Land of the Bharatas

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Land of the Bharatas

 

Sandhya Jain

 

15 Aug 2009

 

[in recent times, there has been much churning in society about the nature of

Indian nationalism and the Indian state. Central to this debate is the status of

the Hindu people, their religion and culture, in their natal land. Beginning

with the repugnant colonial Aryan Invasion Theory to the Partition of 1947, but

by no means ending with that traumatic vivisection, the Hindu people have been

prey to a host of Western academic assaults, ably assisted by a category of foot

soldiers labelled as Useful Indian Idiots, which seek to confuse the Hindu Mind

about the deep significance of this land and civilisation and the tremendous

responsibility its people bear to uphold their spiritual lineage and cultural

heritage. On the occasion of the painful and humiliating Partition, we revisit

some well known aspects of our Eternal Tradition – Editor]

 

 

Bharatavarsha is encompassed from north to south by Sagarmatha, forehead of the

ocean, a beautiful epithet for the tallest Himalayan peak, and Hind Mahasagar,

the Indian Ocean. Famed as a divine creation, it is the bhumi of the Bharatas,

hallowed by its sacred geography and the great souls who have guided her

spiritual ascent and steered her civilisational destiny.

 

Bharatavarsha literally means the continent (‘varsha’, Sanskrit) that is

dedicated (‘rata’) to light, wisdom (‘bha’).[1] Our Vedic Rishis devoted

themselves to the quest for the eternal truth and ultimate reality, kevala

jñana, satchidananda.

 

The Bharatas were a venerable and ancient tribe mentioned in the Rg. Veda,

particularly in Mandala 3 of Bharata Rishi Vishvamitra. Mandala 7 says the

Bharatas were on the victorious side in the Battle of the Ten Kings.

 

There were three personifications of ‘Bharata’ in Hindu tradition, one each in

the first three yugas, or time cycles. Together they are regarded as the epitome

of the civilisational values of the Sanatana Dharma.

 

Bharata of the Satayuga

 

The first Bharata was born in the Satyuga as the son of Rshabdeva, first among

recognized ancient sages. The Jaina community traces its spiritual lineage from

Rshabhdeva, designated as the first Tirthankara; he is also known as Adinath,

and synonymous with Siva, the foremost yogi of the Hindu tradition.

 

Jinasena’s Adipurana says three great events occurred simultaneously in Jaina

history: Rsabhdeva attained enlightenment and became the first Jina; the cakra

(wheel) appeared in the armoury of his son Bharata and proclaimed him a

cakravartin (emperor); and a son was born to Bharata, ensuring continuation of

the Iksvaku dynasty founded by Rsabhdeva.

 

Elaborating the multiple rebirths of father and son in the bhogabhumi (world of

enjoyment) where salvation is not possible, the Adipurana explains their

evolution to karmabhumi (world of karma) where the law of retribution operates

and men follow different occupations (karman). Rsabhdeva created the Ksatriya,

Vaisya, and Sudra castes; Bharata later created Brahmanas and appointed kings.

 

The duty of the Cakravartin is total conquest of all the directions (digvijaya)

by means of superior moral and political powers, to unite the country under a

single moral kingdom and prevent anarchy. Readers will note that the Cakravartin

is not merely an ideal ruler, but a powerful ancient political concept, inspired

by a vision of the Hindu bhumi as a unity which was not belied by the presence

of multiple centres of political power. That is why civilisational values

permeated the whole land and gave the tradition its abiding continuity.

 

As first cakravartin, Bharata fasted, meditated, performed puja and followed the

cakra symbolizing his kingship as it moved of its own accord to various parts of

the country. He paused to perform pradaksina in Saurastra, where the Jina

Aristanemi (cousin of Sri Krishna) would be born, all the while circling

Ayodhya, centre of Aryavarta (land of the Arya, noble ones).

 

Bharata thus subjugated rival kings and punished those who taxed their subjects

excessively. His digvijaya was accomplished without violence, through innate

capability, on account of punya (merit) acquired in previous lives through

practice of Jaina precepts. He exemplified the virtues of compassion (daya),

divine-wisdom (brahma jñana) and penance (tapas).

 

Bharata of the Tretayuga

 

The second Bharata was born in the Tretayuga as the son of King Dasaratha of

Ayodhya, and younger brother of Sri Rama. He embodied the virtues of love

(prema), devotion (bhakti), and brotherhood (bandhutva).

 

The story of the Ramayana is well known, but briefly, Keikeyi, the second wife

of King Dasaratha, schemes to have the heir apparent, Sri Rama, sent into exile

for fourteen years, and her own son, Bharata, appointed crown prince in his

place. Rama, accompanied by his brother Lakshman, and wife Sita, departs

immediately and the grief-stricken Dasaratha passes away soon afterwards.

 

Bharata, then on a visit to his maternal grandfather’s kingdom in Gandhara,

returns only to learn of his father’s tragic demise and brother’s unfair exile.

Tortured further by the thought that he could be considered complicit in this

palace conspiracy, he decides – unswervingly - not to accept the throne. He then

leads the people to the forest to persuade Rama to return. This political

renunciation of a kingdom won illegitimately is a unique Hindu ethic.

 

Bharata is regarded as the symbol of dharma and idealism, second only to Sri

Rama. To this day, he is revered for his adherence to family values, truth,

righteousness, filial love and duty.

 

When Sri Rama refused to return to Ayodhya as rightful king, Bharata, at the

intervention of Sita’s father, King Janaka, accepted the onerous duty of

facilitating Rama to live righteously, i.e., in exile for fourteen years. He

vowed to immolate himself if Rama did not return immediately at the end of the

exile period and ascend his throne. Agreeing to govern Ayodhya only as regent,

he placed Sri Rama’s sandals at the foot of the royal throne as the symbol of

His kingship.

 

Bharata of the Dwaparyuga

 

The third Bharata was born in the Dwaparyuga as the son of Shakuntala and King

Dushyant. Their story is part of the Mahabharata narrative, but it was Kalidasa

who immortalized their love in Abhigyan Shakuntalam.

 

Shakuntala was the daughter of Rishi Vishvamitra and the apsara Menaka, who was

sent by Indra to distract the sage. Menaka returned to heaven, and her daughter

was raised in the hermitage of Rishi Kanva.

 

King Dushyant was the youngest son of King Puru, who had sacrificed his youth

for his father, King Yayati. He founded the Paurava dynasty. Dushyant was

hunting in the forest when, following a wounded deer into the hermitage of Rishi

Kanva, he found Shakuntala nursing the animal. He fell in love and they married

secretly in the Gandharva style, being their own witnesses.

 

The king gave her a ring as token of his love and to establish her identity as

his wife. Sadly, Shakuntala lost the ring and the king refused to accept her;

she retired to the forest and gave birth to Bharata, who grew up so bold and

fearless that he played with lions. Some years later, the ring was found and

Dushyant brought Shakuntala and Bharat to Pratishthan, where Bharata later

became king.

 

Bharata is regarded as the greatest king of India, who lent his name to the

country. He had nine sons, but deemed none of them fit to succeed him, and hence

adopted a capable child as future ruler. Bharata personified the values of

service (seva), valour (shaurya), and charity (dana).

 

Eternal values, eternal tradition

 

Thus the three Bharatas (two kings, one prince) seamlessly united the Satayuga,

Tretayuga and Dwaparayuga and the land itself in political and cultural unity.

They exemplified three ideals each that permeated Hindu civilisation and form

its core values to this day. Rsabhdeva’s son Bharata gave us daya, Brahma- jñana

and tapas; Dasaratha’s son Bharata gave us prema, bhakti, and bandhutva; and

Dushyanta-Shakuntala’s son Bharata gave us seva, shaurya and dana.

 

Their sterling qualities raised a landmass to divine bhumi - Bharat Mata, mother

of the Bharata people. This explains the Hindu anguish and anger over M.F.

Husain’s exceedingly vulgar imagery of the Eternal Mother.

 

Hindus impart these nine values to every generation. The jeneu ceremony marking

the transition from childhood to youth revolves around this value system. The

youth bestowed the sacred thread takes nine vows; each vow is represented as a

knot that binds the three separate strands of the jeneu.

 

The jeneu was therefore a great privilege, bestowed upon conscious Hindus. Today

Hindu gurus are extending its reach to all sections of society, shattering

mindsets and barriers, and raising the whole population to higher awareness

about the responsibilities of religion and culture.

 

Useful Idiots

 

All this should nail the lie – peddled incessantly by Western Abrahamic

so-called scholars and a modern ‘caste’ designated by some as Useful Indian

Idiots – that India was not a nation until the British made it so; that Hindu

dharma is not a religion but an assorted collection of ‘cults’ (whatever that

means) and beliefs of folk origin (whatever that means – who’s going to ask,

anyway?).

 

We have only to look at ourselves as our Vedic Rishis and Gurus did – as

children of the Himalayas, the Ganga, Yamuna, Narmada, Krishna, Godavari, down

to Kanyakumari. According to the distinguished scholar, Prof. Lokesh Chandra,

the eternal significance of Adi Sankara is that in establishing Mathams in the

four corners of India, he also established the sacred geography of the four

directions and united the country in common pilgrimage and cohesive culture at a

time of grave danger.

 

As we look back, some things startle the mind. The ancient seers travelled

extraordinary distances, covering every nook and corner of the country and every

community howsoever remote, and uniting them in a complex religious and cultural

matrix that endures to this day.

 

But more extraordinary is the fact that the ancient world seems to have had

singular communicative skills. In the absence of what is called a common

language (read English), a villager from Kerala could traverse the land and

dominate the civilisation for over a thousand years, Marathi poets from the

Deccan could settle in Punjab, a Guru from Punjab could reach Karnataka and

Patna, one born in Gujarat could dominate north India. No one felt alien, or

homeless, or misunderstood.

 

This is surely one of the most enduring mysteries of the Sanatana Dharma.

 

1] I owe some of these insights to my discussions with Bharat Bhushan Padmadeo;

see also

http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=274

 

The author is Editor, www.vijayvaani.com