Raksha Bandhan – 2

रक्षासूत्र मंत्र :-

येन बद्धो बलि राजा, दानवेन्द्रो महाबल।
तेन त्वाम् प्रतिबद्ध्नामि रक्षे मा चल मा चल ॥

(O Brother! I tie you (towards your responsibilities) in the same way the King Bali was tied to, by his sister, Goddess Lakshmi. And pray that you may not waver from your path of responsibilities).

The day of celebrating relations with our siblings. It is celebrated on the Poornima (Full Moon Day) of the Hindu month of Shravan. The beauty of this day is just not in the celebration or tying a rakhi around the wrist or the give and take of money or things; but it lies in developing the understanding of staying together and understanding each other. Actually this festival has its importance for the sister as well who is married. She gets an oppurtunity to visit her brother’s place and spend time together.

Then what is the importance of tying a Raksha (thread) around Brothers wrist? The understanding today is that the sister asks for her brothers protective covering. The brother would help and protect his sister in times of need. I feel this thought become the line of thinking during the last 1000 years of foreign rule. Our women needed to be protected from the foreigners and so who would do that; but her brother. Question that arises to my mind is that in case of married man, what will he do for his wife? And a larger picture today is that woman today is herself quite qualified to take care of herself. And keeping this fact in mind, this festival will loose it’s sheen slowly and fade into memories in the coming years. Or it will become just a ritual or a formality.

This festival is basically not for protection of women, but to develop an understanding amongst men on how to look towards women. Rather what should be a man’s attitude towards a woman. ‘Every other women, other than my mother and wife is like a sister to me,’ is what the festival wants to convey. The sister applying tilak on brothers forehead is giving him this understanding. It’s a third eye (tilak) for the brother through whose lens he learns to see every other woman as his sister. The thread around his hand conveys that the brother promises the same and promises not to deviate from this outlook or path (मा चल मा चल). It’s a Bandhan (commitment) that he is accepting. Hope, my readers atleast will understand this and try to inculcate this understanding in their lives, and this year would share with their siblings too.

I know am talking to a generation which asks “Can a boy and girl just not be friends?”, “My sister is my best friend.” I truly sometimes wonder whether todays generation thinks beyond friends and about the relations they have got. I personally have no such problems with their questions but do they think before they ask?; is what I ponder over. My dear readers, let us all learn to enjoy every relation that we have got. Try to understand them and live in that way. And my question is if you both can be friends, then what’s the problem in accepting the girl as your sister or the boy as your brother. I leave this thought for you, my reader, to think, discuss and debate.

On this day, I pray to God to help me strengthen my bond with my sister/s and at the same time grant us both the understanding behind celebrating this festival.

Give the siblings the strength to stay in the best of their conditions at home and away.