  We address the universal applicability of the discrete nonlinear Schroedinger
equation. By employing an original but general top-down/bottom-up procedure
based on symmetry analysis to the case of optical lattices, we derive the most
widely applicable and the simplest possible model, revealing that the discrete
nonlinear Schroedinger equation is ``universally'' fit to describe light
propagation even in discrete tensorial nonlinear systems and in the presence of
nonparaxial and vectorial effects.
