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Thread: Confused whether Rakhi is only limited for brother-sister?

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    Confused whether Rakhi is only limited for brother-sister?

    Namastey HDF,

    I have been travelling to many different places in abroad. I met a lady at a cafeteria asking me about Rakhi as she might have guessed that I am an Indian. I explained her about the Raksha Bandhan, Rakhi and sweets that we exchange. why is rakhi tied to all rituals that are done on this day everything I told her and she was very excited for the celebration.

    But from past 3-4 years I have seen that Rakhis are also tied on woman's wrist.
    I am not able to get the logic that many sites and information we have been getting from childhood tells us that Raksha Bandhan festival is the celebration of Brother sister Love.

    Is it only limited to brother-sister? or even one sister can tie rakhi on other sister's wrist?

    If please any one clear my doubt because I can come across this question sometime in the future.

    Hari Om.

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    Re: Confused whether Rakhi is only limited for brother-sister?

    Namaste,

    Quote Originally Posted by Suhita View Post
    But from past 3-4 years I have seen that Rakhis are also tied on woman's wrist.
    I have never heard of that. Do you care to give more details? Did you observe this with a particular ethnic group, in a particular geographical location or is this happening everywhere? Are you sure it was a rakhi that you saw on women's wrists and not just a sutrat? Did you bother asking any of them what the significance of their thread/rakhi was/is? If not, why not?

    Pranam.

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    Re: Confused whether Rakhi is only limited for brother-sister?

    Namaste Suhita,

    Quote Originally Posted by Suhita View Post
    Is it only limited to brother-sister? or even one sister can tie rakhi on other sister's wrist?
    .
    There is no denying the fact that Rakhi is primarily a festival to celebrate Brother-Sister relation. However, I have seen the following variations :

    a) Mother tying Rakhi on son's hand if he has no sister.
    b) Family priest tying Rakhi on hands of male/females of the family.

    Most probably, the women wearing Rakhi would have got it tied by the family priests.

    OM
    Last edited by devotee; 12 August 2015 at 02:13 AM. Reason: Typos
    "Om Namo Bhagvate Vaasudevaye"

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    Re: Confused whether Rakhi is only limited for brother-sister?

    Namastey Devotee..

    I am very grateful to the way you have answered. Thankyou for this.

    Hari Om.

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    Re: Confused whether Rakhi is only limited for brother-sister?

    Believer,

    It is but obvious I have seen and heard it that's why I have asked this. If you have answer for this then please do reply. You haven't seen it before then atleast answer in a positive way. Sometimes people have their emotions attached to somethings which sometimes they don't share with strangers. But since i had a query I asked.

    Hari Om.

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    Re: Confused whether Rakhi is only limited for brother-sister?

    Hello suhita ji...
    Nice question and raksha bandhan is near now.. Hope it will be great day for you...
    Considering rakhi then yes.. It primarily deals with the brother and sister as all know..
    But I also saw mother tying rakhi on sons wrist as devotee ji mention..
    And we also tie rakhi to various gods on this festival.. Called special rakhi dev rakhi.. I don't sure is it universal or not..
    But you already know the significance of this day.. Sister ties rakhi to her bro because of her love and expecting that brother will always protect her and love her..
    I think there is no harm in tying rakhi to women.. You can offer it to anyone as a sign of love but I don't know in our dharma this is written or not..
    But if one can tie friendship bands then why not rakhi.. Showing your love and sharing it is most important..
    Pranam
    Aasato ma sat gamay
    tamaso ma jotirgamay
    mrityorma amrutamgamay
    (Bring me from asat to sat, bring me from darkness (ignorance) to light (knowledge), bring me from death to immortality)
    Om Namah Shivay
    Om Vishnave Namah

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    Re: Confused whether Rakhi is only limited for brother-sister?

    Thankyou Soul of Light.

    yes Now you have justified my question. Rakhi is just a way of ritual but more important is the love for each other irrespective to whether the person opposite to you is your brother, sister or mom.

    ~Hari Om.

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    Re: Confused whether Rakhi is only limited for brother-sister?

    Quote Originally Posted by devotee View Post
    Namaste Suhita,



    There is no denying the fact that Rakhi is primarily a festival to celebrate Brother-Sister relation. However, I have seen the following variations :

    a) Mother tying Rakhi on son's hand if he has no sister.
    b) Family priest tying Rakhi on hands of male/females of the family.

    Most probably, the women wearing Rakhi would have got it tied by the family priests.

    OM
    Namaste Devoteeji,
    I agree with you fully but I would like to add a point in that.
    Rakhi or Rakhsha from which the festival name Rakshabandhan comes is also tied by
    Mothers to his son/daughter so that the latter may protect her from calamities.
    Wife to his Husband too with the feeling that Ishwara will protect The Husband during wartimes.

    Nowadays tying a Bhabhi's rakhi along with a rakhi to his brother by a sister is also in fashion.
    OM NAMAH SHIVAY

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    Re: Confused whether Rakhi is only limited for brother-sister?

    Namaste,

    Quote Originally Posted by unmesh dave View Post
    Rakhi or Rakhsha from which the festival name Rakshabandhan comes is also tied by
    Mothers to his son/daughter so that the latter may protect her from calamities.
    Wife to his Husband too with the feeling that Ishwara will protect The Husband during wartimes.
    In its most basic form Rakhi is tied by a sister on her brother's wrist to seek his protection. Now if some people want to extend it further, maybe each one of us should tie rakhi on everybody's wrist seeking his/her protection. This would end all conflict/wars as everyone will be duty-bound to protect everyone else who tied a rakhi on his/her wrist. While we are there, why not tie a rakhi on everybody's ankles and ears too to make it more binding. Sometimes things are stretched to absurd levels!

    Quote Originally Posted by unmesh dave View Post
    Wife to his Husband too with the feeling that Ishwara will protect The Husband......
    Rakhshabandan involves two humans, a protector and a protectee. How does Ishwar come into the picture?
    Granted that many people do a puja of others who are going off to be in harm's way, and tie a mangal-sutra on his wrist invoking God's protection; but that is not the same as rakshbandan. Why keep stretching the boundaries till the sacred festival between a sister and a brother is taken to absurd levels and loses all its meaning? Do we really need to keep making meaningless posts just to get our name up there in the forum?

    Pranam.

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    Re: Confused whether Rakhi is only limited for brother-sister?

    Namaste,

    Quote Originally Posted by Suhita View Post
    If you have answer for this then please do reply.
    Here in America, if someone left a message on my phone about a party he wants me to attend, I would have to call him back to find out,
    1. When is this party going to be held?
    2. Does it involve a life milestone, like birthday, anniversary etc.?
    3. Where will the party be held, at his residence, in a restaurant, in a park, at the beach?
    4. What is the dress code, normal street clothes or formal attire?
    5. Is he hosting it or is it pot luck style?
    6. Who all in the family are invited, is it adults only or are children invited too?
    7. Who else is coming to the party?

    And other similar questions.

    So, one should not take offense if the original question asked was a one liner and lot more information is needed to give a credible answer. I too am curious about females walking around with rakhi (and not a well-being sutra) on their wrists. Knowing about their geographical location, about their numbers - whether the ladies observed with a rakhi were in the tens or hundreds or thousands or everyone in the community, if it happened in OP's own neighborhood or was it a place she visited, was the observance on the rakhi day or a random day during the year, give credibility to the question. I can see that everyone jumps in with possible explanations. But to solve the riddle we need facts; else it will be all guesses based on incomplete facts/information and the guesses will hardly shed any light on the observed phenomenon.

    Pranam.

    -
    Last edited by Believer; 25 August 2015 at 04:28 PM.

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