Raksha Bandhan,A Soulful Bond

Ravi Valluri

So what is the latest in social media arsenal? Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp are replete over the last few days with images of fabled yesteryear Bollywood star, Rakhee in a popular movie tied to a pillar by the villain of the movie. Some hedonistic imagery by the creator; ‘Rakhee tied in knots’, and a tag line, that aeons ago this is how Indians observed the festival of Raksha Bandhan. This evokes immediate mirth, but pales the significance and the solemnity of the festival.

Delving into our scriptures and mythology, one can trace the origin of this pristine festival which is particularly observed all over north India.

According to the Bhavishya Purana, war broke out between the Devatas (the Gods) and Asuras (the demonic forces). Lord Indra, monarch of the Devatas and also deity of the sky, rains and thunderbolts led the forces of the Devatas against the Asuras.

The King of Gods was vanquished by the malevolent emperor Bali; a disgraced Lord Indra sought refuge in his consort the pious Sachi Devi.

Sachi Devi was herself a ginormous believer in the prowess of Lord Vishnu. The protector of Cosmos, Lord Vishnu, in his munificence gave Sachi Devi a bracelet made of cotton thread. He baptized the thread and singularly claimed that it would ward off all fiendish forces.

The pious woman tied the holy thread around the wrist of her husband, Lord Indra and resolutely prayed for his triumph. In the battle that ensued, the egoistic King Bali was defeated and Amravati (the bone of contention between the Devatas and the Asuras) reclaimed.

The prowess of the sacred thread or “Raksha Bandhan” was thus established. Significantly, the nugget also indicates that the Raksha Bandhan thread in ancient India was essentially a sort of amulet, deployed by women as prayers to guard men proceeding on war, and that these threads were not merely limited to sibling relationships.

Even a Master in Gurukul, tied a thread to his tutee upon completion of his tutelage.

There is yet another riveting tale about Raksha Bandhan in the Bhagavata Purana and Vishnu Purana.

After Lord Vishnu conquered all three worlds back from King Bali, he requested the Lord to stay with him in his palace. The Preserver of the Universe acceded to this request. However, Goddess Lakshmi, Lord Vishnu’s consort was not amused at the turn of events. She also despised Bali’s luxuriant palace and prevailed upon her husband that they return to their abode, Vaikuntha. In order to extricate them, she tied a thread, (Raksha Bandhan or Rakhi) on the wrist of the defeated King Bali and made him her brother. In return, the vanquished demon emperor asked Goddess Lakshmi what gift she desired. Lord Vishnu’s consort spelt out that the Divine couple be freed from the promise Lord Vishnu had made to the defeated king.

Bali acceded to the request and the celestial couple returned to Vaikuntha and simultaneously referred to Goddess Lakshmi as his sister.

The Mahabharata has several instances of a Raksha Bandhan being invoked. Draupadi tied a rakhi to Lord Krishna seeking his sanctuary during woebegone situations. Kunti tied a rakhi on her grandson Abhimanyu, before the battle of Kurukshetra.

Hence Indian mythology, scriptures and epics are replete with anecdotes and incidents symbolising the sanctified shield bestowed by the Raksha Bandhan.

In more recent times, the iconic Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore invoked the spirit of Raksha Bandhan to espouse the cause of Hindu- Muslim unity.

“The love in my body and heart
For the earth's shadow and light
Has stayed over years.

With its cares and its hope it has thrown
A language of its own
Into blue skies.

It lives in my joys and glooms
In the spring night's buds and blooms
Like a Rakhi-band
On the Future's hand,” wrote the Nobel Laureate when the British Government partitioned Bengal in 1905 to communalise the country and pursue their policy of divide et impera.
The melodious Lata Mangeshkar and the euphonious Mukesh were to sing the emotional “Yeh Rakhi Bandhan Hai Aisa” in the movie Beiman, which struck roots in the hearts of cinema goers who are nostalgic about this song to this day.

Raksha Bandhan or Rakhi is primarily an Indian and Nepalese festival centred around the tying of a thread on the wrist as a form of symbolic protection. This ritual is one principally between brothers and sisters and observed both before and after the sister gets married, signifying a lifelong relationship.

To be honest it is not as if brothers go into war or that women are not capable of fending for themselves, but the festival and the ceremonies associated are a beautiful reminder of the lovely bond that siblings share.

As the saying goes, “Not always eye to eye, but always heart to heart.”