Bharatavarsha
Etymologically Bharatavarsha or Bharatvarsh means the country that was ruled by King Bharata. Bharata was a legendary king of Puranic lore. And Bharatakhanda means that part of the Country which was ruled by King Bharata. Puranas and Itihasas and also Rig Veda mention King Bharata. And during Ramayana days younger brother of Lord Rama called as Bharata Ruled Kosala Rajya.
Bharatiyas (Indians)
Vishnu Purana describes Bharatavarsha as follows:
उत्तरे यत समुद्र्यस्य हिमाद्रेष्छइवा दक्षिणम
वर्षी तद भारतम नामा भारती यात्रा संतती:
Meaning: The Land that lies to the North of the Ocean and to the Sounth of Himalayan mountains was called as Bharatavarsha. And people who were born and lived there were called as Bharatiyas (Indians).
There was another King Bharata, son of Shakuntala and King Dushyanta. Bharata referred to in Rig Veda was believed to be this Bharata. This Bharata is believed to be the progenitor of Kuru clan of Maha Bharata. Obviously Bharatakhanda should be part of Bharatavarsha only. Let us see how India is referred to in the Hindu rituals.
Sankalpa sutra
Let us read this hymn of ‘saMkalpa sutra’ which is generally uttered before the beginning of a any Hindu Ritual, especially while conducting puja towards Lord Ganapathi.
ममॊपात्त दुरितक्षयायद्वारा श्री परमॆष्वर प्रीत्यर्थम,
शुभॆ शॊभनॆ मुहूर्ते श्री महा विष्णॊराज्ञ्नयाप्रवर्तमानस्याद्य ब्रह्मणः,
द्वितीय परार्धॆ श्वॆतवराहकल्पॆ वैवस्वत मन्वंतरे कलियुगॆ प्रथमपादे जंबुद्वीपे भरतवर्षॆ भरतखन्डॆ अस्मिन वर्तमान व्यावहारिक चांद्रमानॆ ……संवत्सरॆ …अयनॆ.. ऋतौ..
mamOpaatta duritakShayaayadvaaraa shree paramEShvara preetyartham,
SubhE SObhanE muhoorte shree mahaa viShNOraaj~jnayaapravartamaanasyaadya brahmaNaH,
dviteeya paraardhE SvEtavaraahakalpE vaivasvata manvaMtare kaliyugE prathamapaade jaMbudveepe bharatavarShE bharatakhanDE asmin vartamaana vyaavahaarika chaaMdramaanE ……saMvatsarE …ayanE.. Rutou..
This hymn refers to ancient India as Bharatavarsha, Jambudweepa and Bharatakhanda. So we have to understand that the three names of ancient India are synonymous and interchangeable.
Word Hindu derived from Sindh
We all know that word Sindhu is used to represent watermass in Vedas. And at present there is a large river called as Sindhu taking its birth from near to Lake Manasarovar in the Himalayas and reaching the Arabain Sea travelling via Kashmir, NWFP and Sindh province. And word Hind is a Persian word and it is said that Persians used word Hind to refer to Indians, who lived in and around River Sindh and beyond stretching up to Prayag. And Greeks called ancient India as India. Whereas Mesapotamians (present day Iraq) referred to India as Meluhha as is evidenced from archeological findings there.
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It is also interesting to know that there is a river called as Swat (apparently short form of Saraswati) flowing into River Kabul of Afghanistan. The confluence point of these rivers is called as Prang today. And near to this place we find the ruins of an ancient city called as Pushkalavati, which is believed to be the ancient capital of Gandhara Kingdom. Even now this region is called as Kandhahar. And it is said that this city was founded by Pushkala, a Son of Bharata.
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So much water has flown down the stream in history. Any race cannot maintain its lineage for long given the exogamy principle followed by Clans in all societies. Can we see any dynasty persist beyond Five or Six generations any where in the World? So Men may come and men may go but Culture continues to live on. What we are is not our physical genes but our cultural traits persisting since ages.
Culture is transmitted from generation to generation not simply by biological means but also thru social means. It is true that Geography and Genes determine identity of a People and their culture in general. But fact is that geography may change because of man’s nature of migration and thereby genes may transform in due course of time but Culture continues to live on.
And it happens. Under the influence of Aryanism we are now calling the Geographical area covered by present day Indian States of Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala as South India. But Puranas and Hindu Scriptures call land South of Vindya mountains was called as Dakshinapath. If we have to define Dakshinapath based on Puranas South India should include part of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Orissa.
Jambudwipa
Jambudvipa or Jambu dweepa is generally understood as the name of ancient India, rich with Jambol trees. But is is not totally correct. Actually Jamba means a bear. From the narrations of Ramayana we find that city of Vaijayantam was abandoned by its inhabitants at some point of time and the city was infested with wild bears. That is why the place was referred to as Rukshabilam in Ramayanam. And it would not be an exaggeration to say that the present day epithet of India as Jambudwipa derived its name from the erstwhile Rikshabilam of Ramayana. It may also be true that the cave of Jambavanta of Mahabharata must be lying in the same place.
(The following texts are extracts from Chapter 15, Vaijayantam in author’s BOOK: “A Tribute to the Ancient World of India”)
And given the references in Ramayana and elsewhere, the city of Vaijayanatam should be the Golden city of Tripura fame built by Maya. But let us not mistakenly think that the city was rich in gold. But we have to understand that this city was rich as gold in terms of Divinity measured in the scale of Sanatana Dharma.
Let us look at the following hymn,
ब्रह्मास्य शीर्षं बृहदस्य पृष्ठं वामदॆव्यमुदरमॊदनस्य
छन्दांसि पक्षौ मुखमस्य सत्यं विष्टारी जातस्तपसॊ धि यज्ञः
brahmAsya SIrShaM bRuhadasya pRuShThaM vAmadEvyamudaramOdanasya
ChandAMsi pakShau muKamasya satyaM viShTArI jAtastapasO dhi yaj~jaH
(Sloka 853, sUkta 34,kaaMDa 4)
The above Sloka says that SatyalOka is the face of Yajna of Panchaudana. So Yaj~ja rituals should have originated in Vaijayantam of Matsyaraajya only.
Krishna Dwipa
During Mahabharata times there were three historical people referred to the apithet of Krishna. They are Lord Krishna, Draupadi and Krishna dvaipayana Veda Vyas. Name of Lord Krishna is well known. Draupadi was the wife of Pandavas. Whereas Veda Vyasa was the progenitor of Kuru clan.