कल्याणी वत गाथेयं लौकिकी प्रतिभाति माम्।एति जीवन्तमानन्दो नरं वर्षशतादपि॥
Joy comes to the one who stays alive, even after a hundred years.
Bharata to Hanuman · Valmiki Ramayana 6.126
The homecoming, as Valmiki and Tulsidas tell it
Diwali is a return. Here is the return, in the words of the two texts most families know.
Diwali remembers Ram's return to Ayodhya after fourteen years. In Valmiki (Yuddha Kanda, sargas 125 to 128), Hanuman goes ahead to Bharata at Nandigram, the city strews flowers and raises flags, and Bharata hands back the kingdom he held in trust. In Tulsidas (Uttar Kand, dohas 1 to 9), the women of Ayodhya meet Ram with plates of aarti.
Switch the original lines between Devanagari and IAST.
The last day of waiting
Tulsidas opens his Uttar Kand on the last day of the fourteen years. Bharat is sure Ram has forgotten him. In Valmiki, Hanuman finds him just outside Ayodhya, thin, in bark clothes, living on fruit and roots.
रहेउ एक दिन अवधि अधारा।समुझत मन दुख भयउ अपारा॥One day was left of the term that had kept him alive. Thinking of it, Bharat’s grief grew past bearing.
ददर्श भरतं दीनं कृशमाश्रमवासिनम्He saw Bharata, worn and thin, living like a hermit.
The news
When Hanuman tells him Ram is close, Bharata answers with an old saying.
कल्याणी वत गाथेयं लौकिकी प्रतिभाति माम्।एति जीवन्तमानन्दो नरं वर्षशतादपि॥The old saying rings true to me now: joy comes to the one who stays alive, even after a hundred years.
The city gets ready
In Valmiki, Shatrughna orders the roads levelled, flowers and puffed rice scattered and flags raised. In Tulsidas, the women fill golden plates with curd, durva and tulsi and walk out singing.
ततोऽभ्यवकिरन्त्वन्ये लाजैः पुष्पैश्च सर्वतः।समुच्छ्रितपताकास्तु रथ्याः पुरवरोत्तमेLet others scatter puffed rice and flowers everywhere, and let flags fly high over the streets of this finest of cities.
दधि दुर्बा रोचन फल फूला।नव तुलसी दल मंगल मूला॥भरि भरि हेम थार भामिनी।गावत चलिं सिंधुरगामिनी॥Curd, durva grass, rochana, fruit, flowers and fresh tulsi leaves, the root of every good thing: the women filled golden plates with them and walked out singing.
The meeting
Bharat falls at Ram’s feet and will not get up. In Valmiki he puts Ram’s sandals back on his feet and gives back the kingdom, ten times richer, he says, than when he took it in trust.
परे भूमि नहिं उठत उठाए।बर करि कृपासिंधु उर लाए॥Bharat lay on the ground and would not rise when they lifted him. Ram, the ocean of kindness, pulled him up and held him to his chest.
पादुके ते तु रामस्य गृहीत्वा भरतः स्वयम्।चरणाभ्यां नरेन्द्रस्य योजयामास धर्मवित्Bharata himself took Ram's sandals and put them back on the king's feet.
एतत्ते सकलं राज्यं न्यासं निर्यातितं मयाThis whole kingdom, which I held in trust for you, I give back to you.
The lamps
Neither text describes rows of clay diyas lit for the return. Tulsidas has golden aarti plates at every door as Ram enters, and, describing Ayodhya in Ram’s reign, lamps of gems in every house. The diyas of Diwali are how families have kept that welcome since.
कंचन थार आरतीं नाना।जुबतीं सजें करहिं सुभ गाना॥Young women carried golden plates set for aarti and sang songs of blessing.
बहु मनि रचित झरोखा भ्राजहिं।गृह गृह प्रति मनि दीप बिराजहिं॥Windows set with jewels shine, and in every house there are lamps of gems.
Home
From the air, Ram points Ayodhya out to his friends from Lanka and Kishkindha.
जन्मभूमि मम पुरी सुहावनि।उत्तर दिसि बह सरजू पावनि॥This lovely city is where I was born. To its north flows the holy Sarayu.
What it asks of you this week
Diwali is a homecoming. This week, go back to someone who has been waiting for you, or call them.
Bharata ruled for fourteen years without calling the kingdom his. Krishna describes the one who lives without the sense of 'mine', and finds peace.
Read Bhagavad Gita 2.71A line for your Diwali messages
Copy it, send it on WhatsApp, or save it as an image.
सर्वे क्षयान्ता निचयाः पतनान्ताः समुच्छ्रयाः।संयोगा विप्रयोगान्ता मरणान्तं च जीवितम्॥
Whatever is gathered runs out, whatever rises falls, whatever comes together parts, and every life ends in death.
Ram to Bharata · Valmiki Ramayana 2.105
Seven mornings, one line each, for what you are going through. Week 1 is free.
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Questions people ask
- Why is Diwali linked to the Ramayana?
- Diwali remembers Ram's return to Ayodhya after fourteen years of exile and the war in Lanka. Valmiki tells the return in Yuddha Kanda, sargas 125 to 128; Tulsidas opens his Uttar Kand with it.
- Does the Ramayana say people lit diyas when Ram returned?
- Neither text describes rows of clay lamps lit for the return. Valmiki has flowers, puffed rice and flags (Yuddha Kanda, sarga 127). Tulsidas has golden aarti plates at every door and, describing Ayodhya in Ram's reign, lamps of gems in every house.
- What did Bharata do when Ram came back?
- In Valmiki he put Ram's sandals back on his feet and handed back the kingdom he had held in trust (Yuddha Kanda, sarga 127). In Tulsidas he lay at Ram's feet until Ram lifted him and held him close (Uttar Kand, doha 5).
Sources and method
Valmiki lines are from the Sanskrit Valmiki Ramayana; references give the kanda and sarga, which match the Gita Press edition. Shloka numbers differ between printed editions, so each line also carries its Wisdom line id. Tulsidas lines are from the Ramcharitmanas in Awadhi; where a doha number is given it follows the Gita Press, Gorakhpur edition, and where we could not yet confirm the number we give only the kand.
The English is Wisdom's own. For Valmiki we checked our wording against M. N. Dutt's public-domain translation (1891 to 1894). Readings follow traditional commentary. Wisdom translation, edited by Ankur Shukla. Commentary AI-drafted, human-reviewed.