Be The Light Unto Yourself

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Aurangabad, January 2016: The song started with a meditative Tibetan bowl sounds. Mandra sthayi (low pitch) aalap by male singers in the background.. Soothing yet powerful female voice was singing Appo Deepo Bhava!! Appo Deepo Bhava!! The whole mood was so enchanting. Deep. Metaphysical. By the end of the dance rehearsal, we all were into tears out of Brahmananda (Ecstasy).  Then I asked Parwati Didi[1] for the meaning of Appo Deepo Bhava. She said that it was said by Buddha to his disciple as “Be the light unto yourself”.




 How thoughtful? You should be your own light. Often we wait for somebody else to come and mend our lives. We want somebody else to help, somebody else as moral and financial support, somebody to show pity on us and somebody to complete our lives.  In this process of urge to validate ourselves by somebody else, we forget our worth. We think we are successful if the society approves our success. We are happy at our achievements if somebody praises us. We are not self content, self reliant and self made. We import our feelings and prestige from others’ views and opinions.  The more we become aware of ourselves, the lesser we are concerned about others’ speculations and the happier we would become. Buddha says – “Go within.  There is nowhere else to go.” Let us go within, explore and purify our hearts so as to see a beautiful world with our beautiful hearts. After all, world is the exact reflection of our own thoughts. Let us become our own light. APPO DEEPO BHAVA!!




[1] Parwati Datta is a well renowned Kathak and Odissi Dancer and the founder of Mahagami Gurukul in Aurangabad. I am glad to be part of her production “Panchatattva” and Appo deepo Bhava is the concluding piece in the production. 

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