#Bháratavarśa #Bhárat #Varśa (Country)

"There is an unhealthy tendency among some sections of society to give credence to baseless stories and mythologies. They do so because they are ignorant of history. I have heard people say that since India was named “Bháratavarśa” after the Puranic character King Bharata, neither King Bharata nor the Puranas themselves should be regarded as false. However, facts contradict this. India was not named after King Bharata. In fact, the term “Bháratavarśa” is much older than the story of King Bharata. People have been misled and confused because of the similarity in the names. Etymologically, bhara means “feeding the people” and ta means “expanding”. So “Bháratavarśa” means “a land which can readily supply food and shelter to its population and easily facilitate the unhindered psycho-spiritual development of its people”. (Varśa means “land”.) When the nomadic Aryans, who were used to living in an inhospitable environment, arrived in the fertile, prosperous land of India, they were so overwhelmed by the abundant wealth, warm climate, lush vegetation and verdant beauty of the country that they called it “Bháratavarśa”. It was the practice of the Aryans to name geographical regions or individuals according to their special qualities or characteristics. For example, the Aryans noticed innumerable pebbles and stones resembling jám [Eugenia jambolana Lam.] in the northwestern region of India, so they called it “Jambudviipa” (modern Jammu). [Jambu is the Sanskrit equivalent of the Bengali jám, and dviipa is Sanskrit for “island”.] A region that had two large lakes they called “Dvigarttabhúmi” (modern Dogra). [Dvi = “two”, gartta = “lake”, bhúmi = “land”.] As the northern part of India was inhabited by people of the Kash tribe, the area was called “Kashmeru”. (Meru means “land”, and “Kashmeru” became “Kashmir”.) Thus because the Aryans considered that India possessed wonderful qualities and vast resources, they called it “Bháratavarśa”. This name has nothing to do with the mythological King Bharata. Shrii P.R Sarkar