Bhai Beej
What it is
Bhai Beej — Yam Dwitiya — falls on Kartik sud Beej, the second day of the bright fortnight, and closes the festive days of Diwali. Its story belongs to a sister and brother of the divine family: Shri Yamunaji, daughter of Suryanarayan, lovingly invited her brother Yamraj, the lord of death, to her home. She welcomed him with a tilak on his brow and fed him with her own hands. Moved by her affection, Yamraj granted a boon: whoever bathes in Yamunaji's waters on this day shall be freed from the fear of Yamlok. From that day, sisters invite brothers home, apply the tilak, feed them and pray for their long life, while brothers bring gifts and their protection.
For Pushtimarg the day glows with a special light, because Shri Yamunaji is no ordinary river: she is the beloved of Prabhu, the giver of entry into His lila, praised by Shri Mahaprabhuji Vallabhacharya in the Shri Yamunashtakam. In Vraj, Vaishnavs take Yamuna snan on this day, and in the havelis Thakorji's darshan carries the tender bhav of family love made divine.
Why we observe it
In Pushtimarg, Bhai Beej is above all Shri Yamunaji's day. Shri Mahaprabhuji sang that she bestows all siddhis and ripens the soul's love for Shri Krishna; Vaishnavs bow to her daily as the mother who carries the jiv to the Lord's feet. On this beej, her tenderness toward her own brother becomes the picture of her tenderness toward us: if the lord of death himself was disarmed by her love, what fear can remain for one whom Yamunaji holds? The boon of Yam Dwitiya is therefore read with a Pushti eye — freedom from Yama's fear comes not from ritual alone, but from belonging, from being family to the divine.
The household custom carries the same sweetness. The sister's tilak, the shared meal, the brother's protection are the ordinary love of a home lifted into seva, for in Pushtimarg the home is Prabhu's haveli and family affection is a form of His lila. A Vaishnav keeps this day by honouring the bond of brother and sister, remembering Shri Yamunaji with the Yamunashtakam, and asking that every relationship in life be threaded through with the Lord's remembrance.