Rajya Sabha MP and philanthropist Sudha Murthy's post for Raksha Bandhan on Monday sparked controversy. The post, in which the Infosys Chairman's wife explained why Rakhi is an important festival for her, sparked a debate on social media platform X.
Taking to X, the Rajya Sabha MP said - "Raksha Bandha is an important festival for me, where a sister ties a thread indicating that in case of any difficulty, you should always be there to help me".
In her video message, Murthy shared the story behind the festival and said - "It goes back to when Rani Karnavati (from the Kingdom of Mewar) was in danger after her kingdom, which was small, came under attack. She did not know what to do. She sent a small piece of thread to Mughal Emperor Humayun and said I'm in danger please consider me as your sister. Please do come and protect me."
"Humayun did not know what it was...he asked what is this and the locals said this is a call of a sister to a brother...this is the custom of the land," adding, "The emperor said okay if this is the case then I will help Rani Karnavati. He left Delhi but couldn't reach there on time and Karnavati died."
Sudha Murthy further added that the idea behind Raksha Bandhan is that when you are facing a threat or are in distress, the Rakhi threat "indicates that somebody should come and help me and it means a lot."
Sudha Murthy's story-time video sparked a debate on social media. Several users on X differed over the Rani Karnavati story and stated that the origin of Raksha Bandhan dates back to the Mahabharat.
As per users on X, during the time of Mahabharat, Lord Krishna accidently cut his finger while using the Sudarshan chakra to kill King Shishupal. Draupadi then covered the wound with a piece of cloth, which led to Lord Krishna vowing to protect her from any harm.
Following the massive debate on social media, Sudha Murthy issued a clarification and stated that the tale she shared was just "one of the many stories associated with the festival".
