Tattva

Raksha Bandhan is one of the most important festivals that Hindus celebrate. Every year, this festival comes on the full moon day of the month of Shravana. Raksha Bandhan spreads bonds of love, protection and friendship among all people.

In ancient times, when a guru initiated his disciple, he tied a sacred thread around the right wrist of the disciple. The thread was either red or orange in color. This multicolored thread tied around the wrist started the tradition of Raksha Bandhan or the Rakhi, which means, “promise to protect”.  Likewise today, a brahmana may tie thread around the wrist of a householder when renewing the sacred thread. This tradition signified the bond of mutual love and trust between the teacher and pupil.

In later times, women began to tie rakhis to their brothers. This signified the duty of the brother to protect his sister from troubles and danger. Women without brothers would tie rakhis to men who they considered to be brothers. So in this way, the rakhi became a symbol of affection between brothers and sisters and also became a means of showing respect to women, and Hindus use this as a way of spreading universal brotherhood.

Along with bonds between teacher and pupil, and bonds between sister and brother, there was also a tradition of members of the public tying a rakhi to their king. It symbolized their commitment to the town authority and the king’s promise to look after his subjects.

There are many stories associated with Raksha Bandhan. It is believed that Raksha Bandhan originated with Indrani, the wife of Indra, King of the Gods. Indra had to go to fight a large battle with the Asuras, the demons. Before he went to war, Indrani prepared a talisman which she tied on her husband’s wrist on Sravana Purnima. Because of this talisman on his wrist, Indra and the Gods were able to win the war against the Asuras. There is a similar story like this for the soldiers of Rajput. At the time of war when the brave Rajput soldiers prepared to go to the battle field, the women folk followed the ritual of tying a thread around their wrist after applying tilak on their forehead. This was considered a sign of good omen and the ladies believed that it would protect their men from the enemy’s blow and bring them victory. So even today, the rakhi is tied on the wrists of soldiers by children and women all around the country, filling the soldiers with pride to protect them against the dangers of the enemy.

There is yet another story about Raksha Bandhan and the brotherly-sisterly relationship between King Bali and Lakshmi Devi. When the demon King Bali’s devotion won over Lord Narayan, the Lord was forced to leave his abode, Vaikunth, to stay in Bali’s kingdom in the underworld. When Lord Narayan failed to return from the underworld, his distressed wife Lakshmi arrived in the underworld on Shravan Purnima. She accepted Bali as her brother by tying a rakhi on him. In return, Bali asked her to wish for a boon. She requested Narayan’s return. She grieved that despite having a consort she was experiencing premature widowhood in Narayan’s absence. However, the Lord had pledged to eternally protect Bali, by guarding his door. To resolve his dilemma, Brahma and Shiva agreed to guard Bali for four months each, while Narayan would guard him for the auspicious four months. The festival of Raksha Bandhan commenced when Lakshmi tied the rakhi on Bali Raja. Since Bali Raja offered devotion by sacrificing everything to the Lord, the day is also known as ‘Bali-eva’ or ‘Baleva’ for short.

These stories explain the significance of Raksha Bandhan and why the Rakhi is important. Today, we need this strength more than anything else. In a society where violence, hatred, and prejudice in the civilized society are becoming more frequent, it is important for us to spread the message of universal brotherhood.  This will create an environment of mutual love and lead to the goal of worldwide peace and happiness.

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This entry was posted on Friday, August 1st, 2008 at 9:01 am and is filed under Festivals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.