Thankfully, the Constitution of India has this name Bharat in the beginning itself. To ask for a change of name hence is not too much of a demand. We only have to begin using the other name more—Bharat. But then, why Bharat? What’s wrong with India? What’s in a name, by the way?
All of us, especially in this tract of land, are given beautiful names with meanings. Many are aware of the meanings of their names. Some may have pet names. Notwithstanding, how do you like it when you are called by names like jjijjijjoo, pappicchi or kkikkakoo? Does that evoke any divine feeling in you? Does that evoke any pride in the history of your lineage? Does that inspire to see yourself making fun with some silly name? The contrary is the truth. It makes us feel so ordinary. It brings no divine or inspiring thought and it can be frustrating too.
The same is with the nation. In the comity of nations of the world, this country can stand tall and be proud if we are called Bharat. The word India has no meaning to it. It is the leftover of wrong pronunciation by the British who ruled over us. One of the ways of enslaving a person is to refuse to call them by the name they have, giving a meaningless name and insisting upon calling the person that way. We as a nation have gone through that. Though the slavery and domination is gone, we have forgotten that we are stuck with a meaningless name and somehow we continue to be happy with it.
India originates from the land watered by the Sindhu. The S was dropped in Sindhu and it became Indhu and the I was naturally replaced by H by some foreign invaders and it became Hindu. Again, the H was dropped and it got a stylish twang to sound India. Beyond this, there is nothing more to talk of for the meaning of this name.
Take Bharat for a study and it immediately conjures up images of glory and pride. Bharat was that brave king, the son of Dushyanta and Shakuntala who was playing with tiger cubs, even as a toddler living in his mother’s forest hermitage. That is the history of this name. The land of the people who came from this clan are Bharateeyas.
The Sanskrit root words of Bharat has many meanings too. One meaning is Bha and Rata. Bha means the light of consciousness and Rata means one who is revelling in it. It is the land where people revel in the light of wisdom.
Bha also stands for Bharam or heavy weight. It is the land where people are born to cross over the heavy load of ignorance of the real self, through many spiritual disciplines. The third meaning is Bhava—Raga and Tala. Bhava means our qualities. Many masters and saints are appealing for this change to happen. Let us call ourselves Bharat. Let our lives be tuned towards its meaningful and purposeful goal that it is meant to take–into that land of freedom, may my country awake.
(www.bamboowisdom.blogspot.in)