More often than not, simple actions have profound implications. This is as true in Hindu rituals as it is true in real life. Take the Hindu ritual called Raksha Bandhan, which Hindus celebrated on August 10th this year. The ritual consists of the simple act of a sister tying a sacred thread to the wrist of her brother – the “Bandhan” part, which signifies the sister’s love for her brother, and her ardent wish for his well-being. The “Raksha” part signifies the brother’s reciprocity with a pledge to protect and take care of his sister in any and all circumstances.
Now comes the interesting part. Hindu families extend the Raksha Bandhan first to the extended family – cousins, and then to neighbours. But why stop there? The next natural extension brings friends, classmates etc. into the circle.
Thus, the community starts to strengthen inclusiveness and the natural inter-dependence of everyone in the community.
As you know, India is not a homogeneous country. There are regional differences in terms of language, customs, food, culture, means of livelihood, etc. Over the decades, or even centuries, people have migrated to other parts of the country.What binds the people of India together is Hinduism – with its philosophy, rituals, mythology, and its way of life. Even though each Hindus may pray to a different deity, all Hindus follow the same underlying principles of Hinduism.
So, Raksha Bandhan becomes even more significant as a binding force. (Imagine if you will, the residents of all of Europe having a tradition similar to Raksha Bandhan.) History tells us that in centuries past, when India consisted of little kingdoms, the queens apparently used to send Raksha Bandhan threads (“rakhi”) to neighbouring rulers as a token of brother-sister bond, in the expectation that this would prevent the neighbouring rulers from attacking. There is historical documentation that this practice existed for sure in Rajasthan. The effectiveness this practice in avoiding wars between kingdoms, of course, is hard to gauge.
In modern day India, the Raksha Bandhan practice transcends religion and caste (at least in big towns and cities), so that it does not matter if the “brother” and “sister” are of different faiths.
So, in a philosophical sense, Raksha Bandhan symbolizes the fibers that hold a civilized and virtuous society together. It signifies harmonious co-existence, and perhaps even sacrifice for each other. If the high-minded requirement of “sacrifice” becomes too burdensome a demand on a society, then at least being less self-centered and being not so greedy would be the goal to strive for.
The deeper meaning of this ritual of Raksha Bandhan would engender coming to the understanding that all of God’s creation are inter-dependent, and have a natural bond that facilitates harmonious living. It also emphasizes the need for commitment to caring for each other across national, ethnic, religious, geographic and racial boundaries. That is certainly a worthwhile ideal to strive for – making the world, and the planet, a more harmonious place.
And for those skeptics who think all this is too high-minded and too idealistic, I can only point to countless historical international, inter-ethnic, inter-faith, inter-racial events and situations that have produced amazing results, and to the many current events unfolding before our very eyes that I consider truly spiritual in nature.
Suresh Basrur practices the Hindu faith, participates in inter-faith activities in Victoria and speaks to audiences about Hindu religion, philosophy and practices.
You can read more articles from our interfaith blog, Spiritually Speaking HERE
