7 top Values of Rakshabandhan to be imbibed !

Girl in Mayaka in
Gaity month of Shrawan

Little by little, I was growing. 

Action speaks louder than words. My father was in Army, hence we used to have postings at very far off places. It was difficult for my mother to visit her birth place {Mayaka} in the month of Shrawan when all her childhood friends used to visit the place. Shrawan month is a cool get-together or  RE-UNION for ladies post marriage in their mayaka. Since, my mother could not visit the place on the occasion, so she used to send the RAKHI's by post. She used to write letters with rakhi's and used to send to her three brothers. I also used to send rakhi to my cousin's in the same envelope and used to write one paragraph in the letter. The letter used to be written 15 days in advance. The letter used to be full of love & blessings.

This is how I learnt tieing rakhi as a custom from my mother which instilled in me the love & care not only for my real brothers but all my cousin's. 

Sister blessing Brother on Rakhi

 

Values 

 The festival of Rakshabandhan brings precious values in our life, which due to repetition becomes our sanskaars. Let us talk about some of them.

1. Raksha/Protection

 Origin of rakshabandhan in Vedas, Mahabharat & other stories portrays that the pure sacred thread made of silk or any material was tied on the right wrist with the intention that whosoever is tieing will be protected from asuras/ negative energy and whosoever get tied with the thread was blessed to have long & prosperous life. The King used to be protector & priests used to be protected as shared by Krishna while preaching Yudhishthar.

It is also shared that Draupadi torn a piece of cloth from her saree to tie the bleeding finger of Krishna. Krishna was adored by the gesture & promised to protect her lifelong as sister.

Rani Karnawati - widow sent the rakhi to Humayun to protect her honour. Humayun was impressed by the gesture & went back without fighting to protect her honour. 

Above stories of origin signifies that the value associated with the festival is protection of honour & pride of a girl having selfless love for the bond created by tieing pure & sacred thread on the wrist of a man. The man here is BROTHER & girl is SISTER. 

Sister applying Tilak
on Forehead - Pure Love

2. LOVE & CARE

Have you seen brothers & sisters exchanging love by tieing rakhi & girls getting gifts in return? Receiving gift by sister was out of love, it was never forceful & price conscious.  We have forgotten this VALUE behind this fest & started celebrating this as a regular CUSTOM without giving thought to it. Let's bring back the positive thought behind the fest.

Brother's & sisters fight and love each other. Every household must have experienced the same among the siblings when they were kiddos. But, if an outsider fights or threatens once sister or brother, they will stand for each other. This is the BEAUTY of the relationship. Gradually this BEAUTY starts vanishing with age. We have to SAVE this Beauty of relationship life long.

Sister tieing sacred
thread of pure love

3. Keeping Vows 

During the process of tieing rakhi, we put Tilak on forehead, take aarti via deepak, exchange sweets. In real sense, it is the exchange of positive THOUGHTS. For example sister is blessing her brother for his healthy & happy long life full of prosperity. Every sister wants her brother to have royal life like a KING or PRINCE.

 

There are so many examples in SOCIETY where a SISTER stands for her sibling ( brother or sister) in times of NEED when no one is around them. For example Jessica Lal case & another case wherein a sister fought for her brother caught by Pakistanis & brought him back. There are many such examples. Vice-versa is also true. Sister has emotions of MOTHER for her brother. She facilitates in nurturing of her brother lifelong.

 

• VOWs of BEING there, when no one is around in CRITICAL times. 
• Showing the RIGHT PATH. 
• Showering of Selfless LOVE on young one & RESPECTING the elder in relationship. 
• Protecting from Asur's/NEGATIVE energy. 
• These vows are not Temporary instead PERMANENT in nature.

Brother touching feet Empowering

4. Empowering each other

Usually, girls are worshiped as goddesses. People touch her feet to take blessings from GOD.

 

Similarly, brothers touch feet of sisters to have blessings. Touching feet erodes EGO if any since you have to bend down to touch feet. But this never, ever erodes SELF ESTEEM & CONFIDENCE.

 

Instead it EMPOWERS you to be RESILIENT (roll back from bending position to straight). Just one gesture fills so much power in you. But today we feel a shame doing this gesture out of our shortcomings. 

My father is an ARMY man. I used to see him touching feet of elders irrespective of caste, color, creed with full smile & energy on his face whenever he used to visit his birthplace (village). Today, I can see the outcome in his life. He is the happiest man after completing his major responsibilities.

 My learning is VALUE of touching FEET during RAKSHABANDHAN out of pure LOVE has fruitful outcome. So, show this gesture with full smile and energy. 

5. SACRIFICE 

To nurture any relationship, sacrifice plays pivotal role.

 

Rakshabandhan also demands sacrifice of CONDITIONAL LOVE, ego, disrespect, greed, temporary nature of keeping vows, discoloring of the relationship due to THIRD party intervention etc. Be tolerant, accept the changes in life but be pure & original by heart.

6. Communication

We all see communication is an oxygen in a relationship. No matter wherever you stay, we need to communicate to flourish the BOND of love. 

Post Marriage, sisters usually leaves the home which was taken care by her ( Mayaka). The rakshabandhan is an occasion wherein married girl/sister steps back to MAYAKA only after INVITATION for tieing Rakhi on her brother's wrist in the month of shravan - month of gaity, greenery, swings, reunions. 

She stays for sometime to relive her childhood. It is a short break from her routine responsible life. But nowadays, this thread of communication is breaking. Brothers forget to invite due to many reasons, change in lifestyle. 

Let us re-understand the value of INVITATION & coming to Mayaka with respect, spreading happiness around & going back with golden memories. 

This process is fruitful for both households in long term.

Traditional Customs 

7. Trust & Commitment 

This is a relationship of TRUST & COMMITMENT. Without uttering a single word, brother or sister can feel each others up & downs.

Both brother & sister gets childhood SANSKAARS from same parents & environment. Sanskaars DRIVE commitment for being there for each other. They stand for each other in ODD times of need. 

Every FEST has meaning. The old rituals & customs are deep rooted, we need to understand the LOGIC behind these festivals. To flourish relationship of brother & sister with VALUES, RAKSHABANDHAN is an important occasion to be celebrated.  

Let's relive our childhood & fill the lost values in our relationship

Brother takes vow to protect sister on rakshabandhan