Have you any day thought of this – why a one rupee coin comes in an envelope of Shagun? In India there are many traditions and since long we see that when a shagun envelop is handed over to a dear one during his/ her wedding, birthday or any other occasion, the shagun envelop contains an one rupee coin apart from the amount of money kept inside the envelop.
There are a few reasons behind such a rare tradition. Here are five most prevalent notions about it.
‘1’ signifies the beginning
One of the best reasons behind such practice is not to start the counting with a zero. As per psychological notion, once you add a one rupee coin to a gift amount, the receiver will count it starting with 1 with the one rupee coin. So, the person need not come across zero, which is considered as a negative one, rather he will start with a good note as he will start with one. It is widely believed that ‘0’ signifies the end while ‘1’ signifies the beginning.
That one rupee is debt
The second reason behind such practice is some people consider the extra 1 rupee is the real debt that lies on the receiver of the money which someday he would return and the friendship will continue. Once you give your dear one a shagun, if he is a well behaved person, he would definitely try to return at least its equivalent to you someday. Here the practice comes into work. The extra one rupee coin is considered as debt. So, the receiver will come up again to return, and both the giver and receiver meet again and again for which their bond gets stronger. That is the reason we see people gift money in the denominations like Rs 51, Rs 101 or Rs 501 etc. In short, the practice of keeping one extra rupee means the giver in unsaid language says, ‘we will meet again’.
Metal is divine
The third probable reason behind the practice is metal comes from the Earth while earth is regarded as mother in Hindu mythology and hence auspicious. You must have heard the tradition of buying gold/ silver or any article made off a metal on Dhanteras so that property gets coming to your house by the blessings of Goddess Laxmi.
Metal is auspicious
Fourthly, as per some beliefs it is considered auspicious to gift some metal. You must have seen elders giving rupee coin to priests as dakshina. Coins are made of metals. Earlier Copper and silver coins were prevalent while now steel based alloys are used to make coins. Hence, while giving a shagun a one rupee coin is added.
Blessings remain indivisible
Another reason of giving shagun in the denominations like 101, 201 or 501 is these numbers are indivisible. Hence, if you gift such amounts it is believed that the good wishes, good luck, and blessings remain indivisible which can be regarded as an extra bonus to the blessings that we get for gifting the main amount of money.
Ms Kalinga