Jana Gana Mana – Just a thought for the National Anthem!
How well do you know about it?
I have always wondered who is the “adhinayak” and “bharat bhagya
vidhata”,whose praise we are singing. I thought might be Motherland
India !
Our current National Anthem “Jana Gana Mana” is sung throughout the
country.
Did you know the following about our national anthem, I didn’t.
To begin with, India ‘s national anthem, Jana Gana Mana Adhinayaka, was
written by Rabindranath Tagore in honour of King George V and the Queen
of England when they visited India in 1919.
To honour their visit Pandit Motilal Nehru had the five stanzas
included, which are in praise
of the King and Queen. (And most of us think it is in the praise of our
great motherland!! !)
In the original Bengali verses only those provinces that were under
British rule, i.e. Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat ,
Maratha etc.were mentioned. None of the princely states were recognized
which are integral parts of India
now Kashmir, Rajasthan, Andhra, Mysore or Kerala.
Neither the Indian Ocean nor the Arabian Sea was included, since they
were directly
under Portuguese rule at that time. The Jana Gana Mana Adhinayaka
implies
that King George V is the lord of the masses and Bharata Bhagya Vidhata
is “the bestower of good
fortune”.
Following is a translation of the five stanzas that glorify
the King:
First stanza: (Indian) People wake up remembering your good name and
ask
for your blessings and they sing your glories. (Tava shubha naame
jaage; tava shubha aashish maage, gaaye tava jaya gaatha)
Second stanza: Around your throne people of all religions come and give
their love and anxiously wait to hear your
kind words.
Third stanza: Praise to the King for being the charioteer, for leading
the ancient travelers beyond misery.
Fourth stanza: Drowned in the deep ignorance and suffering,
poverty-stricken, unconscious country? Waiting for
the wink of your eye and your mother’s (the Queen’s) true protection.
Fifth stanza: In your compassionate plans, the sleeping Bharat ( India
)
will wake up. We bow down to your feet O’ Queen,
and glory to Rajeshwara (the King).
This whole poem does not indicate any love for the Motherland but
depicts a bleak picture. When you sing Jana Gana
Mana Adhinayaka, whom are you glorifying? Certainly not the Motherland.
Is it God? The poem does not indicate that.It is time now to understand
the original purpose and the implication of this, rather than blindly
sing as
has been done the past fifty years.
Nehru chose the present national anthem as opposed to Vande Mataram
because he thought that it would be easier for the band to play!!! It
was
an absurd reason but Today for that matter bands have advanced and they
can very well
play any music. So they can as well play Vande Mataram, which is a far
better composition in praise of our
Dear Motherland – India .
Wake up, it’s high time! Shouldn’t Vande Mataram be our National
Anthem.
Come Join together to put Vande Mataram as our National Anthem.
Please dont break the chain lets see how many people are coming to know
about it.
PROUD TO BE INDIAN…
