भाई दूज व्रत कथा · Bhai Dooj Vrat Katha

Bhai Dooj falls on the third day after Diwali, the second day of Kartik's waxing moon. On this day a sister marks her brother's forehead with a roli-rice tilak and feeds him sweets, and the brother, in turn, gives his sister a small gift as a token of his affection. Tradition holds that the brother should eat a meal at his sister's home that day; when he cannot make the visit, the sister goes instead to his home to perform the same tilak and feeding.

A puranic story is told about how this festival began. The river Yamuna, regarded as the sister of Yamraj, the god of death, once lovingly invited her brother to her home, marked his forehead with auspicious substances, and served him a meal with her own hands. The day she did this happened to be the second day of Kartik's waxing moon. Moved by his sister's devoted care, Yamraj told her to ask for any boon she wished.

Yamuna asked that any brother and sister who bathed together in her waters on this sacred date be spared the torments of Yama's judgment at the end of their lives, and be blessed with happiness and prosperity throughout it. Yamraj granted his beloved sister this boon and returned to his own realm, and from that day this festival has been kept as a symbol of the bond between brothers and sisters. That is why observing this day with proper devotion is considered every brother and sister's duty.