What I know about Jana Gana Mana - and you don't

After stumbling across an article about the controversy surrounding the Indian National Anthem (Jana Gana Mana), I began to wonder why I’d never bothered to find out the meaning of one of the very few songs that managed to stick to my brain cells. Maybe because the last time I sang the song was about a decade back – when I was still in school. Maybe because I never had (idle) time all these years, and suddenly I’ve found myself with lots to spare. Whatever the reason, the article certainly made me think – and instinctively I started ‘googling’ for more information.

I came across a lot of information and that made me realize that the so called controversy had been around for a while – and that I must have belonged to the minority that were ignorant about this whole issue. And thus I decided to show the beacon of light to the ignorant minority by blogging about this issue. Now one of the article’s (in fact this was the first article in the google search) took the so called ‘leftist’ stance to this issue – it didn’t take me long to realize that the author was a ‘communalism hating’, ‘Hindu fundamentalist bashing’, secular idealist. He did provide a good number of historical details in his article. But who am I to judge what he said – I decided to be a sponge and ingest as much knowledge as possible about this issue (so as to enlighten my ignorant brethren). And then, there was this article that I could say took a ‘centrist’ stand – for some reason I felt that the author had a sour relation with the Tamils. I wouldn’t tell you if I shared his view, because I’ve decided to be neutral. And so I’ve decided to present you with my view.

Now, for all of those that have wondered (or are now wondering) about the literal translation of the national anthem, here it is:

The Jana Gana Mana Adhinayaka implies that " King George V (supposedly, or whoever the then Adhinayaka (ruler) was – or is it a reference to God??) is the lord of the masses and Bharata Bhagya Vidhata is "the bestower of good fortune".

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 (supposedly – or God?) 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 or Durga?) 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 is one of the meanings that I foraged from the web. It looks like the song can be looked at in different angles and hence can mean several things – as I evident from this article.

Well, you may wonder that if all this information is available on the net, then what is the need for another blog – right? Wrong!! What I present below is an alternative to Jana Gana Mana and Vande Mataram that was supposedly put forth before the then Indian Government. For some reason (which I couldn’t figure out), this was never adopted. And how did I come into possession of this ‘treasure’? I’ve had this habit of collecting paper clippings of interesting articles (articles that seemed interesting to me) – and this happened to be one of them. When I read about the controversy yesterday it rekindled my thoughts about this article – and lo! I found it hidden in my diary!! For the sake of authenticity, besides providing the text of the song, I’ve also decided to provide a copy of the original clipping (from The Hindu newspaper – the ‘This Day That Age’ column). No, you don’t have to thank me for that – I am only here to enlighten my ignorant brethren. I’ll stop my narcissistic ramblings and present you the text of the ‘alternative’ song that missed the glory of becoming India’s national anthem:

“Jana gana mana adhibasini jaya he, Mahimani Bharatmata,

Haima Kiritini, vindhya mekhale, Udhadhi-dhouta-pad-kamale.

Ganga Yamuna, Rewa Krishna, Godavari Jala Bimale,

Bibidhe tathape Avibhakte, Shante Shakti-samykute.

Yug-Yug abhinav mata.

Jana gana klesha binashini, Jaya he, Mahimani Bharatmata,

Jaya he, Jaya he, Jaya he, Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya he!”

In English the text would convey: “Supreme in the hearts of humanity, thou radiant jewel of Earth! O Mother India! So be thou victorious, thine head crowned by Himalayan snows, the Vindhyas girdling thy waist, thine lotus-feet washed by the ocean; thine body preserved pure by the flowing waters of the Ganga, the Yamuna, the Rewa, the Krishna and the Godavari. Thou art the indivisible whole in a seeming diversity; Thou art peaceful, yet blessed with unconquerable strength; Thou livest ever fresh; ever young in every age. O Radiant jewel on earth! Mother India! Thou, who conquereth all the ills of suffering humanity, be thou triumphant. Be thou victorious, ever and ever, and ever again victorious!”

Now that I’ve presented the song and the meaning, here’s a brief history about it: Pandit Ravi Shankar Shukla, Premiere of the Central Provinces and member of the Constituent Assembly, had suggested the aforesaid text for the National Anthem on November 17, 1948. He said the text was an adaptation of what was best in Tagore’s “Jana Gana Mana” and “Vande Mataram”, the song of India’s freedom struggle.

I wonder why this never made it as the national anthem. Maybe there are ‘hidden meanings’ that I couldn’t find (maybe my brethren on the net can) – that would have led to possible controversies.