Some features of our heritage are quiet unique and incredible. Have you ever heard of any country or civilization celebrating the bond between brother and sister. It is only we Indians who celebrate this bond on Shravan Purnima. It is celebrated all over India with excitement and fervour, now this year it falls on 30th August 23. This festival was always linked with the love & bonding of brothers and sisters not knowing the origin of this festival, although
There are many false narratives about Rakshabandhan circulating on Internet & Newspapers but people hardly mention its proper sources. People generally cite the example of Draupadi tying woollen cloth to Krishna which is nowhere mentioned by Ved Vyas in Mahabharat and neither in our Puranas & Ramayan. Some people say that Parvati had tied Rakhi in Vishnu’s wrist which is also Fake nowhere mentioned in our scriptures. Also, many people give King Bali’s story in Patal lok where Lakshmi ji tied Rakhi to King Bali, again this is not mentioned in scriptures, Many also claim that Yamuna had tied Rakhi to Yamraj but again no source is mentioned in scriptures. I am sure there may have been several other more stories. So now questions as to what is the real story and is this really a sister-brother festival?
We get a small link in Bhavishya Puran (Uttar Parva Chapter number 137) and Narad Puran, which says that when the Demons were defeated in war, and Bali along with other Demons were defeated,then they all went to their Guru Shukracharya to know the reason of their defeat. Shukracharya told them that Indrani Sachi had tied a protection source i.e Raksha sutra in Indra’s hand which helped Indra to win against the powerful, mighty & invincible demons to remain undaunted and undefeated. This story was told by Bhagwan Krishna to Yudhishthira along with the entailing rituals attached to it.
During early days, the Purohit use to tie a thread with a small pack or potli i.e Raksha sutra in silken cloth with auspicious things kept in the Potli like rice, yellow mustard, sandalwood etc kept in Tamra patra by chanting the following Shloka
येन बद्धो बलि राजा, दानवेन्द्रो महाबलः । तेन त्वामभीबध्नामि, रक्षेमाचल माचल। (Bhavishya Puran, Uttar Parva 137.20).
But in modern time, the meaning and ritual of this festival has gone through complete overhaul. In a gigantic way this celebration was metamorphosed into a festival relating to brothers and sisters. Here caste or creed are kept aside, the sister ties the protective thread to brother’s wrist expecting and praying that may this relation remain immortal and become a source of joy and protection. This Raksha Sutra is like an oath for the protection.
Now who actually are eligible to get a Rakhi tied and who all can tie.
1)Firstly a Mother can tie Raksha Sutra to Son
2) Secondlya Daughter can tie a Raksha Sutra to her Father.
3)Then a Sister can tie Raksha Sutra to her Brother.
4) Students can tie Raksha Sutra to Guru.
5) Brahmins can tie Raksha Sutra to Kshatriyas, Vaishyas & Shudras (Vice-versa).
6) Grand Children’s can tie Raksha Sutra to Grandparents. RSS (Mumbai)people tie Raksha Sutra amongst each other for the sake of protection.
7) Wife too can tie Rakhi to Husband.
8) Many people tie Raksha sutra to army people for the protection (As per logic this is the best of all as Army people need that Raksha, they risk their life daily hence Raksha sutra can be the best protection).
This day we also do Tarpan to Devtas and Pitars as per Bhavishya Puran(Uttar Parva Chapter number 137) and also change our Janeyu (Sacred Thread), Hence its proven that Rakshabandhan is meant to get and give protection and it is not restricted to Brother-Sister as Origin of Raksha sutra was started by Sachi and Indra.
In 12th Century there are many cases where Brahmins (Paliwals) tied Rakhi to Kshatriya, Eg In 1273 CE at Pali, Brahmins tied Rakhi to King Rao Rathore for his well-being. Then, King fought quite bravely and had given his life to protect the villagers. The entire village was killed due to this reason and hence Paliwals don’t celebrate Rakhi till date.
Many Fake historian like Rana Safvi claims that Rakhi was invented by Mughals in 18th century, which is fake, She is making a joke on, herself. Rana Safvi says Mughals celebrated Rakshabandhan festival, She quoted a newspaper citing Rakshabandhan during Mughal times. The newspaper article which she gave has nowhere mentioned about this Mughal history, Rana later accepted that she had taken this story from Bazm-e-Akhir written in 1885. But the fact is that the incident is from 1795 and Shah Alam died in 1806 which proves that Source is unreliable. If she had given reliable source, then we would have accepted that. Infact Bhavishya Puran is also before 18th Century as per Archeology, but I know they will not believe it hence I have given a source from 12th Century about Pali Brahmins. This is an attempt to make Rakhi as Mughal festival and make all believe that all Sanatani Festivals were invented by Mughals. Hence, I request all my Sanatanis Brothers and Sisters to only believe as per scriptures not from Fake internet articles and Fake historians. They are misguiding you. If you read any articles, please do verify with a person who has good command on Scriptures or else we all will get fooled.
By:-
Anshul Pandey
Author & Columnist
He tweets with @Anshulspiritual
