FW: Facts about "Jana Gana Mana"

[manmee...@wipro.com]

 

Facts about "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 honor of King George V and the   Queen   of    England when they visited India in 1919. To honor 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   naame   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.