THE KING AFTER WHOM INDIA IS CALLED BHARAT - I

A people who called themselves Aryas, and whose religion and culture have been inherited both by the Hindus and Parsees, crossed over to the east of the rived Sindhu or Indus and settled in its valley at at date not later than 2600 B.C. The earliest Aryan patriach mentioned in both Hindu scripture Rigveda and the Parsee scripture Avesta was Vivasvant (called Vivanhant in the Avasta). His son Manu, whose name is usually preceded or followed by his patronumic Vaivasvata, was the leader of the Aryans who crossed the river Sindhu and settled in its Valley. He is said to have been forced to leave his original homeland on account of a huge flood that devastated it. Vaivasata Manu along with three other patriachs, Bhrgu, Atri, and Kasyapa, laid the foundation of ARYAN Civilisation in India. Vaivasvata Manu was the progenitor of all the Ksatriya or ruling families and from the other three patriachs were descended the earliest Brahman or priestly families.

The region where Aryans settled after crossing the river Sindhu came to be called Saptsindhu or the land of seven rivers.(Punjab, which is now land of five rivers). The most important of these rivers was, of course the Sindhu. Its five great eastern tributaries wee the Vitasta or Jhelum, the Asikni or Chenab, the Parusni or Ravi, the Vipas or Beus and the Sutudri or Sutlej. The seventh river was holy Sarasvati. This region saw the rise of four kingdoms founded by the four sons of Manu named Sudyumma, Iksvaka, Pramsu, and Saryati, the most famous of whom were the first two. Sudyumma seems to have established a kingdom on the banks of the Sarasvati. Being probably childless, he adopted a son of his sister Ila. This was the celebrated Pururavas Aila, whose great-grandson Yayati made his kingdom so prosperous that according to both Rigveda and Mahabharta, the river Sarasvati yielded milk nd ghee to him.

Yayati had five sons, Yadu, Turvasa, Drhuya, Anu and Puru. The youngest of them, Puru, succeeded him, while the other four founded new kingdoms towards the west of the river Sarasvati, probably by conquering part of the territory over which the descendants of Pramsu ruled. The descendants of Puru were called the Purus or Pauravas. (Same Pauras of Alexander fame, was descendant of Puru). Fifteen generation after Puru, a king named Dusyanta was born in his dynasty. Dusyanta married the beautiful maiden Sakuntala. The son of Dusyanta and Sakuntla was the illustrious king Bharata.

Bharata was a king with difference. The Rigveda, the Aitareya Brahmana, the Satapatha Brahmana, the Mahabharta and the Purana all sing his eulogies. He was a pious king, a great conquerer, a magnificient scrificer and a man of high principles.

The Bharata was a pious king, loved by his subjects, is proved by a verse of Rigveda. In this verse a rishi or seer of the Atri family tells us that the Maruts, the atmospheric deities, pleased by his peity, bestowed on Bharata horses and food in ample mesure and made the king happy. This eulogy clearly indicates that the prosperity ofthe kingdom of Bharata was in the opinion ofthe rishi, attributable to his devotion to the Aryan religion.