Bharata is a legendary king in Hindu mythology. He was the first to conquer all of Greater India, uniting it into a single entity which was named after him as Bharātavarṣa. According to the Mahabharata, Bharata's empire covered all of the Indian subcontinent, Afghanistan and Persia. The Republic of India is officially known as Bhārat after Bharata (Monier-Williams: "'king Bharatas's realm' i.e. India").
Contents |
Bharatvarsha
Bharatavarsha refers to the total Indian subcontinent. Emperor Bharata was the first and the only emperor to rule all India.
Literature
According to the Mahabharata (Adi Parva), Bharata was the son of King Dushyanta and Shakuntala and thus a descendant of the Lunar Dynasty of the Kshatriya caste. He was originally named Sarvadamana (subduer of all); the Mahabharata traces the events in his life by which he came to be known as Bharata ("the cherished").
Story of Bharata
Painting by Raja Ravi Varma.
Painting by Raja Ravi Varma.
Apsaras Menaka had come at the behest of the King of the Gods, Indra, to distract the great sage Vishvamitra from his deep meditations. She succeeded, and bore a child by him. Vishwamitra, angered by the loss of the virtue gained through his many hard years of strict ascetism, distanced himself from the child and mother to return to his work. Realizing that she could not leave the child with him, and having to return to the heavenly realms, Menaka left the newborn Shakuntala on the banks of the Malini River on the peaks of the Himalayas. Shakuntala was found by the Rishi Kanva surrounded and protected by birds (Shakunton in Sanskrit), and so she was named Shakuntala. According to one source, Titwala, a small town near Kalyan in Maharashtra, is believed to be the site of the hermitage where Shakuntala was born. Sakanthula was brought up by rishi Kanva in his ashram.King Dushyanta encountered Shakuntala while travelling through the forest with his army. Pursuing a male deer wounded by his arrow into the ashram, he saw Shakuntala nursing the deer, her pet, and fell in love with her. He profusely begged her forgiveness for harming the deer and spent some time at the ashram. They fell in love and Dushyanta married Shakuntala there in the ashram. Dushyanta left ashram after some time due to unrest in the capital city. Time being, Sakunthala gave birth to a child. Kanwa named him as Saravadamana. Surrounded only by wild animals, Sarvadamana grew to be a strong child and made a sport of opening the mouths of tigers and lions and counting their teeth! Sakunthala reached Dushyanta's palace with her son. Arriving at Dushyanta's court, Shakuntala was hurt and surprised when her husband did not recognize her, nor recollected anything about her. Dushyanta's failure to recognise Shakuntala is in fact a ploy to have his subjects accept her as his true wife, since he had feared rumors might otherwise have arisen as to the propriety of the marriage. After a long course of arguments made by Sakunthala, the king accepted her as his wife. Their child was renamed Bharata. Young Bharata conquered and ruled the entire continent of India, from sea to Himalaya. His empire was named Bharatavarsha, the land of Bharata. Equal in valor to Indra, Bharata was a virtuous king. His wife Sunandadevi was chaste and devoted. They had no children. None of the children born to them had survived. They performed a religious sacrifice Maruisoma on the banks of the Ganga in order to get children. The Marudgana-gods accompanied by Bharadwaja came to the place of the religious ceremony. They pointed out Bharadwaja to emperor Bharata and said: "0 king, this person is born in the Angiras lineage. As you have no children, you may adopt him as a son. He will bring glory to your race." Bharata became free from worry. At the proper age, Bharadwaja was married. His wife was Susheela. Befitting her name, she was a righteous woman, her character matching her beauty – a wife suited to Bharadwaja. Bharadwaja saluted Bharata for his blessings and kindness. Bharata had adopted Bharadwaja. Bharata had no other children. There fore, Bharadwaja could have become the emperor. But Bharadwaja had no love for the kingdom. The words of the gods had taken root in his mind. Had they not said, you must impart what you have learnt to others? Righteousness must be established; people should be taught how to live a noble life one's example. Therefore, Bharadwaja arranged one more religious sacrifice by Bharata. He praised and invoked Agni. "O Lord Agni, please get rid of Emperor Bharata's worry and grant him what he wants," he said. The prayer bore fruit. In due cot Bharata got a son named Bhimanyu. As Bharata died around that time, the duty of Bharadwaja increased. Staying in the palace till Bhimanyu came of age, he guided him and crowned him.Bharadwaja's action in thus saving the dynasty was a great deed. It is in Bharata's dynasty that, later, righteous men like the Pandavas were born. Bharata's exploits as a child prince are dramatised in Kalidasa's poetic play The Recognition of Shakuntala.
History
- See also: Mauryan Empire and Kingdoms of Ancient India
There is no historical or archeological evidence for Bharata's kingdom and reign. The composition of the Mahabharata falls within the period of the Mauryan Empire, which was historically the first empire to unite most of the Indian subcontinent, under Ashoka the Great (ruled 273–232 BC).
See also
- Bharata (disambiguation)
- Chakravartin
- Hindu mythology
- Mahabharata
- Bharatas (tribe)
- History of India
- History of Hinduism
External links
- http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/iml/iml14.htm
- http://catapult.nationalinterest.in/2007/09/21/what-about-bharata/
- http://moralstories.wordpress.com/2006/08/11/bharata-dushyanta-putra/
|
|
||
|---|---|---|
| Female deities |  |
|
| Male deities | ||
| Texts |
Vedas · Upanishads · Puranas · Ramayana · Mahabharata · Bhagavad Gita |
|
| Hinduism · Hindu mythology · Indian epic poetry | ||
