INDIA

The Land of a Million Contradictions,

The Land of a Billion representatives of Humanity,
The Land of the Oldest Existing Civilization on the lanet!
"hat is it a#out this land that fills one $ith a sense of Enigma%%% The very name con&ures up
vivid images of contrasting 'eographies and colorful Traditions((
The Sub-continent $here some of the 'reatest religions of the "orld originated,
The Nation $hich created History #y attaining )reedom through *on+,iolent means,
The Economy $hich is the -th largest in the $orld in terms of urchasing o$er arity,
The Land supporting a Multi+lingual, Multi+ethnic, Multi+cultural and yet )unctional
.emocracy!
Home to over a #illion people, /ndia is $here people live $ith variety, thrive on diversity and are
too familiar $ith largeness of it all to let it #oggle them((
/ncredi#le /ndia!
0s the 1un 'od Surya enters *orthern Hemisphere 2Uttarayan3 today, it /nspires us all to
move a$ay from dar4ness and to$ards light( /n different parts of the country, $e are cele#rating
Lohri5Ma4ar 1an4rant5ongal and Bihu +One festival, many names+ 6ust li4e our nation((
/n a previous post, 2Genetics of the Wandering Indian3, / tal4ed a#out the morphological
distinctness of /ndians hiding 'enetically identical constitutions( The same plurality has #een
preserved in the variety of names that $e posess and / am suddenly inclined to explore the
history #ehind them((
Naming a Nation
Our country has t$o official names + India and Bharat. The ersians and 0ra#s used yet another
name for the country + HindustanA! Hind and since ersian has played a #ig part in the
development of our *ational language Hindi, the term Hindustan is also used in common
parlance today(
Both Hindustan and India ho$ever, are derived from the name of the river Indus $hich mar4ed
the "estern #oundary of /ndia for travelers( /ndus again is derived from the 1ans4rit name
Sindhu and #oth the terms have #een in use since at least 7th century BC( Ho$ever, these are
the names given to us #y travelers and traders(( "hat did the indigenous people of ancient /ndia
refer to their country as%%
/ndia5Bharat5Hindustan50l Hind
/ $as fascinated #y this 8uestion and tried to loo4 into all the scriptural data / could lay my pa$s
on( *OT surprisingly, / found plurality here as $ell 9o3
The Indus-Saras"ati people extended in the "est from 0fghanistan+a4istan #order right upto
:amuna in the East and 'u&arat in the 1outh( This region, especially the land #et$een 1aras$ati
and 'anga rivers $as 4no$n as Arya#arta or the Land+of+the+*o#le(
The Mesopotamians $ith $hom ancient /ndians ahd extensive trade relations, referred to this
region as $e!uha( The same name has #een popularized #y one of my favorite authors 0mish
Tripathi in his #est+seller + 'The Immortals of Meluha'. But again, this $as an apellation for a
particular region of the country and not the entire /ndian su#+continent((
0ryavarta5Meluha5*orthern /ndia
.elving further into the research, / 8uite literaly stum#led onto an ancient ruler, Em%eror
Agnidhra& the son of the )/;1T M0* + S"ayambhu $anu $ho is #elieved to have
ruled over the E*T/;E glo#e, then 4no$n as the 'ambu-d"ee%(<)or more details, clic4 on this
lin4 + 'ambud"ee% - (he G!oba! Is!and=
"hile retiring, Agnidhra divided his 4ingdom 2a4a the entire planet3 into > Continents or
.ivisions handing them over to his > sons to rule( Thus, the peninsular stretch spreading from
Himalayas to the Ocean, came under the supervision of his eldest son Nabhi, there#y giving us
the oldest appellation of our land + the NABHI-)A*SHA.
0s most of you $ould 4no$, the term Nabhi refers to the ?*avel? in 1ans4rit and thus Nabhi-
varsha could easily #e translated as the ?Central ;egion?( /nterestingly, the 'a%anese name for
/ndia $as (en+i,u( Tian, the root $ord, means @Heaven@, $hile, jiku, means9 @The center
of@, translating it to @The Heavenly Center of the "orld@(
*a#hi ,arsha5Ten&i4u5*avel of the "orld
So I managed to find the o!dest name of our sub-continent as %er the scri%tures. But then& I
"ondered& "here and ho" did the name BHA*A( come from--
India and BhArat
0ccording to at least half a dozen different scriptures, our country is called Bh0rat as a mar4 of
respect to the legendary Emperor, .ha,ra#arti *a+a Bharat(
This fact has #een attested #y the ishnu !uran 2A,B,CB3, ayu !uran 2CC,7A3, "ing !uran
2B,-D,AC3, #rahmand !uran 2B-,7,EA3, Agni !uran 2 BFD,BB+BA3, $kanda !uran 2CD,7D3 and
Markandeya !uran 27F,-B3!! )or example, )ishnu /uraan states+


The country lying *orth of the Ocean and 1outh of the sno$y mountains is called #h%ratG There
d$ell the descendants of Bharat(
Bh0rat ,arsha extending from Himalayas to the Ocean
No"& there are again (W0 #ery interesting stories about this 0NE name and I1m gonna
share both of them "ith you today..
(he Legends of Bharat
The )/;1T legend #egins $ith Em%eror Nabhi, the grandson of Manu, $hom
$e encountered a#ove(
Emperor *a#hi, )irst ruler of the /ndian su#+continent
0ccording to Hindu as $ell as 6ain scriptures, *a#hi+dev $as married to Meru+devi, the daughter
of Indra, and their eldest son $as the 1aint+Hing *ishabh De#(
*o$, ;/1H0BH .ev $as the first Tirthankar according to the 6ain tradition and /
should mention here that Srimad Bh2ga#atam also counts Him as Ith of the A- /ncarnations of
Lord )ishnu( 0ccording to the #hagavatam, He $as #orn to sho$ the people of this $orld the
path of salvation( /t $as He $ho laid do$n the foundations of Civilization and advised people to
follo$ the path of spiritual #liss, instead of indulging in a life of $orldly pleasures and
en&oyment(
0dinath ;isha#dev
*o$, ;isha#h .ev had many sons, and the eldest t$o from his t$o $ives $ere Bharat and
Bahuba!i( The t$o sons $ere competing for the illusive title of &hakravarti 2Emperor+of+Entire+
"orld3 #ut Bharat $as the natural $inner and as per the scriptures, it is TH/1 Bharat after
$hom our country is named(
/n Hymns A(B(CB and A(B(CA, the )ishnu /uraan states+
Rishabh was born to Merudevi, Bharat was born to Rishabh,
Bharatvarsha was named from Bharat, and Sumati arose from Bharat. JA(B(CBK
This country is known as Bharatavarsha,
Since the time the father entrusted the Kingdom to the son,
And himself went to the forest for ascetic ractices. JA(B(CAK
Tal4ing of 0scetic ractises, it has #een o#served, that a lot of Indus-Saras"ati .i#i!i3ation
seals and figurines depict :ogic postures on them, $hich BT" highlights the continuity of :ogic
practice in /ndia since at least 7FFF years ago(
:ogic postures in /ndus+1aras$ati figurines
Three+faced ashupatinath seal
There are certain seals that depict the :ogic position called 4ayotsarga, traditionally descri#ed
in connection $ith the penance of ;isha#h+dev( /t may very $ell #e that the seals record the
histories of 6ain Tirthan4ars as much as the Hindu 'ods as ultimately #oth #elong to the same
1piritual Tradition!!
(he Second Legend of Bharat
The 1ECO*. legend of Bharat, #rings us into more familiar territory, pro#a#ly due to the $ider
reach and popularity of the Epic containing it, the $ahabharat(
The story #egins $ith *ishi )ish"amitra, one of the 1even 'reat 1eers of Hindu Mythology(
The rishis?s penance $orried /ndra sufficiently enough to ma4e him send $ena,a, the most
#eautiful A'sara in heaven, to distract the sage(
The result of their dalliance $as 1ha4untala $ho got married to Hing .ushyant of the ruling
Lunar .ynasty( Their story is the stuff of a typical Bolly$ood movie and has #een immortalized
in 1ans4rit in 4a!idasa?s poetic rendition and in art #y one of the most cele#rated /ndian artists
*a+a *a#i )arma(
1ha4untala #y ;a&a ;avi ,arma
.ushyant and 1ha4untala?s son $as called $arvadaman( the su#duer+of+all #y the careta4ers in
the ashram $here he gre$ up( Even as a 4id, he $ould play $ith lions and other ferocious
animals of the &ungle!
By the time he gre$ up, he could su#&ugate lions and tigers $ith his #are hands, a feat $hich is
remar4a#le and is mentioned MO;E than once in various scriptures( *evertheless, this su#duing
child of 1ha4untala $as later renamed Bharat as he $as ')herished by all' in his father?s
4ingdom(
1ha4untala introduces Bharat to .ushyant
/nterestingly, there?s again an Indus-Saras"ati 1eal that matches the description of Bharat
su#duing t$o tigers $ith his #are hands! The scene may or may not refer to 1ha4untala?s son, #ut
its iconography is certainly suggestive((
/ndus ,alley 1eal pro#a#ly depicting Bharat
I firm!y be!ie#e that these sea!s "hen deci%hered& "ou!d be an e5treme!y #a!uab!e
and A6(HEN(I. source of our ancient History77
Bharat gre$ up to #e a great $arrior and a &hakravarti *aja $ho con8uered and united the
entire continent of /ndia again, spreading right from the Ocean to the Himalayas, thus giving the
country his name(
Cha4ravarti ;a&a Bharat
/mage courtesy 'rant Morrison?s BI .ays
<0rt #y Mu4esh 1ingh=
This appellation for the country $as $ell noted in the ancient $orld as $ell( )rom the
perspective of the $a!aysians, /ndians $ere the most common visitors from the "est, therefore
the $ord #arat $as a#sor#ed into Malay language meaning @"est@(
)or the Middle Eastern traders, particularly Arabs and (ur,s, spices $ere the most common
materials coming from the East( Therefore, some scholars #elieve, the term #harat $as
#orro$ed first into 0ra#ic as #ahar%t 2meaning + spices3G and then into the Tur4ish as #aharat
$ith the same meaning(
/t is fortunate that the t$o BH0;0Ts of our History $ho gave their name to the *ation $ere
called the same, other$ise one of them could have 8uite easily #een forgotten li4e the +m'eror
Nabhi!! "e should therefore understand Bh0rat to mean not &ust the ?Land+of+Bharat? #ut the
1Land-of-BharatS1 instead Go3
Bh0ratvarsha, the Land of Bharats
/ have heard from various people the vie$ that $e /ndians have al$ays #een fighting $ith each
other and it $as the British $ho actually turned us into a *0T/O*! To the supporters of this
#elief, / $ould urge to read their scriptures and understand their o$n heritage(
There is no )uture for any nation, if $e do not remem#er our ast( / hope / $as a#le to share
$ith you some interesting facts a#out our Origin as a Country and / guess should conclude here
$ith one of the most optimistic poems ever #y Gurude# *abindranath (ha,ur+
!here the Mind is without "ear,
And the #ead is held #igh,
!here Knowledge is "ree,
!here the !orld has not been broken into fragments
by narrow domestic walls$
!here words come out from the deth of Truth,
!here tireless striving stretches its arms
towards %erfection$
!here the clear stream of Reason has not lost its !ay
into the dreary desert sand of dead habit$
!here the mind is led forward by Thee,
into ever&widening Thought and Action,
'nto that #eaven of freedom,
My "ather,
(et my )ountry awake.
,ande Mataram!
.
Aum Shanti8 Shanti8 Shanti8