English
Bhai Dooj: Yama and Yamuna
Source: Traditional katha (Yama Dwitiya)
The sun god Surya and his wife Sanjna had twin children: a son, Yama, and a daughter, Yamuna. As children they played together and grew up together, and there was boundless affection between them.
As they grew up their paths parted. Yama became Dharmaraja, keeping the account of every being's deeds and judging them. Yamuna became a river and flowed upon the earth.
Yamuna missed her brother very much. Again and again she sent word, “Brother, come to my home some day. I want to feed you with my own hands.”
But Yama's work never stopped. Every time he said, “Sister, next time I'll surely come.” And that next time never came. The years went by. Yama missed his sister too, but how could he leave the reckoning of the deeds of all beings in the three worlds even for a day?
Still Yamuna watched for her brother every day. She never complained; she simply swept the courtyard, decorated the door and thought, “Perhaps today my brother will come.” At every festival she cooked her brother's favourite dishes, and every time the plate stayed untouched.
Then came Dwitiya, the second day of the bright fortnight of Kartik. In the morning Yamuna was busy with her housework as usual when suddenly she heard someone at the door.
She turned around… and there, smiling at the door, stood Yama himself.
Yamuna's eyes filled with tears of joy. She ran to her brother, washed his feet, seated him on a cushion and performed aarti for him.
Then she lovingly placed a tilak on his forehead. She went into the kitchen, cooked all kinds of dishes with her own hands and fed her brother with great delight. She sat beside him fanning him and talking about their childhood.
Yama, whose very name the whole world fears, was that day simply a brother, soaked in his sister's love. Never anywhere had he been welcomed like this. For that one day, the stern judge of all the worlds forgot every duty but being loved.
After the meal Yama said happily, “Sister, today you have won my heart. Ask for any boon.”
Yamuna asked nothing for herself. She said, “Brother, grant only this: come to my home on this day every year. And any brother who on this day goes to his sister's home, receives her tilak and eats food from her hands, let him have no fear of you.”
Yama smiled and said, “So be it.” He gave his sister fine clothes and ornaments and took his leave.
Since then Kartik Shukla Dwitiya has been called Yama Dwitiya or Bhai Dooj. On this day brothers visit their sisters' homes, and sisters apply tilak, perform aarti, feed them and pray for their long life.
Brothers in turn lovingly give their sisters gifts and keep their lifelong promise to protect their honour and happiness. In Mathura brothers and sisters also bathe together in the Yamuna on this day.
What this story teaches
Relationships need time and affection. Yamuna asked not for herself but for every brother and sister: this selfless love is the soul of Bhai Dooj.
Bhai Dooj is celebrated two days after Diwali, on Kartik Shukla Dwitiya. Sisters apply a tilak of roli and rice to their brothers, perform aarti and feed them. This story is told in popular tradition as the katha of Yama Dwitiya; in many regions Chitragupta Puja is also performed on this day.
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