—Dr. Devaraju Maharaju
First recipient of the Kaviraju Tripuraneni Ramaswamy National Award
As children, we read in our history lessons about the war between Alexander and Purushottam (Porus). We learned that the war took place between the Jhelum and Chenab rivers. That is as far as it went — nobody told us the background of that war. Those events, which held great importance for compassion, human values, and morality, have indeed been recorded in history. Historians noted them in the texts they wrote. But those details never reached ordinary people.
No attempt was made to bring them into school textbooks and use them to shape children into better citizens. We have often discussed among ourselves how Buddhism was destroyed while the Vedic religion grew stronger. Raksha Bandhan, too, is an important event that entered public life from Buddhism! How so? For that, we must go back to the time of the war between Alexander and Porus, which took place in June, 326 BCE.
Alexander, a disciple of the world-renowned philosopher Aristotle, became king of Macedonia at the age of twenty, before the Common Era. Expanding his empire, within ten years he travelled from Greece to reach northwest India.
Campaigning across the Asian continent, he defeated the Buddhist king Oxyartes, who ruled Bactria (the Afghan region). There, he appointed Oxyartes as his viceroy and was drawn to the beauty and humility of his daughter, Roxana. He took her as his second wife and continued his campaign of conquest. Ambhi, alias Omphis, the Brahmin king ruling Takshashila, learned that Alexander was about to invade India and displayed his political shrewdness — he sent word inviting Alexander to his kingdom.
However, the tribal groups of that region refused to submit. Recognising the situation, Ambhi sided with Alexander and helped him suppress the tribes. Not only that, he urged Alexander to attack Purushottam (Porus), who ruled the land between the Jhelum and Chenab rivers — because Ambhi held enmity toward Porus. He used Alexander to eliminate him. It was a scheme. He sent five thousand of his own soldiers to fight on Alexander's side, and also built a temporary bridge for crossing the Jhelum river.
In this way, Ambhi cooperated with Alexander in every possible way. Brahmin kings never sought the protection of this land's original inhabitants. This fact appears again and again, in many instances, across the pages of history. Did not the RSS, of Aryan-Brahmin origin, refuse to take part in the freedom struggle, apologising to the British instead and looking only after their own interests? Whether in the past, in the modern era, or even now, their conduct has not changed. Nor will it change!
The historic Battle of the Hydaspes, fought between Alexander and Porus (Purushottam) in 326 BCE, completely changed the circumstances of that time. The battle took place on the banks of the Hydaspes river in the Punjab region — the river we now call the Jhelum. At that time, the land between the Jhelum and Chenab rivers was ruled by Purushottam, king of the Paurava dynasty. Alexander's exhausted Macedonian army struggled to withstand Porus's forces. Alexander personally witnessed Buddhist monks bandaging and providing medical care to bloodied soldiers on both sides of the battle. He gradually underwent an inner transformation. Before compassion, kindness, and mercy, this violence, bloodshed, and imperial expansion began to seem small to him.
When Alexander and his horse were badly wounded and lay groaning in a corner, a young woman named Lachi came and tended to them. Alexander introduced himself to her, saying he was the emperor of Macedonia, Alexander.
"Oh — who you are matters nothing to me. You are wounded, bleeding, and unable to rise. It is my duty as a human being to treat you and save your life! Taking a life is very easy. Saving a life is very hard! I am human, so I served you as a human being. That is all," said Lachi.
Her words made the world-conqueror Alexander bow his head. He recognised the humanity within her and the value of that humanity. Alexander asked the girl, Lachi, how she had come to possess such patience, forbearance, and philosophical wisdom. She told him she was a disciple of the Buddhist monk Tantimas, and that all those tending to the wounded there were disciples of that same monk. At once, Alexander resolved to meet the Buddhist monk Tantimas and express his gratitude to him.
By then, Buddhism was firmly established in the land — and it happened that the full moon of Shravana fell during the very time the war was being fought. Lay devotees, both women and men, listened to the Dhamma teachings and joyfully tied Dhammaraksha (protective threads, or raksha bandhan) on one another. This meant taking a vow together: let us all protect the Dhamma! That tradition has been observed in Buddhist monasteries from that day to this. Alexander explained to his wife Roxana about the care Lachi had given him on the battlefield, and about this Buddhist tradition.
He also confided in his wife that defeating the powerful Porus was proving difficult, and that his army had grown weak. Roxana then made a decision. She sent a rakhi to Purushottam (Porus), along with a request. She pleaded that if her unarmed husband Alexander should fall into his hands, he should show mercy and spare his life. She begged him to consider her a sister and grant her the gift of her husband's life. Understanding the matter, the large-hearted Purushottam gave Roxana his word that it would be so.
The next day, fierce fighting resumed. Just as Roxana had anticipated, Alexander, unarmed, fell into Purushottam's hands. Purushottam raised his sword to strike Alexander down. But the moment he saw the raksha bandhan on his own wrist, he remembered the promise he had given and his duty. He lowered his sword. Alexander silently admired Purushottam's magnanimity. And so, rather than remaining enemies, the two became friends and reached a settlement.
Alexander praised Purushottam's courage and valour. Though victory belonged to Alexander, he handed the kingdom back to Purushottam to rule as before. As he moved forward with his army, Alexander made one request of Purushottam: that he take Lachi — who had tended to him on the battlefield and saved his life — as his wife and make her queen. Purushottam agreed and accepted Lachi as his wife. Ambhi's schemes came to nothing. The poison he had spread was dissolved by virtue, sacrifice, and largeness of heart. Brotherhood triumphed.
Alexander, who had conquered nations driven by imperial ambition, bowed before Buddhist traditions in India. He gave importance to the Dhamma vow that upholds the spirit of brotherhood. He carried Buddhist culture across continents. Influenced after hearing the teachings of the philosopher-monk Tantimas, he had the essence of those teachings written down on a kind of paper available at the time, preserved them in jars, and transported them on horses and elephants. When he departed, he also took some Buddhist monks along with him. In this way, a confluence of Buddhist and Greek cultures came into being. We know how, later, in the Kalinga War (261 BCE), Ashoka the Fierce had a change of heart, renounced weapons and violence, and embraced Buddhism. We also know how Emperor Ashoka worked to spread Buddhism widely in order to uphold human values.
In 323 BCE, at the age of 32, Alexander died in Babylon (in present-day Iraq) of an unknown illness. Before that, he had a will of sorts drawn up with his companions. It contained three main instructions: 1. His coffin was to be carried only by physicians. 2. His wealth was to be scattered along the way as it was carried. 3. His empty hands were to be left open and visible, outstretched, as he was carried away. The meaning behind these was this: only those who had truly witnessed and understood death should carry out his burial. He wished to convey that he was taking no wealth with him — that it belonged to the people — and so it should be scattered all along the way. He wanted his open, empty hands to be visible as a message to the people that he was taking nothing with him from this world. Even after all these centuries, the custom of scattering money along the way during funeral processions continues even today. It is a custom that persists from that very time.
Dhammaraksha means protecting the Dhamma — protecting righteousness. Here, dharma does not mean religion. It means protecting justice and truth. Protecting brotherhood and the bond of friendship. Preserving the compassion, kindness, and mercy that Buddhism taught. These are not confined to any one region or nation. They were established for the wellbeing of all people, everywhere. In Buddhism, truth, non-violence, virtue, and peace know no boundaries. To proclaim these values, Dhammaraksha (raksha bandhan) threads are tied in Buddhist monasteries. Using this very tradition, Roxana saved her husband's life.
From then on, it became a symbol of the bond between brothers and sisters. Over time, all the other customs that grew up around it were fabrications introduced by followers of the Vedic religion — much as they distorted other festivals and other matters. This particular fact, however, has not been distorted to any great extent. Yet how it entered the lives of the people of this land, and how it became established, has been concealed. We must bring this to light! We must uphold the truth!
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