Raksha Bandhan is a festival that is all about affection, fraternity, and sublime sentiments. Like all other Indian festivals, Raksha Bandhan is the celebration of togetherness, of being one of the family. This is a special festival to symbolize the love between a brother and a sister. The festival is made up of two words, namely "Raksha" and "Bandhan." As per the Sanskrit terminology, the occasion means "the tie or knot of protection" where "Raksha" stands for protection and "Bandhan" signifies the verb to tie.
The occasion of Raksha Bandhan is celebrated on the full moon day of the Hindu lunar calendar in the month of Shravana which typically falls in the August month of the Gregorian calendar.
Stories of Raksha Bandhan
Raksha Bandhan is known to have originated centuries ago and there are several stories related to the celebration of this special festival. Some of the various accounts related to the Hindu mythology are -
Indra Dev and Sachi- According to the ancient legend of Bhavishya Purana, once there was a fierce battle between Gods and demons. Lord Indra- the king of devas was fighting the battle on the side of the Gods and was having tough resistance from the powerful demon King, Bali. The war continued for a long time and did not come to a decisive end. Seeing this, Indra's wife Sachi went to Lord Vishnu who gave her a holy bracelet made up of cotton thread. Sachi tied the holy thread around the wrist of her husband, Lord Indra who ultimately defeated the demons. The earlier account of the festival described these holy threads to be amulets that were used by women for prayers and were tied to their husbands when they were leaving for war. Unlike, the present times, those holy threads were not limited to brother-sister relationships
King Bali and Goddess Lakshmi- As per an account of Bhagavata Purana and Vishnu Purana, when Lord Vishnu won the three worlds from the demon King Bali, he was asked by the demon king to stay beside him in the palace. The Lord accepted the request and started living with the demon king. However, Goddess Lakshmi, wife of Lord Vishnu wanted to return to his native place of Vaikuntha. So, she tied the rakhi around the wrist of the demon king, Bali, and made him a brother. On asking about the return gift, Goddess Lakshmi asked Bali to free her husband from the vow and let him return to Vaikuntha. Bali agreed to the request and Lord Vishnu returned to his place with his wife, Goddess Lakshmi.
Yama and the Yamuna- Another legend says that the God of death, Yama did not visit his sister Yamuna for a period of 12 years who ultimately became very sad. On the advice of Ganga, Yama went to meet his sister Yamuna who was very happy and performed hospitality to her brother, Yama. This made the Yama delighted who asked Yamuna for a gift. She expressed her desire to see her brother again and again. Hearing this, Yama made his sister, Yamuna immortal so that he could see her again and again. This mythological account forms the basis of a festival called "Bhai Dooj" which is also based on the brother-sister relationship.
Krishna and Draupadi- Based on the account of Mahabharat, Draupadi, wife of Pandavas tied a rakhi to Lord Krishna while Kunti tied the rakhi to grandson Abhimanyu before the epic war.
Raksha Bandhan in 2023
There is a lot of confusion this year about Raksha Bandhan Muhurat because of Bhadra. On 30th Aug 2023, Poornima is dominated by Bhadra Dosha and there is no tri-muhurta coming on 31st Aug 2023. Because of this reason, Rakshabandhan can not be celebrated on 31st August.
Therefore Raksha Bandhan should be celebrated on 30th August, Wednesday after 09:03 pm only, and is free from Bhadra dosh. In case of urgency we can also celebrate rakshabandhan in Bhadra puchh kaal i.e starting from 05:32 pm and ending at 06:32 pm of 30th August.
The reasons are given below:
Auspicious Muhurat
30th of August is auspicious after 09:03 pm
रक्षाबंधन पूजन विधि:
रक्षाबंधन पर शुभ मुहूर्त पर राखी बांधते समय कुछ खास उपाय करने से इसका शुभ फल मिलता है। इसके लिए सुबह स्नान के बाद पूजा की थाली में रोली, अक्षत, चंदन के साथ ही दही, राखी, मिठाई और दीपक घी रख लें। इसके बाद इसे भगवान को समर्पित कर दें।
अब भाई को पूर्व या उत्तर की तरफ मुंह कर बैठाएं। भाई के सिर पर साफ कपड़ा रखें और माथे पर सबसे पहले तिलक लगाते हुए रोली, अक्षत व चंदन लगाएं। जिसके बाद राखी यानि रक्षासूत्र बांधकर आरती करें।
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