Bharatavarsha Bharatakhanda Jambudweepa
Bharatavarsha means the country that was ruled by legendary King Bharata during ancient times. And literally Bharatakhanda means that part of the Country which was ruled by King Bharata. Puranas and Itihasas and also Rig Veda mentions King Bharata. One Bharata Ruled Kosala Rajya as a nominee of Lord Rama.
This is how Bharatavarsha was described in Vishnu Purana,
उत्तरे यत समुद्र्यस्य हिमाद्रेष्छइवा दक्षिणम
वर्षी तद भारतम नामा भारती यात्रा संतती:
Meaning: The Land that lied to the North of the Ocean and Sounth of Himalaya mountains was called as Bharatavarsha and people who were and born and lived there were called as Bharatiyas (Indians).
And another was King Bharata, son of Shakuntala and King Dushyanta. Bharata referred in Rig Veda is 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. And Jambudweepa means the land that was inhabited by Bears. (I have observed in my research that present day mid-land between Sindh and Panjab was the ancient Jambudweepa.)
Sankalpa sutra
Let us see this hymn of ‘saMkalpa sutra’ which is generally uttered before the beginning of a Hindu Ritual, especially while conducting puja towards Ganapathi dev,
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..
So it should be understood that these references to ancient India as Bharatavarsha, Jambudweepa and Bharatakhanda in a single hymn tells us that these three words are synonymous to each other. And importantly they do not represent ancient India completely individually, given the mention of three words at a stretch in a single hymn.
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And we all know that word Sindhu is used to represent watermass in Vedas and other Hindu scriptures. 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. And word Hind is a Persian word and it is said that Persians used word Hindu to refer to Indians, who lived in and around River Sindh and beyond stretching up to Prayag. And Greeks called ancient Bharatavarsha as India.
Whereas Mesapotamians referred to India as Meluhha as is evidenced from archeological findings there.
And it is also interesting to know that there is a river called as Swat (apparently short form of Saraswati) flowing into River Kabul. 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 cultural traits. 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 genes may transform in due course of time but Culture continues to live on.
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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 so. Actually Jamba means a bear. It is apparent that after Vaijayantam was abandoned by its inhabitants and the city was infested with wild bears by the end of Treta Yuga. 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, which must be the cave of Jambavanta of Mahabharata. (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)
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 are three historical people related to the name of Krishna. They are Lord Krishna, Draupadi and Veda #Vyasa. Name of Lord Krishna is well known. Draupadi is also called as Krishna . Whereas Veda Vyasa is called as Krishna Dwaipayana (Son of Krishna Dwipa). . . . . .
