Meaning of NATIONAL ANTHEM OF INDIA - A MUST READ

Rabindranath Tagore's Words
Controversy shadowed Jana Gana Mana from the day of its first rendition in 1911 at the Congress session in Calcutta. King George V was scheduled to arrive in the city on 30 December and a section of the Anglo-Indian English press in Calcutta thought – and duly reported – that Tagore's anthem was a homage to the emperor.[13]
The poet rebutted such claims in a letter written in 1939: "I should only insult myself if I cared to answer those who consider me capable of such unbounded stupidity."[13] In another letter to Pulin Behari Sen, Tagore later wrote, "A certain high official in His Majesty's service, who was also my friend, had requested that I write a song of felicitation towards the Emperor. The request simply amazed me. It caused a great stir in my heart. In response to that great mental turmoil, I pronounced the victory in Jana Gana Mana of that Bhagya Vidhata [ed. God of Destiny] of India who has from age after age held steadfast the reins of India's chariot through rise and fall, through the straight path and the curved. That Lord of Destiny, that Reader of the Collective Mind of India, that Perennial Guide, could never be George V, George VI, or any other George. Even my official friend understood this about the song. After all, even if his admiration for the crown was excessive, he was not lacking in simple common sense."

WHAT TO SPEAK OF ENGLISH AND CULTURE WHICH BECOME OUR HEART AND SOLE 
BABU WHICH HAMPERED DEVELOPMENT .EVERY INDIAN ALSO FEELING PROUD IN SPEAKING ENGLISH ,WRITING AND ADOPTING WESTERN CULTURE  

We should respect the National  Anthem like our parents

The song was first sung in  Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress on 27 December 1911 (Wikipedia). And the queen came in 1919..it is irrational to think such a mean way. And shame on those who blindly believe on some stupid facts.

This is to admin "Please delete this article. Its worths nothing."
We are proud to be Indian.
I think this is only seeing things in optimistic or pessimistic way. Better to focus on today's need, instead of feeling shameful, pity,  and all rubbish. 

This is to admin "Please delete this article. Its worths nothing."
We are proud to be Indian.
I think this is only seeing things in optimistic or pessimistic way. Better to focus on today's need, instead of feeling shameful, pity,  and all rubbish. 

Well till date I too thought that JanGanMan is a slavery anthem. I agree that VandeMataram may not have been picked up due to political reasons.   Following facts make me believe that JanGanMan is indeed patriotic

1. This couplet by Tagore written composed long before JanGanMan http://theotherpages.org/poems/2000/t/tagore01.html

The Heaven of Freedom that he describes and longs for, its amazing; look at the clarity and depth of his vission. It would be too shallow of a man with such perfection of thaoughts to fall to traps of praising a userper.     

2. Poets have a sence of consistancy and in Bharat Bhagya Vidhata, he indeed refers to  the same God as he referred to in the couplet above.

3. Why we doubt that Rabibdranath? because Indira did Emergency, Rajiv did Bofors, Lalu did fodder, Vajpai lost to hijackers and the list goes on exponentially. We lack reasons to trust our leader and we tend to characterise all of them as rascals. 

4. Dr. Rajendra Prasad our first president; its sad that just too foolish Prathibha Patil is our president as of today. Dr. Rajendra Prasad was a very active with unmatched intellect and highly constructive. There no way a person of his intellect could have joined a government that forced a slavery anthem on us. 

5. Pakistan's Choice : This is the biggest reason. Post world war Pakistan choose to side with nuclear proven America. They chose a gaurdian, contrary to this Nehru channalized all his powers to Non-Alligned Movement; a decleration of independence in itself, a decleration of self belief, a decleration of self rule. Now it is possible that Nehru may have had intense desire to be 'official leader' of this country and may have had objectional feelings for Lady Mountbatten, NAM however is not a symbol of freedom but an act of self determination. Thus Nehru could not have in any way agreed to some anthem of slavery. Pakistan till date is rulled unidentified entities.

6. Thou are the ruler of the minds of all people, dispenser of India's destiny.
The name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sind, Gujurat and Maratha. Of the Dravid and Orissa and Bengal.
It Echoes in the hills of Vindhyas and Himalayas, mingles in the music of Yamuna and Ganga and is chanted by the waves of the Indian Sea.
They pray for your blessing and sing thy praise. The salvation of all peaople is thy hand, thou dispenser of India's destiny. Victory, Victory, Victory to thee.

This couplet dosent explicitly state as to who is the 'Bhagya VIdhata', thus is subject to ambiguity if unresearched. Poets intellect is some waht complex compared to that of a common man and thus we tend to overlook what Tagore was imagining and longing for over decades.

those who didnt know this matter, how surprising it now looks that they have started debating on it... i would say feelings are more important than words... every now and then there are discriminations on casts or religions or foreigners or what not...how can a mere kink like described here make us think its a question of integrity...
whenever i recite national anthem, my soul gets wet in pain for the pain our freedom fighters bore, i only see our ideals who gave their lives for our freedom and i only feel about the oneness of us...
i dont understand why every time such questions are raised... are 'the attacks by terrorists, blood sucking by politicians, riots in the name of religion/gender/clans, etc' less that you started with your so called movement for changing national anthem..  is this what you call creativity and having a hawk eye to whip our integrity...,
how can one feel himself or be the analyst when one is barely aware of the real situations prevailed then, as a lot of the real content gets change when it is passed from one generation to another or in the form of literature.... 
when its just a half half situation that whether "bharat bhagya vidhata" has been said for English Monarch or for the lord(god) then why people are poking unto English Monarch, why cant we just accept it as the lord, i dont understand whether it is the feelings and dedication that we have when we recite our anthem or just this unborn controversial figment of some self deluded person's mind, that is important...?
this country has suffered a lot... please stop dividing people. JAI HIND

A week back i came to know that our national anthem is not for our motherland glory but for King George V and Queen Elizabeth. Let us make ourself feel good about it that if we can make songs for their glory then we can do far better for the glory of our motherland. A song can't deviate us from our origin. Our unity, honesty and patriocity is always for our motherland and not for King George V and Queen Elizabeth. I love my nation and my national anthem (to whomsoever it may concern). 

According to my view it is a anti - national article and should be deleted.

tru e the song was sung during the kings george and queen visit

the song reefers to the the god of destiny and it goes like this

JAN GAN MAN ADHINAYAK which refers to the mass or people who have guided us and who r responsible for the destiny of india

if u still feel suspicion read this excerpt 

Justification
December 1911
A High official in Indian National Congress approaches Gurudev and requests him to write something in the praise of Visiting Monarch. Gurudev felt quite disturbed at the very idea. In his own words:

A certain high official in His Majesty’s service, who was also my friend, had requested that I write a song of felicitation towards the Emperor. The request simply amazed me. It caused a great stir in my heart. In response to that great mental turmoil, I pronounced the victory in Jana Gana Mana of that Bhagya Vidhata [ed. God of Destiny] of India who has from age after age held steadfast the reins of India’s chariot through rise and fall, through the straight path and the curved. That Lord of Destiny, that Reader of the Collective Mind of India, that Perennial Guide, could never be George V, George VI, or any other George. Even my official friend understood this about the song. After all, even if his admiration for the crown was excessive, he was not lacking in simple common sense

It seem quite natural. You are asked to do a job against your conscience. And what do you do? You revolt and do something magnificent and exactly opposite way. This is what Gurudev did. He wrote a poem in praise of God – The real monarch. And the song was sung. But it still gives rise to several questions:

But How can we be so sure that it was not in praise of King?
There are several points which clearly highlights that it was not in the praise of the British King:

Why was the controversy a non-starter in 1911? Because Gurudev was well known for his attitude towards the British Government. He was the first Indian to be honoured with Knighthood. Rabindra Nath Tagore returned that great honour in protest to Jalian wala Bagh massacre. Need we say more? A literary work can’t really be separated from the character of the author. Can it be? 
Anybody who has read the other works of Gurudev and most notably Gitanjali (that won him yet another highest award – Nobel prize) will constantly find the mention of divine monarch – The God and not the king of Britain. Once again Jana-gana-mana need to seen as one of the many works of Gurudev and not an isolated incident. 
Jana-gana-mana has 5 stanjas. In the third stanja he writes: 
युगयुग धावित यात्री, 
हे चिर-सारथी, 
तव रथ चक्रेमुखरित पथ दिन-रात्रि

which refer to the same personality (as in rest of the poetry) to have held the reins of India’s chariot through ages (for the most ancient times), day and night, on the straight and the curve paths. Now, even King George, at this point, though may feel flattered,  won’t agree. Still there seem to be a section of people who took Gurudev as some stupid poet using his verse without intellect or intelligence. Gurudev lacked neither. If he really had to praise the King, he was sure to have chosen his words carefully.

How is it that all the leading news paper reported it as being sung in the praise of Monarch?
As already mentioned the same section news papers also attributed the authorship of Vandemataram to Rabindra Nath Tagore. They also reported Jana-Gana-Mana to be a Hindi song. What do  we learn from these mistakes? The basic idea that they didn’t had clear idea about Indian literary works and they often failed to distinguish one author from other and one language from other. Either they cared not or couldn’t understand the real essence of Indian culture and practices.

It has been years old Indian tradition to start any occasion and celebration, related to anything, with a prayer to God. The same thing happened on Dec 27th, 1911. Gurudev graced the occasion by a prayer to the almighty. Rest of the day was of course devoted in welcoming the King. Most likely the press missed out this subtle aspect.

If the newspapers presented Rabindra Nath Tagore in wrong light, how is it that he never contradicted it?
I will quote Gurudev, himself, on this issue:

I should only insult myself if I cared to answer those who consider me capable of such unbounded stupidity as to sing in praise of George the Fifth as the Eternal Charioteer leading the pilgrims on their journey through countless ages of the timeless history of mankind

This is all non-sense. The” Jana Gana Mana” was composed by Shri Rabindranath Tagore and first sung at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress on December 27th, 1911. Whereas, King George V and the Queen of England visited India in 1919. These illogical and false comments are posted only to disgrace India's Unity, its diversity and its assets. I request all readers to please verify the blogs and comments posted by any one before taking it as granted.

Yes the song which has become national anthem was written pre- independence by Tagore glorifying the King George V and Queen Elizabeth. 
Jan Gan Mann was chosen as the National Anthem of independent India. Vande Mataram was rejected on the grounds that Muslims opposed idol worship felt offended by its depiction of the nation as "Mother Durga"—a Hindu goddess. Muslims also felt that its origin as part of Anandmath, a novel they felt had an anti-muslim message. Therefore in 1937 the Indian National Congress discussed at length the status of the song. It was pointed out then that though the first two stanzas began with an unexceptionable evocation of the beauty of the motherland, in later stanzas there are references where the motherland is likened to the Hindu goddess Durga. Therefore, the Congress decided to adopt only the first two stanzas as the national song. To this day the national songs of India consists of only these first two stanzas of Vande Mataram, along with the national anthem Jana gan mana and Saare Jahan Se accha.
But so what do you think the current congress govt will make an amendment to its National anthem for the benefit of Secular India?
For reference kindly visit National Library of Kolkata.

I'm not sure that the content written above is a fact.

We as Indians as One with Unity has accepted "Jana Gana Mana" as National Anthem of our country and every text is mentioning we are praising Bharat (India) and we are singing for decades and will be continued for next 500 and more years.
And there is no point in discussing about this or doubting the patriotism of Tagore gi. 
He has written this with great intellect, pride and honor. 
Our anthem is known and respected by many others outside India also. This song is the greatest song for out country.

There is no point in feeling ashame of this.
What ever may be the reasons "Jana Gana Mana" is out National Anthem as Mr. Ruben said.

Please do not post these kind of debate topics as it is inclined to spoil the Unity and may create many problems. 

such fact true or not true .is tough to verify but before objecting the patriotism of RABINDRANATH TAGORE .one should go through his poem FREEDOM (ya.it there in school textbooks).but ,it is a real shocker ....thnx to author, i didn't know it.

omg...!!! i nvr knew it....n m sure majority of us wont knw it for sure...!!!

It is a bad feeling to listen this...I Vote "Bande Maatram" is better and more realistic....

POINT TAKEN , SARIKA SINGH JEE..

YOU KNOW EMPTY VESSELS MAKE NOISE ::
YOU ALL SHOULD ALLOW ME TO MAKE NOISE..

Well it's a fact that 'Jana gana Mana' is written to welcome King Goerge. But when it is accepted as National anthem,British throne is no more the addressee. We accpted that mother land is our addressee. Thus any welcome song written for some body else if in changed scenario adopted to address some body else, I don't find any wrong. Vande Mataram, Janaganmana & even 'Sare Jahanse Achha' & many other songs qualify for national song or anthem.

It does not matter for whom the song was written originally. It matters for whome we use at the moment.

It was an eye opener to all of us who believed that the origination of the song was for our nation and its pride. But I beleive that Vande Mataram has far more respect embedded for our nation and its pride. So we can make it as our national anthem of pride

Mr. Ajay, according to Puranas, once upon a time, the whole world was known as Bharatvarsha. So there is nothing wrong when u call the seven continents as Bharat. Please don't talk ill about Tagoreji. He is pride of our nation. And also, its very funny to see, being an Indian, you are not sure about the author of our national anthem- Rabindranath Tagore or Bankim Chandra chaterjee. In that case how can someone expect you have proper knowledge about the glories of our past ? And with this little knowledge, you are making fun of our great minds and pride !!! Its not right ...

bharat bhagya vidhaata &  vande matram :::

bharat  :: mataram  ::  what bankim / tagore had in minds ::
sapatakhanda :: seven continents the territories of bharat in ancient times ...

What is the veracity of facts as expressed in the article on original composition of “Jana Gana Mana”?  We come across poems written by Tagore which glorifies Mother India. We come across hundreds of composition where the Poet has addressed Gad as “Bhagya vidata”  or father or supreme being or in some other poetic expression. I have never come across a poem composed on praise of British Rule  or Ruler. If any of you know any such poem? Please let me know.


A poem can be interpreted/ misinterpreted in different ways. The present interpretation is work of novice and should be deplored as “Jana Gana Mana” is our National Anthem as Shri Reuben Ray has already commented.

Those were the things of past and it should not bother our present or future. Now whenever we sing or hear our National Anthem, we think of present Bharat and stand in respect of India without bothering of its cause of origination. Whatever be its reason, now it is in the praise and respect of India and ourselves.

Interesting!!! truly an eye opener!!

This is an eye opener on how we truly have a herd mentality about certain things!  This ignorance over decades singing the praise of a history gone by is quite apalling to my senses.  Thank you for this information. 

Yes maybe its time for change>

This is really a very big blunder. I didn't know that since childhood I am prasing British monarch rather than our own motherland. It's really shame on Indian politician for making " Jana Gana Mana" our national anthem instead of "Vande Matram". I am sure majority of Indian's doesn't know this truth, they will be shocked when they realize the truth just as I am.

Its very shameful when a citizen don't understand the meaning of his own national anthem. Our National anthem is our pride and if we don't understand its meaning, we don't know anything about our land. Nice article indyacentral, thanks for sharing...

It is very common, most of the people do not know how, when and objective of origination of our national anthem... This subject was debated during parliamentry session which song to be our national anthem... and it was well documented that approximately 70% voting for Vande Matram not for Jan Gan Man....Since Bakinmchandra has wrote this book Anand Math four times... first, second and third time it was revolutionary movement against Mughals or Muslims...Fourth time he found that this novel become a reason for communal riots hance he revised and made this revoultionary movement against english ruins...
The same thing was observed that selection of Vande Matram might be a reason for communal riots which was quite sensitive matter in those days....
Jan Gan Man represents the part geographic scenerio of the country hence was elected as national anthem as suggested by Parliamentry committee... 
I can say again a wrong decision made by independent India Parliament... Just read Anand Math original and revised version.

I knew that the national anthem was written in praise of our rulers and not motherland. But there are many other details in this article which have added to my knowledge.
This fact actually came out during a debate on adaptation of Vande Mataram (if I correctly remember in parliament also) but was 'booed' out as rightist's (RSS etc) point of view.
There was more behind not accepting Vande mataram. It was a rightist's song and was thus considered non-secular and as we know those who do not pray any body else than to whom they call God find it difficult to recite something in glory of motherland (but no matter if it is in glory of a king and I am not sarcastic, I am flat). 
Saare Jahan se achcha was also an option but firstly it was too much hindi for the southern indians and secondly the author left India for pakistan. 
 

Truly, this is news for me! I am ashamed of my own ignorance! Till now I was under the impression that the song praises Bharata Mata. Non-Hindi speaking people have at least an excuse. The first time I saw it in my school book with the heading in Tamil 'Bharatathaai vaazhthu'. But how Hindi speaking people tolerated such an obvious blunder!

If we are still singing the praise of the past British Monarch, when we ought to be praising our Nation, is it not humiliating and exasperating? 

Rabindranath Tagore at least renounced his Knighthood in protest against Jallianwala Bagh massacre; which means he had mended his ways. But our politicians, who are responsible for such a blunder, can never be pardoned.

I understand that Bangladesh also has a poem of Rabindranath Tagore as its national anthem; I wonder what it could be!