Special on Valentine’s Day
…..Brahma Kumaris write love letters to God!

Dr. Shri Gopal Narsan Advocate

Even though Valentine’s Day is a festival to feel the heartbeat of young hearts, Brahma Kumaris brothers and sisters dedicated to spirituality consider only and only God as their Sajan or Sajani and not only express their love to God, but also write love-filled letters to Him. Prajapita Brahma Kumari Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya is the only institute in the world which is run by God Shiva himself. For the brothers and sisters associated with this institute, God Shiva is their Sajan and God is their Sajan. That is why Brahma Kumaris and Brahma Kumars write love letters to God Shiva and remain lost in His memories and love just like Meera used to remain lost in the devotion of Shri Krishna. In fact, ever since there is life in this world, there has been love and the expression of love has also been happening since then. We can say that when man gave birth to language, created words for actions and feelings and created a script for those words, the trend of writing love letters must have started from then. Love letter has been a powerful medium to express one’s love. It is said that the first love letter in the world was written by Rukmini to Shri Krishna, she wrote a letter and sent it to Shri Krishna through her friend Sunanda. This fact is also mentioned in the 52nd chapter of Bhagavatpuran. Bhagavatpuran is a Sanskrit epic written in devotion to Shri Krishna. It was composed between 800 to 1000 AD. The second written proof of love letter is found in ancient Egypt. The widowed queen of ancient Egypt, Ankhesenamun, wrote a love letter to the king of Hejit and requested him to send one of his sons to Egypt and marry him to Ankhesenamun. The history of love letters is also found in the literature of ancient China, in which a Chinese girl’s parents, against her wishes, arrange her marriage as per their wish, and she writes a love letter to her childhood friend. Similarly, there is evidence of letters full of love expressions in Roman literature. According to a research in America, probably the most love letters were written in the world during the two world wars. But at present, the tradition of writing love letters has ended and this way of expressing love has become history. Instead of love letters, love is being expressed through WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Messenger Instagram etc. Still, the day of expression of love in the name of Valentine’s Day is still being celebrated even if it is only for a day. Every beating heart eagerly awaits this special occasion to express its love feelings in words. Valentine’s Day, celebrated on 14 February all over the world, is celebrated in different ways and with different beliefs in different countries. In western countries, the excitement of this day is at its peak, while in eastern countries, there is a different way of celebrating this day. In China, this day is celebrated as ‘Nights of Sevens’, which is special for people in love, while in Japan and Korea, this festival is known as ‘White Day’. In these countries, from this day onwards, people express their love for a whole month and express their feelings by giving gifts and flowers to each other. In the countries of the world connected with western culture, traditionally, to celebrate this festival, love letters are exchanged in the name of ‘Valentine’s Day’, along with this, feelings are expressed by giving love symbols like heart, cupid, flowers etc. as gifts. In the 19th century, America had even officially declared a holiday on this day. Every year about one billion Valentine cards are used, which is considered to be the second most sold festival after Christmas. Valentine’s Day is basically celebrated in the name of Saint Valentine. There are different opinions about Saint Valentine, in 1969 the Catholic Church confirmed that there are a total of eleven Saint Valentines. It was announced to celebrate this festival in their honor on February 14 every year. The most important Valentine among them is considered to be Saint Valentine of Rome. A description of Saint Valentine is found in a book called ‘Aurea of ​​Jacobus de Voragine’ compiled in 1260. According to this, Emperor Claudius ruled Rome in the third century. According to him, marriage reduces the strength and intelligence of men. That is why he issued a royal decree that none of his soldiers or officers would marry. Saint Valentine opposed this as he considered it a cruel order. On his call, many soldiers and officers rebelled against the emperor’s order and got married. Angered by this, Claudius hanged Saint Valentine on 14 February 269. Since then, the day of love is celebrated in his memory. Saint Valentine donated his eyes to the jailor’s blind daughter Jacobus at the time of his death and wrote a letter to Jacobus, in which he wrote ‘Your Valentine’ at the end. That day was 14 February, which later started being celebrated in the name of this saint. There is a tradition of celebrating a special day a week before this festival. The beautiful week of love begins on 7 February. On this day, you can make your feelings known to the person you love by giving them a rose flower. Loving couples like to give each other red roses.