The Idea of Bharata

The IAS officer who stood up to Rahul Gandhi's 'India is not a nation' assertion at Cambridge University, writes for The Sunday Guardian.

- SIDDHARTHA VERMA

The country that lies north of the ocean and south of the snowy mountains is called Bharata; for there dwell the descendants of Bharat. This is how the Vishnu Purana described India several centuries ago. The same mantra was echoed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the floor of Parliament in February, 2022, emphasising on India's ancient civilisational history and the composite culture and shared values that binds the nation together. But the Vishnu Purana is just one of many ancient texts that mention the term "Bharata" or describe the concept of Bharata as a nation. The word finds mention in the Vedas and epics like Mahabharata. Megasthenes, who travelled extensively in India, describes it in his book "Indica" as being quadrilateral in shape, bound by a great sea from south and east, mountains on the north and river (Indus) on the west. For more than five millennia, though divided politically through constantly altering territorial sovereignties, India's composite culture remained intact and grew stronger through profound socio-cultural ethos and intense emotional bonds that transcended territorial barriers. Adi Shankaracharya further bolstered Bharata's socio-cultural and spiritual integrity by establishing four mathas: Badrikashram Jyotirpeetha in the north, Dwarka Shardapeetha in the west, Govardhan Peetha in the east and Sringeri Shardapeetha in the south. It was this integration that propelled kingdoms to defend Bharata from external incursions and ultimately unite the nation to launch a national freedom movement against British colonialism.