Jana Gana Mana" - Just a thought for the National Anthem!

vengabeats

vengabeats

Nilesh Nagdev
How well do you know 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 name 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 NationalAnthem. 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.

BE PROUD TO BE INDIAN..
 
Whatever was the reason that made Nehru bow to King...but why should we not have it as our National Anthem.......Even after Reading this, i can atleast assure myself of not praising any Earthly King....but to those who have laid their lives for the well being of the country...it makes me realise that i OWE my life...my Independent Life to them..

This makes me recall a few good lines: "Kuch Kar Gujarne ko...Khoon Chala Khoon Chala......Yaadon ke Shishe...mein Utarne ko...Khoon Chala Khoon Chala....."
 
Whatever was the reason that made Nehru bow to King...but why should we not have it as our National Anthem.......Even after [COLOR=blue ! important][FONT=verdana,geneva,lucida][COLOR=blue ! important][FONT=verdana,geneva,lucida]Reading[/FONT][/FONT][/color][/color] this, i can atleast assure myself of not praising any Earthly King....but to those who have laid their lives for the well being of the country...it makes me realise that i OWE my life...my Independent Life to them..

This makes me recall a few good lines: "Kuch Kar Gujarne ko...Khoon Chala Khoon Chala......Yaadon ke Shishe...mein Utarne ko...Khoon Chala Khoon Chala....."
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Basically its because there are people like you in India who thnk that way.. and thats why these politicians get stupid issues.

I'd rather sing the rang de basanti song with my heart .. than some song which praises some king I dont even know and is made compulsory

Everyone has a different perception and my perception is that its plain stupid to sing for a king who visited india in 1919 . I dont owe him anything and I am at my free will to choose a song which I would love to sing for my mother land.

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.
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I wonder, if the politicians or the learned men dint know about it?? Why wasn't it brought to the attention of anyone so far. We've been singing the song for the last 50 yrs and yet no one pointed this out till now... What a shame!

I do agree that singing Vande Mataram would be better.
 
I would like to present the exact meaning of the song which is translated by Guruji Rabindranath Tagore himself and the adopted version of the Indian Constitution. Have a look at this:

Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people, dispenser of India's destiny.

The name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sind, Gujurat and Maratha. Of the Dravid and Orissa and Bengal.

It Echoes in the hills of Vindhyas and Himalayas, mingles in the music of Yamuna and Ganga and is chanted by the waves of the Indian Sea.

They pray for your blessing and sing thy praise. The salvation of all people is thy hand, thou dispenser of India's destiny. Victory, Victory, Victory to thee.

This poem is addressed to our Motherland and itself is the adhinayak or the ruler of the minds of the people and so on. Second, one finds the mentioning of the states like andhra and south with the word Dravida (the aryans and dravidans came to india and the aryans settled in the north and the dravidans in south, so its called dravida - you must know these things!) the Sind and punjab form the rajasthan and punjab in the modern times. So no portuguese and etc conclusions can be drawn from this. We also find the mention of the Indian Seas (from - jaladhi tiranga (tri seas)). And about the last thought : ie whether it is addressed to God. Certainly not my friends. the poem states that the Motherland itself is the ruler and protector of the people and her blessings are needed by all. I hope some questions are answered. But before getting to a rapid conclusion, I would like to present the Stature of the Man called Rabindranath Tagore.


If the world read about India or its culture even in the British Raj then its through the works of this Man. In simple words, he is the Father of English Literature in India. He translated Macbeth into bengali and wrote some classics which form the base of Indian drama and Theatre till today. If someone had a look at his work Gitanjali, then you would find an Introduction to the book written by none other than W. B . Yeats , a famous poet( must be known to you- not personally though!) and we all know he is the first one to get India a Nobel Prize. He travelled from Bombay to Boston, Colombo to Moscow, Beijing to London, Berlin to Buenos Aires and from Harvard to Oxford ; gave lectures at these places and interacted with personalities like W. B. Yeats, Romain Rolland, Albert Einstein, Helen Keller, George Bernard Shaw etc. The countries like Bangladesh, Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Sweden, Venuzula have their national stamps with a picture of our Rabindranath on them. And do you remember, he was awarded the Sir honour by the British Empire, and what did he do : He simply rejected it. And now people say, he has written the sacred anthem to please King George V or the Queen... The judgement is yours.


I present these facts to you and my humble request to you all is to think before you make and pass a judgement. we dont require you to sing the entire song in your melodious voice, but stand with your head held high when it is played. And rumours like these are just unpardonable.


Sare Jahan se accha, Hindustan hamara
Hum bulbule hain isiki, yeh Gulsitan hamara hamara.

Jai Hind.
 
Thanks Abhi, the article which u've posted is quite thought provoking. I would request both Nilesh and Abhi to post the source of both the articles, so that we can find out which one is correct, as its obvious that one of them is a make-up article. Also, Nilesh, can u post more insights regd ur article, bcoz i think we should analyse everyline to find out which one is correct.

Confusions and manipulations lead to incorrect results.
 
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