NATIONAL ANTHEM

National Anthem

How well do u know about it?



I have always wondered who is the "adhinayak" and
"bharat bhagya vidhata", whose praise we are singing.
I thought may be God! 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 honor of King George V and the Queen of
England when they visited India in 1919. To honor
their visit Pundit 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 were 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 for Bharat".



Following is a translation of the five stanzas which
glorify the King:



1st stanza (Indian)People wake up remembering your
good name and ask for your blessings 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 to the King for being the
charioteer, for leading the ancient travelers beyond
misery.



4th 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.



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 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! Vande Mataram should be our
National Anthem.