Yama-Dvitīyā 2021

This festival is the fifth and last day of Dīpāvalī

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. It falls on the dvitīyā (second date) of the śukla pakṣa (bright half, waxing moon) of the lunar month of Kārttika. It is known as Yama-Dvitīyā, or more commonly as Bhrātr̥-Dvitīyā, the dvitīyā of the brother. This becomes Bhāī Dūj in Hindi, and Bhāū Bīj in Marathi. It has traditionally been a day when sisters honour their brother and receive gifts in return. However, I find this unequal and patriarchal. Hence, I am observing it this year as a celebration of siblings irrespective of gender. I see it as a day to worship several divine figures who are siblings.

The name Yama-Dvitīyā arises because this occasion is a celebration of the sibling love of the twins Yama (god of death and justice) and Yamī (the river goddess Yamunā), both children of Sūrya, the Sun, and his first wife Saṁjñā. Along with these two, I include many other deities. The pictures are below. You can click on them for a clearer view :)

Gaṇēśa (Piḷḷaiyār) and Kārttikēya (Murugaṉ) – children of the supreme deities Śiva and Śakti 🔱

The elephant-headed Gaṇēśa is prathama-pūjya, to be worshipped first. Along with him, I worship his (elder/younger) brother Murugaṉ. Both are children of Lord Śiva and Goddess Pārvatī. Murugaṉ has other mothers and fathers too: Agni (god of fire️‍🔥), Gaṅgā, the six Kr̥ttikās🔯(star-goddesses).

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Yama-Yamī, Śani, the Aśvinī-Kumāras – children of the Sun 

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These are all the children of Sūrya. Yama-Yamī are twins (the first twins to ever be born). Thus, twins are called yama-ja in Sanskrit, meaning born of Yama. The word is pronounced as jômoj in Bangla. The festival of Yama-Dvitīyā is celebrated in their honour.

Yama, the buffalo rider, is the god of death and justice, and is supposed to be the fairest, most impartial god. His sister Yamī, more commonly known as Yamunā, is a holy river. Sadly, humans have polluted the holy rivers beyond imagination. I hope that one day these rivers return to what they were in times prior to urbanization.

Along with Yama and Yamī, I include their half-brother Śani, god of the planet Saturn, who was born to Chāyā ("Shadow"), the reflection of Yama-Yamī's mother Saṁjñā. Śani is said to be black in colour and to ride a crow (or bear a crow emblem on his flag). He is believed to be the god who gives people the fruits of their actions. He has a sister too, the river Tapatī, who like Narmadā flows from east to west. I don't have an idol for her.

Yamunā's vāhanam (vehicle, carrier) is a turtle. It can be seen in this picture on closer inspection.

There is another set of twins born to Sūrya and Saṁjñā. These are the Aśvinī-Kumāras (literally, the sons of a mare), Dasra and Nāsatya by name. They are also called the Aśvins. One day, Saṁjñā, unable to bear the heat of Sūrya, ran away in horse form. Sūrya too turned into a horse, and went in search of her. Their reunion resulted in the birth of the Aśvins. I represent them here as horses.

Kr̥ṣṇa, Subhadrā, Balarāma

The idols in the picture below are replicas of the idols of these three siblings as represented at the Jagannāth temple in Puri, Odisha. There, Kr̥ṣṇa is known as Jagannātha, and Balarāma as Balabhadra. Balarāma (originally named Rāma, but given the prefix bala- for his strength) is Kr̥ṣṇa's elder half-brother, while Subhadrā is his younger half-sister. The father of all of them is Vasudēva. Kr̥ṣṇa's biological mother is Dēvakī, while the other two are children of Rōhiṇī. Kr̥ṣṇa and Rāma grew up together with their adoptive parents, Nanda and Yaśōdā. Subhadrā was born much later, after her brothers had returned to Vasudēva's house.

The leaves in this picture are kr̥ṣṇa tulasī (dark tulsi). These leaves are sacred to Kr̥ṣṇa and other avatars of Viṣṇu.

One may think that all the gods here at my altar are either male, or female. But Kr̥ṣṇa is beyond binary conventions of gender. Kr̥ṣṇa is He, She, Both and Neither. 

Gaurī and Gaṅgā – children of the Mountains 🏔️🏔️– and Viṣṇu

The river goddess Gaṅgā is the elder sister of Pārvatī/Gaurī/Umā, who is an avatar of Ādi Parāśakti, supreme goddess of the universe. Both are daughters of the god Himavān ("The Snowy One"), personification of the Himalayas, and his wife Mēnā.

Viṣṇu, while not born to Himavān, is Pārvatī's brother because that is the relationship they share. This is more intimate than the relationships between human siblings: When Pārvatī becomes Kālī and Viṣṇu becomes Kr̥ṣṇa, then He is She, and She is He. They are one. There is no distinction.

Gaṅgā too has a close connection with Viṣṇu. According to some sources, she originates from his feet.

I worship Viṣṇu with tulasī leaves, and the Goddess with 2 kinds of red oleander (rakta karavīra) flowers. These are among their preferred offerings.

Jyēṣṭhā, Lakṣmī, the Moon 🌙, and the Horse 

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– children of the ocean 🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊

When the Ocean of Milk was churned by the gods and antigods, it produced caturdaśa ratnāni – fourteen jewels. The most important one was of course amr̥tam, the nectar of immortality, equivalent to the Greek ambrosia. But the four that I worship today are also significant. They are Lakṣmī the goddess of wealth and beauty, Candra the Moon God, Uccaiḥśravas ("Long-Ears" or "Loudly-Neighing") the divine white horse, and Jyēṣṭhā, whose name translates to the Elder One. I represent Jyēṣṭhā by her vāhanam, the donkey.

When the sage Durvāsa cursed Indra, king of the gods, and his subjects, the Dēvas (gods) to lose their wealth, Lakṣmī and the Moon vanished. The Ocean was churned to get back the lost wealth, and Lakṣmī and Candra returned. Their birth from the Ocean made them siblings. But before Lakṣmī, there emerged her elder sister: a goddess known as Jyēṣṭhā. Here is something I had written about Jyēṣṭhā in December 2020:

"Along with worshipping Lakshmi, I would like to draw attention to her elder sister, also born from the Ocean. She is called Jyeshtha Devi (ज्येष्ठा देवी), the Elder Goddess. Her vaahanam (vehicle, carrier) is a donkey. Her Tamil name, Moodevi, which in reality just means the Elder Goddess, has somehow become an insult especially directed at women.

Jyeshtha was termed inauspicious by brahminical society, and called Alakshmi, the antithesis of Lakshmi. However, I am against brahminical ideas of auspiciousness/ inauspiciousness, which discriminate not just against goddesses and animals, but also against Dalits and against women whose husbands have died. I am led to believe that Jyeshtha was possibly an older non-Aryan goddess who was then deemed inauspicious and her worship was replaced by the worship of Lakshmi. I would like to bring back her worship, to subvert conventions of shubh/ashubh. 

Donkeys - some of the most beautiful and intelligent(!) animals - have been much maligned in Sanskrit texts. They have been termed stupid, or a bad omen. When Duryodhana, the villain of Mahabharata, is born, he brays like a donkey. The chariot in which Ravana kidnaps Sita is drawn by donkeys. When Ravana's destruction at Rama's hands is imminent, Ravana's servant Trijata, who is friendly to Sita, has nightmares of Ravana riding on a donkey and going southwards to his doom (anti-south bias here, ugh). And of course there is the association of the donkey with "Alakshmi". However, these lovely animals have long been a source of Lakshmi (wealth), i.e. livelihood, for various groups of people. Now, owing to lack of demand, these creatures are becoming endangered. Yes, this can happen to domestic animals too. I hope something can be done about this.

It is also Christmastime now. Let us remember that it was a little donkey who transported pregnant Mother Mary safely to Bethlehem."

The entire altar