The Story of Tied Cloth
Rakshabandhan | Mythological origins of the festival
This story is part of the new series which seeks to retell the mythological origins of certain festivals celebrated in India. While there has been a strong attempt to ensure there is some grounding by citing ancient literature, creative liberty has been taken in the narrative only to dramatize the events and add psychological depths to the characters. This may (or may not) infuse new meaning to the festival itself. The views are of my own expressed without the intention of hurting anyone’s belief. You can also read the retelling of the festival Onam (The Story of Three Paces), Durga Puja (The Story of Mahishāsurmardini). Diwali (The Story of Return), Mahashivratri (The Story of Halahal), Holika Dahan (The Story of Burning) and Holi (The Story of Colours)
OVERVIEW
It is difficult to point out one true original source or story for Raksha Bandhan as there are many tales — mythological and historical — that have come to be associate with it. Depending on from where one hears it from, some claim the act of tying Rakhi was started by Yamuma when she welcomed her brother Yam to her married home while others attest to the ritual’s beginning with the story of Asura king Bali declaring Goddess Lakshmi as his sister upon the act of being tied a rakhi.
However, there is one famous tale explaining the association of love and protection involving Krishna and Draupadi that, while not mentioned in the mainstream narrative of Mahabharat text, has found its way into the collective memory of many people.
STORY
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“Come on, Sakhi (friend). I can’t wait until you try it.”
Draupadi followed the sweet, surreal voice of Krishna through the dense field. He was a few steps ahead a moment before completely disappearing into one of the winding turns, so it was a bit assuring to hear from him as she felt she was going to get lost. They seem to have walked quite a bit from the palace.
She had always looked forward to coming to the Kingdom of Dwarka and meeting Krishna, its king, and her close friend. But upon her arrival, he told her he had a special gift for her and asked her to follow him.
“But where are we going, Sakha (friend)?”, Draupadi asked
“You will know soon enough. Everything will be revealed when the time is right.”, his answer came back.
Draupadi signed and smiled. It wasn’t unusual for her friend to keep up the suspense and speak in riddles. She turned to his two wives, Sathyabhama and Rukmini, who, along with two guards, had joined on this expedition.
“Had I known we were going to be taking a field trip, I would not have worn my favourite sari. Do you two know what he is up to?”
Both wives shrugged. “Do any of us ever do, when it comes to our beloved Vasudev (Krishna)?”, Rukmini said tauntingly leading to all women laughing.
Sathyabhama embraced Draupadi’s arm while ushering her to walk faster. “Nonetheless, we are just glad you are here finally. Whatever it is, it must be something special as he was looking forward to your visit for almost a year. But, be careful with your sari though. It’s really pretty and we wouldn’t want it to get a stain.”
Soon enough, they came to a clearing in the field only to see Krishna standing near a bunch of sugarcanes. He was holding one with both hands and began to peel the cane with his mouth.
Draupadi was speechless. She couldn’t believe he remembered. It had been many years, when in passing she had mentioned, that she loved sweet things and her favourite thing to eat was sugarcane.
However, since her marriage, she had been so busy tending to her five husbands that she would often forget about her own needs. While they all loved her in their own ways, the Pandavas had never once asked about what she liked.
But Krishna, her closest friend, never forgot her.
Acknowledging her excitement, Krishna smiled and approached her.
“Ever since the last Makar Sankranti, I have personally been cultivating these as I knew how much you like sugarcanes. That is why I got you here as soon as you arrived. Go ahead, try it.”
Saying that he proceeded to break the cane with his own hands but a splinter from the breakpoint cut his finger deeply. Blood began to trickle down from the wound although Krishna did not seem to have felt it.
Sathyabhama immediately turned to the guards and commanded, “Dwarkapati (King of Dwarka) is hurt. Go and urgently fetch a bandage. Quickly!”
As soon as the guards left, Rukhmini said, “It’s going to take too long to get the bandage. Let me find some cloth from the palace and come back.”
She rushed away, leaving the two women and Krishna.
Seeing him hurt, Draupadi did not waste time thinking. She quickly tore a piece of cloth from her sari and tied it tightly around his wounded finger until the bleeding halted.
While she was too busy tending to wound to notice Sathyabhama shocked at this act, Krishna kept looking admirably at the teary-eyed Draupadi. She finally looked up only to see him being characteristically calm without any sign of pain. It was almost impossible to read his beautiful dark face and know what he was thinking.
“Is it hurting really bad, Sakha?”, she asked, her voice breaking a bit.
Krishna wiped her tears with his hands. “I am fine, dear Sakhi. But just as you showed the incredible care you have for me with this piece of cloth, I promise you that when the time comes, it will not fail you for I shall save you through it, even if I am not there with you. Akshayam! (May it never end).”
While she couldn’t decipher the meaning behind the cryptic message during that moment, deep down, she knew there was something prophetic about it concerning an event in the future. But for now, all she cared about was of easing any pain that Krishna felt.
Just then, Rukhmini came back and joined Sathyabhama. Seeing Draupadi selflessly tear out her own favourite sari to immediately nurse Krishna, both knew that the bond they had was unique and worthy of celebration, declaring:
“Let this knot be the testimony to the promise of protection for eternity.”
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