhanteras with purchasing new goods, gold and silver ornaments and products.

This is a "material world" and the "age of consumerism".
People's worth is estimated by the things and riches they own.
Even if we own a lot of material wealth, we still wish for more.
"Yeh Dil Maange More" i.e. This heart wants more- as proclaimed in a past advertisement of the Pepsi soft drink.
Wealth and prosperity are not just about riches, bank balance, money, material goods and products, and fortune like gold, silver etc.

Health Is Wealth

It is said- "Health is wealth."

We can have all the wealth in the world, but we cannot ensure longevity or buy someone's life.
We cannot make a dead person alive in exchange for our riches.
Having seen such great personal losses in my life, I often wonder about the futility of all the race and chase.

Real wealth is our wellness and health that can ensure prosperity.
Only when we are healthy and happy can we think and feel better and work better.
Wealth is also about mental, emotional and spiritual well-being apart from physical well-being.
"A sound mind dwells in a sound body."
An unhealthy body and mind cannot contribute to its full potential.

May Shree Dhanwantari grant all great health;

May Shree Ganesha remove obstacles, and 
May Shree Kubera grant wealth.

While we pray for "Shubh Laabh", we also pray for "Shubh Dhanteras" and a "Shubh Diwali".

Many celebrities have also wished- "Happy Dhanteras"



Replace Happy With Shubh

Requesting all to use the word "Shubh" instead of "Happy".
Why "Happy Dhanteras" and why not "Shubh Dhanteras"?

The word "Shubh" can and should replace "Happy" in our wish messages.
And this is not just about Dhanteras or Diwali.
Think of any festival or event- and the word "Happy" is universal.
Happy New Year
Happy Holi
Happy Ram Navami
Happy Ratha Jatra
Happy Raja
Happy Janmashtami
Happy Ganesh Chaturthi
Happy Durga Puja 
Happy Dussehra 
Happy Birthday
Happy Anniversary... etc.

We all have used the "Happy" word for our wishes, and many of us continue to use.
Having realized the importance of being "vocal for local", we must make an attempt to start using our local words/terms.

Agreed that English is a universal language and we are anyway using it to convey our messages.
For example, this blog post is also using English language to convey the replacement of the English word "happy" for our regional festival and celebration messages.
However, our traditional terms can and must be used rather than their English counterparts.

Replacing "Happy "with "Shubh" should make some like me even more "happy" :)

Hope to see "Shubh Diwali" messages this Diwali.
#ThisDiwaliShubhDiwali #ShubhDiwali

This was my Diwali wish last year i.e. in 2022-
This was my Diwali wish in 2021-

In Odia language, "Shubh" is called "Subha".

As per the Odia calendar too, there is Trayodashi tithi, and Dhanwantari Jayanti.
However, it was never in the culture of Odias to make gold and utensil purchases on this date/day.
How, when and why did so many start adopting and adapting other customs believing that only such material purchases are auspicious?
Did any Odias ever purchase Suna or Rupa Tarakasi (Gold or Silver Filigree) of Cuttack, Odisha?
How many purchased Odisha handloom clothes for the festive season?

Tomorrow, 11th November is "Naraka Chaturdasi", and Deepabali is on 12th November this year.
Here's wishing everyone- 
Subha Dhanwantari Jayanti & Subha Deepabali.

May our lives be blessed with great health, wealth, and happiness.

Did you make purchases this Dhanteras? If yes, what did you buy?
If not, how did you celebrate Dhanteras? 
Please share in the comments below. 
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9 comments:

  1. SG11 November 2023 at 08:54

    Very happy Deepavali to you and your family.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anita Sabat11 November 2023 at 19:13

      Thank you so much.
      Heartiest Deepavali wishes for you & your family :)

      Delete
  2. SG11 November 2023 at 08:58

    Hope that "etc" at end includes Pongal and Onam also. Just wondering

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anita Sabat11 November 2023 at 19:17

      Thanks for sharing :)
      Yes, yes. Of course.
      Thought of adding "Happy Onam" too & many others.
      The list will be so much longer...
      Why use "Happy" with all our Indian festivals & celebration wishes when we can use Subha/Shubh instead?

      Delete
    2. SG11 November 2023 at 22:53

      Non-Hindi knowing people don't know for Subha/Shubh means.

      Delete
    3. SG13 November 2023 at 23:22

      Sanskrit? It is a dead language. Tamil, which is more ancient or same time as Sanskrit, is still spoken in the streets by millions of people around the world. It is a national language in Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Malaysia. Tamil word for Shubham is “vazhthu”. Why don’t we all say “Diwali Vazhthu”.

      Delete
    4. Anita Sabat14 November 2023 at 15:59

      Was not aware of "Vazhthu"- Shubh meaning in Tamil.
      Do you wish "Vazhthu Deepawali" in Tamil?

      In Hindi, "Vastu" means thing.
      Plus, "Vaastu" - Vastu is a part of "Vastu Shastra"- "Textual part of Vastu Vidya – the broader knowledge about architecture and design theories from ancient India".

      In Hindi & other languages the word-, "Shubh/Subha/Shubho etc" is used for wish messages.
      It is another story that many have happily replaced the local words with their English counterpart- thus "Happy" is ubiquitous!
      When Devanagari script & local scripts are used for English words in our local language messages (despite having our own Indian words to convey the same message), we need to pay attention.

      Delete
    5. SG14 November 2023 at 21:41

      Yes. We say deepavali vazhthu.

      Delete
    6. Anita Sabat15 November 2023 at 20:26

      That's great.
      We need to popularize our local words/terms etc.
      #vocalforlocal

      Delete

Your words mean a lot to me.