Rakshabandhan

Relations in Hindu culture

A 1. Relations teach us to live an ideal life : There are many relations in Hindu culture. All of us are bound together like a string of pearls, by threads of love. Every family is happy and contented because of these relations.

A 2. Danger of relations breaking down due to blind imitation of the western lifestyle : In our culture someone is a mother, someone is a brother or sister. We have many relations like husband, wife, maternal uncle, paternal uncle, paternal aunt, maternal aunt, etc. If these relations were not there then would we be able to live an ideal life ? Only these relation teach us to live an ideal life; but now there is a danger of developing cracks in these relations due to imitation of western lifestyle. Presently we notice that there is no love or amiable relationship among anyone.

B. Protecting relations and maintaining them means protecting Hindu culture : When our brother gets good marks in an examination, we share this happiness with all. If our father brings any new thing for us then we show it to everyone. From this you will realise that we enjoy happiness in very minor things because of various relations. To keep and maintain the relationship amounts to protecting Hindu culture.

C. Holy festival of ‘Rakshabandhan’ helps in augmenting the relationship between ‘Sister and Brother’ : The relationship between a brother and his sister is also very important. My dear friends, the festival of Rakshabandhan proves helpful in augmenting the relation between them. Why does a sister tie ‘Rakhi’ to her brother ? A Rakhi is a symbol of being protected by a brother, as ‘Rakhi’ assigns this responsibility to the brother to protect the sister at any cost.

D. Tying of Rakhi converts the relation into a Holy Bond : A girl or a woman becomes a sister at the very moment when she ties the Rakhi to any boy or a man. How glorious are our festivals, are they not ? A Rakhi changes the relationship into a Holy Bond.

E. Effects of not realising the importance of our festivals : It is very unfortunate that we celebrate the days which have no importance at all. The present generation enjoys celebrating ‘Friendship Day’, ‘Rose Day’, ‘Valentine Day’ which are meaningless; this is because they do not know the importance of Rakshabandhan.

F. Rakshabandhan means taking a vow of putting an end to the increasing menace of attacks on women ! : Everyday we read about the atrocities committed against women. If we have to put an end to this menace then each man has to take a vow that ‘every woman is my sister and it is my prime duty to protect her honour’. If this is done in good spirit then the atrocities on women are definitely going to stop. That will be celebrating Rakshabandhan in the real sense.

Friends are you ready to take the pledge ?

– Shri. Rajendra Mahadev Pavaskar (Guruji), Panvel.