“Aano Bhadra Kratavo Yantu Vishvatah...”

- Rig Veda

(May all noble thoughts come to us from all universe).

THIS Vedic wish often highlighted the idea of Bharat -- for countless thousands of years. The entire cultural discourse was defined by that urge to earn knowledge that could not be contained by mere geography or a culture or a language or religious belief. No better definition of learning has evolved ever from human thought since Time began!: I am the citizen of this massive, limitless universe and wish to welcome all noble, good, great, and grand thoughts from its farthest corners -- so that I sublimate myself to the level of universal consciousness, because I -- and all of us -- am (are) the ‘children of the Divine’- Vayam amrutasya putrah!

This is the original ‘Bharat’ narrative. And this is exactly the narrative which the colonial machine rejected for sheer political reasons -- as an outcome of a (British) ‘Raj’ narrative that the people of India (Bharat) imbibed through a calibrated colonisation of the mind for over a century and a half.

Of course, several scholars and thinkers have often highlighted how the British did the massacre of the idea of Bharat. Their idea was simple: Reduce the great and well-established system of education (in India -- Bharat) so that the common people lose their sense of identity and self-confidence!

This process, again, has been described, discussed and derided by many scholars. But one of the most profound statements in this regard came from Mahatma Gandhi was back in 1931 at the Round Table Conference in London: ‘The beautiful tree of education was cut down by you British. Therefore, today India is far more illiterate than it was 100 years ago. ...”! - and therefore slavish and poverty-stricken! (Italics mine, for emphasis).

It was out of that vile conspiracy that the Indian people were made to disbelieve their great cultural and historical and educational tradition that taught them the Vedic idea of learning -- Aano Bhadra Kratavo Yantu Vishvatah...!

When the thought of the ‘Bharat’ narrative comes up in public discourse, it mainly emphasises restoration of the liberate mind of the people of the country.

The ‘Bharat’ narrative, thus, is a totally apolitical thought beyond any narrow, divisive ideology. It is a thought that seeks to give India (Bharat) its original identity as a global leader in thought and action. Various efforts are currently on to ensure that the people of India shed their colonial mindset so that they regain connect with their roots that go deep back countless thousands of years of a rich cultural heritage that gave humanity the Vedas and the sciences and the undying quest of learning -- “the beautiful tree of education”, as the Mahatma put it in London.

When Gandhiji said those fine and no-nonsense words at the Round Table Conference, a British member opposed him and asked him to take back the statement. The Mahatma refused, and insisted that he could prove what he had just stated. Perhaps, shortage of time, or an absence of political will of the British, did not allow that debate to take place at the conference. But Mahatmaji had made his point well.

Today, however, there is no need to prove the point about the ‘Bharat’ narrative. For, over the years, despite the strong and focused British efforts to suppress it, the movement of liberation of thought from the ‘Raj’ narrative continued fairly successfully. There is no need to convince anybody about the utility and importance of the ‘Bharat’ narrative. There is no need to blame the invaders and the foreigners -- and also the indigenous Left-Liberals -- as the people of India understand what ‘Bharat’ stands for.

Let us recall one moment of pride for us. About three years ago, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi stood at the podium at the World Economic Forum and explained to global leaders what India actually meant to the world. With temperatures freezing at -56 degrees outside in the Alpine resort of Davos in Switzerland, he said, while an anti-globalisation thought was sweeping the world off its feet, India did not find globalisation as an awkward idea. “For, we believe in making sacrifices for sharing the common wealth”, he said quoting Ishopanishad:

Eesha vasyamidam sarvam

yatkincha jagattyam jagat,

Tyena Tyaktena Bhunjitha

Maa grudhah kasyaswiddhanam?

-- All this should be covered by the Lord, whatsoever moves on the earth. By such a renunciation protect (thyself). Covet not the wealth of others.

This is ‘Bharat’ narrative, to begin with, emphasising global citizenship, global learning, global sharing of common wealth, unclouded by the linear, modular thinking of the West that suggests rejection of dynamic idea of living that the Vedas promoted. The current insistence on the ‘Bharat’ narrative originates from the urge to reject the effort to crush the liberatedness that stems so totally naturally and quintessentially from ancient wisdom of India (Bharat)!

Gone are the times to blame the invasions of India by the Mongols and the British and others. Now, a clear-cut indigenous ‘Bharat’ narrative is available to us not for propaganda but for actual use in practical life. We have realised how beautiful the tree of Indian (Bharatiya) education is and how we can and should use it for the benefit of our own and also of the whole world -- sharing it with humanity.

This should give us the confidence so essential to restore the glory of our country whose signature is not bound by mere colonial geography or psychology that ‘India’ represents.

That is the ‘Bharat’ narrative -- beyond politics and propaganda!