Francis Gonsalves

Rakshabandhan, I believe, not only binds together two words wondrously: raksha (protection) and bandhan (bond), but also weaves together worlds of creeds and cultures that Man diabolically dissects and destroys. Originally celebrated by Hindus in northern India, Rakshabandhan has rich religious and social connotations that cannot be confined to just one religion or region.

From its Latin roots, the word “religion” implies a bond. A bond that frees. Religion binds one to The Absolute, to Mother Earth, to all (wo)men, and to one’s truest self so as to be free from self-destructive egoism, communalism and fatalism. Indeed, there is need for careful raksha of this bandhan or else dharma degenerates into adharma and runs riot. Rakshabandhan makes us reflect upon, and renew, our bonds of love and liberation.
Human life is fragile. Mother Nature sometimes seems cruel in devouring her children in tsunamis or burying them under her muddy mantle after cloudbursts. Religions diversely explain the “why” of natural calamities. However, Man has been crueller yet when he enforces the “might is right” law of the jungle to wreck the weak. Sadly, Woman, the so-called “weaker sex” suffers not only insult and injury, but even rape and murder.
At its popular best, Rakshabandhan is seen as the tying of a rakhi by a sister on her brother’s wrist as symbol of his sacred bandhan to protect her. One of my buddies would hide himself from his beautiful neighbour on Rakshabandhan day so that she wouldn’t succeed in tying a rakhi on him, which would make him forever but her protective bhai: brother. The poor guy wanted to marry her! Such hidden subscripts apart, it’s wonderful to celebrate the love between sisters and brothers. Included in India, of course, aren’t only so-called “cousin-brothers” and “cousin-sisters” but all those who Gujaratis universally claim as bhais and bens.
Hindu mythology traces the origin of this feast to the fight between Indra, the king of the Devas and the Danava king, Bali. Saci, Indra’s wife, tied a protective amulet (raksha) on her husband’s wrist that rendered him invincible. Other threads of Hindu tradition trace the origins of Rakshabandhan to the tying of a protective thread by Kunti on the wrist of Arjun’s son, Abhimanyu, during the Mahabharata war, or, in memory of Shravana Kumar, who’s considered the brother par excellence.
The Bible often speaks of God’s bonding with humankind. Prophet Hosea likens God to a Mother and humankind to an infant whom God nurses, lifts to Her cheeks, cuddles with “bonds of love” and leads with “cords of compassion” (11:4). God’s Love, therefore, becomes the wellspring for all other loves: between siblings and spouses, among friends and fellow human beings.
The Bible considers transgressions in the sacred bond of marriage as serious. In Genesis 6:1-4, for example, there is mention of “sons of gods” referring to a powerful genus of human beings “taking wives for themselves as they chose”. There’s also the case of Pharaoh taking Abram’s wife as his own (Genesis 12:10-20) and of King David cunningly commissioning Uriah to the battlefront so that he is slain, whereupon he takes Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife, as his own (2 Samuel 11). Brute power mustn’t be used to mar marriages. It might help spouses today to remember wedding rings and mangalsutras as symbols of indissoluble conjugal bonding.
In this holy Hindu month of Sravana, which heralds the changing of the sacred thread (yajnopavita) and the peak of the monsoons, let’s be grateful for the fecundity fostered by Father-Sky spraying showers upon the greenery of Mother Earth. Blessed by God, this primal “natural bandhan” is the subsoil of our bandhuta: our being bound together. This human bonding is symbolised by our gorgeous rakhis, glittering rings, protective scapulars, miraculous medals and engaging mangalsutras.
Rakshabandhan is best celebrated if, first, I feel Father-God’s raksha embracing me. Next, on this celestial, full-mooned Purnima, may I bask in the blessings of Mother-Earth whose womb (udara) has birthed all my sisters (sahodari) and brothers (sahodara), worldwide. Finally, may my heart be grateful for the universal bandhuta that binds me to God, Earth and all my bens and bhais singing that beautiful hymn: “Bind us together, Lord, with bonds of love that can never be broken”.

— Francis Gonsalves is the principal of the
Vidyajyoti College of Theology, Delhi. He is involved in interfaith dialogue and peoples’ initiatives for
fostering justice, harmony and peace. He can
be contacted at fragons@gmail.com