Meaning of the term “Raksha Bandhan”

The term is made up of two words, namely “Raksha” and “Bandhan.” As per the Sanskrit terminology, “Raksha” stands for the protection and “Bandhan” signifies the verb to tie. Together, the festival symbolizes the eternal love of brother-sister relationship which does not mean just the blood relationships only. It is also celebrated among cousins, sister and sister-in-law (Bhabhi), paternal aunt (Bua) and nephew (Bhatija) and other such relations.

Raksha Bandhan among various Religions in India

• Hinduism-The festival is mainly celebrated by the Hindus in the northern and western parts of India along with countries like Nepal and Pakistan.
• Jainism-The occasion is also revered by the Jain community where Jain priests give ceremonial threads to the devotees.
• Sikhism-This festival devoted to the brother-sister love is observed by the Sikhs as “Rakhadi” or Rakhari.

Origin

The festival of Raksha Bandhan is known to have originated centuries before and there are several stories related to the celebration of this special festival. Some of them related to the Hindu mythology are:

• Indra Dev and Sachi – According to the ancient legend of Bhavishya Purana, once there was a fierce battle between Gods and demons. Lord Indra, who was fighting the battle on the side of Gods was having a tough resistance from the powerful demon King, Bali. The war continued for a long time and did not come on a decisive end. Seeing this, Indra‘s wife Sachi went to the Lord Vishnu who gave her a holy bracelet made up of cotton thread. Sachi tied the holy thread around the wrist of her husband, Lord Indra who ultimately defeated the demons and recovered the Amaravati. The earlier account of the festival described these holy threads to be used by women for prayers and was tied to their husband when they were leaving for a war. Unlike, the present times, those holy threads were not limited to brother-sister relationships.
• King Bali and Goddess Lakshmi – As per an account of Bhagavata Purana and Vishnu Purana, when Lord Vishnu won the three worlds from the demon King Bali, he was asked by the demon king to stay beside him in the palace. The Lord accepted the request and started living with the demon king. However, Goddess Lakshmi, wife of Lord Vishnu wanted to return to his native place of Vaikuntha. So, she tied the rakhi around the wrist of demon king, Bali and made him a brother. On asking about the return gift, Goddess Lakshmi asked Bali to free her husband from the vow and let him return to Vaikuntha. Bali agreed to the request and Lord Vishnu returned to his place with his wife, Goddess Lakshmi.
• Santoshi Maa – It is said that the two sons of Lord Ganesha namely, Shubh and Labh were frustrated that they had no sister. They asked for a sister from their father who finally obliged to their sister on the intervention of saint Narada. This is how Lord Ganesha created Santoshi Maa through the divine flames and the two sons got their sister.
• Krishna and Draupadi – It is believed that on the day of Makar Sankranti, Krishna cut his little finger when handling sugarcane. His Queen, Rukmini immediately sent an official to get bandages. Meanwhile Draupadi, who was watching the entire incident, cut off a little bit of her Saree and tied his finger with it to stop the bleeding. In return, Krishna promised to help her out when required. That is the story behind the help Krishna provides when he came and made her saree never ending, saving her the embarrassment by giving her protection when she needed it the most.
• Yama and Yamuna – Another legend says that the death God, Yama did not visit his sister Yamuna for a period of 12 years who ultimately became very sad. On the advice of Ganga, Yama went to meet Yamuna who became very happy and performed hospitality for her brother. This made him delighted who asked Yamuna for a gift. She expressed her desire to see her brother again and again. Hearing this, Yama made his sister immortal so that he could see her again and again. This mythological story forms the basis of festival called “Bhai Dooj” which is also based on the brother-sister relationship.
• Karnavati and Emperor Humayun – Another famous story in the history of this auspicious festival is of Rani Karnavati and Emperor Humayun. Karnavati was the official of Mewar after the death of her husband Rana Sanga. Bahadur Shah of Gujarat attacked Mewar for the second time. He had defeated Karnavati’s son, Vikramjeet, earlier. The Queen began looking for support from other kingdoms and also wrote to Humayun for help. She sent him a rakhi and sought protection. The Mughal emperor was in the middle of another military campaign when he received the call for help. Abandoning it, he turned his attention to Mewar. Unfortunately, he never made it on time as the Rajput army was defeated in Chittoor. But the queen had already set herself on fire to avoid the indignity of falling in the hands of Bahadur Shah. Shah, however, could not go any further and had to turn away from Chittoor as Mughal military reinforcements arrived soon after. Humayun then restored the kingdom to Vikramjeet.

Significance

The concept of Raksha Bandhan is mainly that of protection. In Hindu religious functions, we commonly observe the priest tying a thread to the wrist of person/s performing the ritual before its commencement.

Reason for Celebration

The festival of Raksha Bandhan is observed as a symbol of duty between brothers and sisters. The occasion is meant to celebrate any type of brother-sister relationship between men and women who may not be biologically related. On this day, a sister ties a rakhi around the wrist of her brother in order to pray for his prosperity, health and well-being. The brother in return offers gifts and promises to protect his sister from any harm and under every circumstance.

In the concept of marriage, Mangala Sutra and Kankana Bandhana (a thread tied to the wrist of the bride and groom by each other) also has a similar inner significance.

The tying of a Rakhi is not confined to a brother and sister. It could also be tied by a wife to her husband, or by a disciple to the Guru. This bond does not have to be between blood relatives – a girl might adopt a boy as her brother through the tying of a Rakhi. This ritual not only strengthens the bond of love, but also transcends the boundaries of the family. This helps to broaden ones’ vision beyond the borders of one’s’ own family to the entire earth (vasudha) as one family – Vasudhaiva kutumbakam.

How to celebrate Raksha Bandhan

On this day, sisters generally apply tilak to the forehead of their brothers, tie the sacred thread called Rakhi to the wrist of their brothers and do aarti and pray for their good health & long life. This thread, which represents love and sublime sentiments, is called the ‘Raksha Bandhan’ means ‘a bond of protection’. The brother in return offers a gift to his sister and vows to look after her.