Jana Gana Mana" - Just a thought for the National Anthem!
December 19, 2006
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 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 National
Anthem.Come Join together to put Vande Mataram as our National
Anthem.
BE PROUD TO BE INDIAN…
February 16, 2007 at 9:46 am
Please read below.
There is some controversy surrounding the appropriateness of this poem to be the national anthem of independent India. This poem was first sung during a convening of the Indian National Congress in 1911. Rabindranath Tagore had submitted the poem as a paean of India’s divine destiny, and it was sung on the first day of the convening. The day after, a welcome was given to King George V on his visit to India. It was assumed thenceforth by many that it had been written for the King. However, Tagore is said to have written the poem in honour of God. In particular, given the great patriotism of Tagore, and his involvement in the freedom struggle, people are skeptical that the “protector” refers to the British monarch. Indeed, one of Tagore’s greatest moments was his refusal of the British knighthood on grounds of the empire’s immoral dealings in its rule of India, a title offered to him by none other than the king (George) about whom some feel Tagore was writing! But most definitive is Tagore’s own statement about this, showing this allegation to be myth:
In a letter to Pulin Behari Sen, Tagore later wrote, “A certain high official in His Majesty’s service, who was also my friend, had requested that I write a song of felicitation towards the Emperor. The request simply amazed me. It caused a great stir in my heart. In response to that great mental turmoil, I pronounced the victory in Jana Gana Mana of that Bhagya Vidhata [ed. God of Destiny] of India who has from age after age held steadfast the reins of India’s chariot through rise and fall, through the straight path and the curved. That Lord of Destiny, that Reader of the Collective Mind of India, that Perennial Guide, could never be George V, George VI, or any other George. Even my official friend understood this about the song. After all, even if his admiration for the crown was excessive, he was not lacking in simple common sense.”
March 22, 2007 at 1:53 am
Well, first of all I’m not britain, nor do I have any british relatives and I can rightfully claim to not even have any relativ whose motherlanguage was english. I’m swiss if you care and nothing more than a neutral observer. I know this realy isnt my business, but if you permit, I would like to give you an explanation of my point of view.
Since I lack insight in the indian history I dont doubt that everything written above, by my predecessors, isnt anything else than proven fact with one exception. None could with absolute certainty say what meaning the creator of this poem intended it to have, but what is undeniably certain are the follwing points. First, Rabindranath Tagore was an indian, at least none seems to question that. Second, the original text, written by Rabindranath Tagore, did not include the five stanzas mentioned above. Third, this text was intended to be sung by indians and heard by indians, never by britains. As I assume this text is Hindi and I guess no engish monarch ever bothered to learn the language which was spoken by the vast majority of his “empire”, which were the people of india if I take the headcount into consideration. If it was to praise the british crown, why was it written entirly in Hindi? If it was to praise the “united kingdom” why wasnt it mentioned in a more direct way? “Lord of the masses” and “the bestower of good fortune”, thats a little much implication and a little few concretisation if king George is meant to be refered by this. There are better ways to refer to the british crown. I guess whenever people prefer to avoid some chapters of history they try to conceal everything that could be seen as a connection with a particular event in history that belongs to that chapter, but independently from the interpretations of this poem and as well independently from your choice of India’s anthem nothing will change history. Nothing will change the fact that India once belonged to the british empire and equally nothing can deny India’s independence. What does it matter what the originally intended meaning of this poem was? Its undenibale that it is sung today by the people of India as their expression of national self-confidence and Independence. These words have the power you want them to have, they have no power of theirown.
P.S.: The fact that you still sing this song tells me that it never was sung for someone else than India.
September 24, 2007 at 1:20 pm
Let me try to answer the two questions,” If it was to praise the british crown, why was it written entirly in Hindi? If it was to praise the “united kingdom” why wasnt it mentioned in a more direct way?”
Firstly it was meant to be sung among a gathering of mostly Indiana, but in praise of King George V. So it had to be in anIndian language that the Indians could follow. If you see the Wikipedia report, there was another song written by the poet Rambhuj in Hindi in priase of George V and no one refutes that.
As for the second question, Tagore is supposed to be to be a great poet. So why should he write ‘ directly”? A poet is supposed to write in metaphors using various ornamental modes. And also, Tagore, being inteligent did not want tp praise the King directly. He deliberately made it ambigious so that at a later date he could claim that he actually wrote ot for the supreme lord, which he did in 1937. AS for returning the knighthood, why did he accept it i the first place? Simple, at one time the India elte wasnot completely opposed to Britis rule. They were fighting for better Indian rights while under British rule.That applies to Tagore as much to Gandhi and to the Indian National congress. Nothing to be ashamed of there! As to why we should bother, because it is ourduty to find the truth. For me Tagore does not become a lessr poet or a thinker or a patriot because he gave a song to INC to be sung in praise of George V. You must survive first so tat you can fight later.
January 13, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Dear Sir,
Please inform me about time of our national anthem that it sing in beginning of session or it should be sing in last of session.
Thanks and Regards
Praveen M Jakhadi
L I G 255, M P Nagar, Korba
C G
January 26, 2008 at 9:14 am
Well I dont know what the scenario was exactly when Our National Anthem was written by Rabindra Nath Tagore.I dont know that whether it was written for King George or The queen.But what I think is why will Rabindra Nath Tagore who so actively participated in the national movement write in praise of king of Britain.Leave this point of view aside.I would like mto clarify over here that apart from punjab sindh gujarat maratha The National Anthem talks about dravid utkal banga……here dravid depicts most of the southern region of India where Dravidian empire started……….the phrase utkal jaladhi taranga speaks of the waves of the Indian sea.So these are the facts enough that the writer of this article himself hasnt understood the complete national anthem.
Next I would like to say to all true Indians that why to fight upon these things.National Anthem makes us proud whenever we here it in common wealth games or asian games or in any gathering.Lets forget the past and lets be proud of our national anthem…and proud to be Indians