What is my country?
Land of Human Civilisation
Land of Himalayas and Sahyadris
Land of Rivers (Ganga, Yamuna, Brahmaputra, Godavari, Tungabhadra)
Land of Avatars (Vishnu – Matsya, Kurm, Varah, Narsimh, Waman, Parshuram, Ram, Krishna, Buddha, Kalki, 12 jyotirlings of Shiv).
Land of Arihant, Siddh, Upadhyay.
Land of God’s and Goddess’s (Indra/Indrani, Agni, Yama/Yami…)
Land of Rishis / Rishi patnis (Yadnyvalkya/Maitreyi/Gargi, Agasti/Lopamudra, Atri/Anusuya, Jamadagni/Renuka, Vashishth, Vishwamitra…)
Land of Acharyas (Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya, Madhavacharya, Vallabhacharya, Nimbakacharya).
Land of Sikh Gurus (Guru Nanakdevji, Guru Angaddevji, Guru Amardasji, Guru Ramdasji, Guru Arjanji, Guru Har Gobindji, Guru Har Raiji, Guru Har Krishanji, Guru Teg Bahadurji and Guru Govindsinhji)
Land of Saints (Namdeo, Dnyaneshwar, Tukaram, Eknath, Tiruvalluvar, Narsinh Mehta, Kabir, Tulsidas and Meerabai…)
Land of non believers (Charvak…).
Land of scientists (Aryabhat, Brahmagupta, Vishweshvaraya, J.C.Bose, C.V.Raman, Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam…).
Land of mathematicians (Aryabhat, Bhaskar, Ramanuj…)
Land of historians / poets(Valmiki, Ved Vyas, Kalidas…)
Land of nation builders (Chanakya and Sardar Patel…)
Land of Kings (Chandragupta, Samudragupta, Ashok, Harsh, Pulakeshi II, Raja Raja Chola, Krishnadevraya, Rana Pratap and Shivaji…).
Land of Dynasties (Maurya’s, Gupta’s, Chola’s, Satvahan’s, Pallava’s, Chalukya’s, Satkarni’s).
Land of Holy books (Veda’s, Brahmans, Aaranyaks, Upanishads, Aagams, Shreemad Bhagwadgeeta, Brahmasutra, Puranas, Ramayan, Mahabharat…)
Land of Reformers (Swami Vivekanand, Swami Dayanand Saraswati, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Swatantryaveer Savarkar, Dr. B.R.Ambedkar, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, Savitribhai Phule, Maharshi Dhondo Keshav Karve…)
Land of Revolutionaries (Rani Laxmibai, Tatya Tope, Mangal Pandey, Vasudeo Balwant Phadke, Chandrasekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Ramprasad Bismill, Khudiram Bose…)
This list is endless (I have missed out many) as the thoughts go on pouring out of my mind into this paper.
My country is what I relate with!
Is it just a piece of land or is it just a handful of states? Is it Her people? Is it the boundaries that mankind has drawn on maps sitting in their cosy rooms? Is it Her thoughts? Is She what I see ? What I hear ? What I know ?
The answer comes back to me and resonates
“MY COUNTRY IS WHAT I FEEL”
She’s my Mother, who in Her bosoms, takes care of me as Her child and looks after all my needs daily. Doesn’t She do it for you too, my reader?
Answer this question and you will know what your country is for you!!!
At the same time I know that it is a piece of land having boundaries, which I have to protect. It is Her people with whom I have to live with. It is Her thoughts which will help me survive. She is what I see, what I hear and what I know.
My country is “Bharat”.
The name derived from :
1. Shakuntaley Bharat
2. Ram anuj Bharat
3. Jad Bharat
Bharat means “devoted to light”, “devoted to knowledge”. Bharat is a land of spiritually self enlightened people.
And hence our seers have rightly said “दुर्लभं भारते जन्म”. It is a rarity to get to spend one’s life in this land called Bharat.
She is diverse, yet united.
She is divided into states, yet one.
Her children speak different languages, yet the language of everyone’s heart is same, the language of love, warmth and affection.
Her children wear different clothes, yet their colours are same, Kesari, White, Green and Blue.
She prays and says
“सर्वे सुखिनः सन्तु, सर्वे सन्तु निरामया:,
सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु, मा कश्चिद् दुःख भाग्भवेत्।।
ऊँ शांतिः शांतिः शांतिः।।”
It just goes on and on and on, only to make me realise that it will take more than one Life to see Bharat, hear Bharat and understand Bharat.
Jay Bharat
