Matrubhumi – 7 (Repeat)

आस्मिन् राष्ट्रे राजन्यः इषव्य: शूरो महारथो जायताम्

The rishis in this mantra continue with their prayers for this country. After asking for Vedsampann and Brahmanisth Brahmins, they ask for brave and courageous rulers. Rulers who are well equipped not only in warfare but also in running the state. And at the same time be God loving too.

Let my readers understand that We, Indians, are God centric people. So anything and everything in our lives is God centric. Do we believe and live today in this manner is another question! Also we need to understand that we have been God loving, not God fearing. As well let it also be clarified that Indian Culture or Vedic Religion does not have a concept of Satan or Anti-God, as some other thought processes do have in particular. Will dwell upon this subject in my later blogs.

The land of India, is the land of Kshatriya’s. Our country gets its name Bharat from three Bharat’s, two of whom are Kshatriya’s (which I have mentioned in my earlier blog), Shakuntaley Bharat, Ram’s brother Bharat and Jad Bharat.

Shakuntaley Bharat is a personification of courage. Bharat grew up in the care of his mother, as his father King Dushyant refused to recognise Shakuntala as his consort for a few initial years. It is said that Bharat in a very small age had opened a lion’s mouth to count his teeth. He is the first Chakravartin (the almighty emperor with all other kings of India as his vassals) of this Manvantar (era). He won over all the king’s by his love and those who could not be won over by love, by his sword. But he never annexed those kingdoms. They were given back to the rulers with a condition to follow the law of the land put down by Rishis. The King’s reciprocated to adhere to this condition whole heartedly. The reign of Bharat has been one of India’s Glorious and Golden era. Also some people consider King Bharat as Bharat Muni too, who in his later age gave India, the Natyashashtra (The art of stage performance).

Secondly, Ram’s brother, Bharat. Frankly there are no words to describe this personality. We all have heard about him or read about him. His love for Ram is unparallel in human history. The dialogue between Bharat and his mother Kaikeyi, after realising what folly Kaikeyi had done by sending Ram to exile, on returning from his maternal uncle’s place is worth a read. He has taunted and to an extent even abused his mother for doing what she has done. This dialogue has been put in a song, by a recent but a great poet, G.D.Madgulkar (fondly called GaDiMa) in his collection of poems called Geet Ramayan. And after ruling Ayodhya for 14 years, he just gives it up for Ram, without even a thought of continuing or conspiring, when Ram returns from exile fulfilling his promise to Dashrath. We all know about the valour of Shri Ram and Laxman, but Bharat was equally brave and courageous.

As we are talking about Bharat, am also sharing the story of Jad Bharat – He is considered to be an reincarnation of King Bharat. There are many versions to his story. I share one which I like the most. He is born to a farmer who dies in a short time after his birth. Bharat’s mother too passes away when Bharat is still in his teens. His brothers and sister-in-law’s find Bharat useless and send him off to the fields to work. Bharat looks after the fields and the sheep every day and night. He develops a strong body due to this routine. One days it so happens that a king is passing by in his palaquin. One of his palaquin bearers dies and the King asks his servants to look for another. They find Jad Bharat in his fields and get him to lift the palaquin. But Bharat walks slowly, taking utmost care and walking one step at a time. This makes the King uncomfortable in the palaquin, as the palaquin is imbalanced. So the King shouts out at the bearers and they tell the King the situation. King now calls upon Bharat and asks him as to why is he behaving in this manner? And if he wants more money, he was ready to pay more. Bharat explains “O great King! Am not interested in your money. Nothing, neither happiness nor sadness move me. U cannot buy me out by money nor any worldly riches as I know that I am an Atman (soul). By walking slowly am taking care of not hurting the other Atman (the small organisms on the ground)”. This attitude of Bharat earned him a title of Jad (literal English meaning would be staunch). The King on realising his folly got down from the palanquin and accepted Bharat as his Guru.

The two Bharat’s, Shakuntaley Bharat and Ram’s brother Bharat convey to us the characters of Kshatriya’s of India. Our kings have been learned and understanding as well as caring. They have always given patronage to art and artists. Built huge monuments like temples for God and forts for defending their kingdom. The great dynasties of Maurya’s, Gupta’s, Satkarni’s, Satvahan’s, Rashtrakoota’s, Chalukya’s, Chola’s have thrived in India and made Her stronger.

At this point, I also need to mention The Manusmriti, written by Manu, who is a Kshatriya. Manusmriti is a book of code of conduct of human beings. We may have differences of opinions about the things being written in it, but one needs to break the myth of Manusmriti being written by a Brahmin. I repeat it’s a book written by a Kshatriya. Such learned are the Kshatriya’s of India and have held an important position in the development of India.

Regarding the bravery of the Kshatriyas would mention only a few names and leave it upto my reader to find out about them. Lord Ram, Lord Krishna, Arjun, Chandragupta Maurya, Samudragupta, King Pulakeshin, Maharana Pratap, Chhatrapati Shivaji, Raja Chhatrapati and many more…

Even today the fighting clan is present in the form of our brave Indian Army. The Rajputana Regiment, The Maratha Regiment, The Gorkha Regiment, The Sikh Regiment and all others not only defend our borders but keep our country safe. We sleep peacefully as they are constantly at watch at the borders.

We cannot imagine any country with out an army. Nor can we imagine one without its intelligentsia. So both the Brahmins and the Kshatriya’s are equally important. Both need to respect each other and accept each other’s might. Parshuraam, had worked for this and Ram achieved it. Let us all understand, my readers, that every section of the society has an important role to play in the development of any society.

Now we move towards the third section of the Society, The Vaishya’s, about whom we will continue in the next blog.

Jay Bharat

Jay Hind

Vande Mataram