maliniluky Started The Discussion:

Facts about "Jana Gana Mana" - Just a thought for the National Anthem! How well
do you know about it?

To begin with, India's national anthem, Jana Gana Mana Adhinayaka, was written by
Rabindranath Tagore in honour of King George V and the Queen of England when
they visited India in 1919.

To honour 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!!!)

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
travellers 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.