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Full Moon Day in the month of Shraavana
The Raksha Bandhan is a celebration of the abiding and chaste bond of love between the brother and the sister.
The delicate cord tied by the sister to the brother on this day pulsates with this sublime sentiment.The chanting of a holy mantra by the sisters while tying the thread says,
Yena baddho Balee raajaa daanavendro mahaabalah |
Tena twaam anubadhnaami rakshe maa chala maa chala ||
 It means, “I am tying a Raksha to you, similar to the one tied to Bali, the powerful king of the demons. Oh Raksha, be firm, do not waver.” The mantra recalls how the demon king Bali had become powerful with the Rakhi on. The power of the mantra is supposed to protect the wearer from evil influences. This shows how dependent and secure a sister feels when she has a brother. Tying this Rakhi or Raksha signifies the re-strengthening of the bond between the siblings of opposite sexes.
History and legends of Bharat abound in touching episodes of ladies seeking protection from far-off, unacquainted heroes, though the Rakhi. A story is told of Alexander's wife approaching his mighty Hindu adversary Pururava and tying Rakhi on his hand, seeking assurance from him for saving the life of her husband on the battlefield. And the great Hindu king, in the true traditional Kshatriya style, responded; and as the legend goes, just as he raised his hand to deliver a mortal blow to Alexander, he saw the Rakhi on his own hand and restrained from striking.
The sister-brother relationship highlighted by the Rakhi goes far beyond the mere personal protection of a female from a male. It also implies the basic element of an amicable and harmonious social life where all members of the society look upon themselves as brothers and sisters and as children of one common motherland.
In Sangh, we tie Rakhi to the sacred Bhagava Dhwaj and that symbolizes our commitment to protect each other and also the society and our Dharma.
In Mahabharata, when Lord Krishna kills Shishupaala with his Sudarshan Chakra, his finger gets wounded, seeing this Draupadi tears a piece of cloth from her sari and ties on the wound. And after quite sometime, when Draupadi was insulted by the Kauravas Lord Krishna rescues her by showering saaris.
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