Content
1. History
2. Significance and purpose
3. Benefit of tying rakhi
4. What should Rakhis be like?
5. Importance of rakhis created by the Spiritual-Holy Sanstha
6. Stop denigration of deities through the medium of the rakhi!
7. Narali pournima
8. Shravani
1.History of Raksha Bandhan
Deity Lakshmi tied a rakhi onto the wrist of the King Bali from hell thus making him Her brother and liberated Lord Narayan i.e. Vishnu. That day as per the Hindu lunar calendar was ‘Shravan Paurnima’.
“By tying this wristband (raksha) onto your wrist I am binding you just like the powerful and generous King Bali was bound by it. O wristband, do not get displaced.” The Bhavishya Puran states that Raksha Bandhan was basically meant for kings. A new custom of tying rakhis began from the historical ages. The sister is supposed to tie the rakhi to the brother’s wrist. The feeling behind this is that the brother should become prosperous and he should protect the sister.
1.1 A Prayer
Along with a prayer of the sister for welfare of the brother and the brother for protection of the sister, both should pray for strength to protect the nation and Dharma.
1.2 Video about Science of Raksha Bandhan (Marathi)
Description: Video covering practical information and science of celebrating Raksha Bandhan, its spiritual benefits, Spiritually proper Rakhi. Please note that this video is currently available only in Marathi language.
2. Significance and Purpose of Raksha Bandhan
- The brother pledges to protect the sister in every birth. To symbolise this he allows her to tie a string on his wrist. The sister complies so that he keeps his promise. Since the historical ages this custom is prevalent to keep a brother and sister in a relationship. The rakhi is a symbol of the purity of a relationship between a sister and brother.
- Just as the brother is bound by a promise to protect the sister after getting a string tied onto his wrist, so also the sister prays to God for his protection.
- On this day frequencies of Lord Ganesh and deity Saraswati reach the earth in greater quantities and both the siblings benefit from the custom to a greater extent.
- When tying the rakhi the Divine Energy principle in the woman gets manifested and is transmitted to the man through the wrist. Thus he derives 2 % benefit from it for upto 5 hours.
- The more the spiritual emotion in the sister, the more her motivation to attain God and the more the grace of the Guru upon her the greater is the effect of her prayer unto God for her brother which results in greater spiritual progress for him.
Spiritual level of the sister (%) | Benefit to the brother (%) |
25 – 35 | 13 |
35 – 45 | 16 |
45 – 55 | 25 |
55 – 70 | 50 |
70 – 90 | 80 |
90 – 100 | 100 |
(The figures in the chart are based on the sister’s spiritual level a brother benefits for upto 5 hours)
3. Give-and-take account between siblings
The give-and-take account between siblings is approximately 30%. This account is lessened through the medium of festivals like Rakhi Paurnima i.e. Raksha Bandhan, so though the siblings get entangled with each other at the gross level subtly the existing give-and-take account between them is settled.
The rakhi is tied every year to signify the reduction of give-and-take account between the siblings. In fact this is an opportunity for them to reduce the give-and-take account so both the embodied souls should take advantage of this opportunity.
4. What should Rakhis be like?
Both the sister and brother benefit from the frequencies in a rakhi. That is precisely why one must choose a rakhi, which will preserve the God principle for longer periods instead of choosing grossly attractive ones. Otherwise the three attributes from the rakhi have an effect on the embodied souls and their attitudes too become rajasik-tamasik, etc.
5. Importance of Rakhis created by Spiritual/Holy Sanstha
Component | Percentage |
Devotion unto the Guru | 28 |
Love for others | 20 |
Sattva attribute | 25 |
Chaitanya | 27 |
Total | 100 |
Frequencies from the rakhis produced by the Spiriual/Holy Sanstha reduce the negative energy attacking the brother and sister by 2% each. Since the feeling of love from the rakhi is transmitted into the atmosphere the embodied soul derives benefit as per his spiritual emotion and his devotion grows. The chaitanya in the rakhi decreases the proportion of the six foes of the soul viz desire, anger, greed, lust, jealousy and envy by 2% for 5 hours.
6. Stop denigration of deities occurring through the medium of the Rakhi!
Examples of denigrating Rakhis
Hanuman and Cartoon Rakhis |
Rakhi symbolising friendship between India and Pakistan. |
Nowadays Om or pictures of deities are seen on rakhis. After use the rakhi is thrown out so in a way it is ridicule of the religious symbol and denigration of deities, which in turn induces demerit. To avoid this immerse the rakhis in water!
Also due to commercialisation of festival and lack of proper knowledge of its spiritual significance, people go far beyond in so-called creativity that compromises festival’s very purpose. Picture above depicting ‘Rakhi symbolising friendship between India and Pakistan’ is such an example.
7. Narali Pournima
The full moon day (pournima) of the month of Shravan is also called Narali pournima. On this day, people residing in coastal regions worship the sea as a form of the deity Varun and offer coconuts. Offering coconuts on this day is both auspicious as well as symbolic of the energy of creation. A confluence of rivers is more pure than a river. But of them all the sea is the most pure. A quote says, ” The sea symbolizes all the places of pilgrimage. Worship of the sea itself is worship of Lord Varun. Transportation of cargo by ship occurs smoothly only if Lord Varun is appeased.
8. Shravani
‘If on the full moon day of Shravan, the lunar asterism Shravan is present, one has to perform this Vedic ritual. Shravani is a ritual in which one resumes learning and teaching after a long vacation. It is also referred to as Upakarma, Upakaran, etc. If the Shravan lunar asterism appears on the full moon day of Shravan then those following the Rugveda should perform a ritual on that day or on Nagpanchami for the Hasta lunar asterism, those following the Yajurveda on that day itself, followers of the Samaveda on the full moon day of Bhadrapad of the Hasta lunar asterism and the Atharvaveda followers on the full moon day of Shravan or Bhadrapad. Though this custom is very ancient and appropriate for the three classes (varnas) yet it is currently followed only by the Brahmans to a certain extent. Followers of the various Vedas should celebrate Shravani according to their household norms. Usually this ritual is performed jointly, in a group.’
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