I don’t know if you already know the secrets behind the Indian national anthem. Take a good look at what Indian anthem has to say.
The national anthem Jana Gana Mana is sung throughout the country. But it is very surprising but common that most of us have never paid heed to actually understand it correctly. Please go through it again and decide for yourself.
Fifty years of “independence” have come to pass and now nearly 1,000 million Indians take pride in singing their national anthem, it. is amazing that most are not aware of its background and meaning.
Think — it’s our country and whom do we praise? To begin ‘with this song was written by Rabindranath Tagore 1n praise of King George V and the Queen of England when they visited India in 1919.
To honour their visit Pundit Motilal Nehru, the Kashmiri Brahmin father of Jawahar Lal Nehru, had the five stanzas included which are in praise of the King and Queen. But most of us think it is in praise of our great motherland.
Who is Bhagya Vidhata: The Jana Gana Mana Adhinayaka Jaya He. He 1implies victory for King George who 1s the lord of the masses (Adhinayak) and Bharat Bhagya Vidhata is the “bestower of good fortune’.
In the original Bengali verse only those provinces that were under British rule (Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat, Maratha, Dravid, Utkal, Bang etc.) were mentioned. None of the princely states were recognized which are integral parts of India now — Kashmir, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Mysore or Ker- ala. Further it mentions Vindhya, Himachal, Yamuna and Ganga but neither the Indian Ocean nor the Arabian Sea were included, since they were directly under the Portuguese rule at that time. Following 1is a translation of the five stanzas which glorify the British King:
1st stanza:
Tav shubh naame jaage: (Indian) people wake up remembering your good name.
Tav Shubh ashish mange: And ask for your blessings. Gahe tav jai gaatha: and they sing your glories.
2nd stanza:
Around your throne people of all religions come and give their love and anxiously wait to hear your kind words.
3rd stanza:
Praise the King for being the chari oteer, for leading the ancient travelers, misery.
4th stanza:
Beyond Drowned 1in the deep ignorance and suffering, poverty stricken, unconscious country? Waiting for the wink of your eyes and your mother’s (the Queen’s) protection.
5th 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 in the past 50 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.
