SAPTARISHI

South Indian Wedding 

Rustling silks and fragrant flowers

Music, rice-confetti showers,

Bride and groom circle the fire,

Then the priest points to something higher–

He takes them outside, points up high

To where the Great Bear strides the sky

Above the horizon any time of the year.

In the northern hemisphere.

The Great Bear or the Seven Sages– the Saptarishi

Is what they’re instructed to see.

In this constellation, faint and far

They focus on a particular star

With a barely discernable consort.

Did our ancients, with their keen eyes

Observe, calculate, analyze

That this pair of stars, were a rarity

Orbiting a common center, neither one at the focal point,

A seldom-seen, true binary.

Named after one of the great sages, Vasishta Rishi

And his wife, the focussed, famous Arundhati.

Devoted spouses with an equal say

In everything that came their way.

Each helping, focussed on their common goal-

Development of mind and soul.

These binary stars, together, yet apart

Are an inspiration to the start

Of a partnership that’s meant to last

Of individuals who remain steadfast

Orbiting each other, never out of phase

In a coordinated dance of grace.

Fainter stars orbit each binary

As children surround their parents.

No wonder newly weds are taught to be

As constant, as supportive as this binary.

Thats why this quaint custom where the newly weds are encouraged

To look up to these binary stars still seems relevant

To our day and age.