THIS is, of course, a general assertion pointing to the difference between the two names ‘India’ and ‘Bharat’. Even as we ponder over the nuances concealed in the ‘Bharat’ metaphor, we do realise the truth in it. The difficulty, however, is that one needs a serious delving into the history of the nation spanning countless thousands of years. This is one task that may daunt many. However, enough work has been done in recent decades on this subject to bring to fore the details of India’s history in all its dimensions. All that painstaking work has helped the common people in the country -- and the world -- to understand what ‘Bharat’ actually means in many of its nuances. Factually speaking, this awareness has helped in removing a lot of misunderstandings about truthful history of the Indian nation. The most critical key to understanding the history of India is Sanskrit, besides regional languages that are rich repositories of Indic knowledge in a non-academic manner.

 

Enough evidence is available in texts and contexts to explain in detail what actually ‘Bharat’ means -- provided we seek it and search for it. Suffice it is to know, however, that the Bharat of today was built on the great foundation of its knowledge society of the of the past. Knowledge society! That is the best way to describe the ‘Bharat’ metaphor. Historical evidence shows that a conscious effort was made by the seers and leaders of ancient India to build a social order based on knowledge earned through pursuit of science and art -- and sound sociology. While some segments of the society of those times engaged themselves in the pursuit of knowledge, the rest were engaged in pursuit of arts -- sixty-four in number -- many of which had artisanal nature. Only major arts were sixty-four in number, but there were countless derivatives available for the pursuit by common people. Those artisanal pursuits gave them reasonable employment, so much so that the larger Indian society did not know the concept of unemployment at all. There were people with limited economic resources, all right, but there were no unemployed people. Everybody was engaged in some or the other activity that gave him meaningful employment and engagement that took care of his socio-economic need.

 

And all this was an expansion of the idea of practical knowledge that can be used to earn an honourable livelihood. The secret of the happy society of India of the past lay, thus, in its deep understanding of the processes of Nature and arranging human activity in its synchrony. No activity that ran counter to this idea was allowed -- which protected ecology and environment completely but did not deprive the human society to make a good living. If this process is understood sincerely, then one’s understanding of how India of the past lived so well will get enhanced all the more. In other words, India of the past engaged itself in all activities only in moderation -- nothing in excess. There, of course, were villains -- like in any other society. But India also had an effective answer to their shenanigans which came invariably from the realm of dharma -- the ability to make the decision about right and wrong in any situation. And dharma was understood to be the cementing force of the society: Dhru Dharayati Itee Dharmah (That holds everything and everybody together is dharma) was the definition that every knew well. Naturally, when the purpose is to hold everything together, then it entails a set of what is to be followed and what is to be shunned in personal and collective conduct.

 

This definition made all the difference in the Indian society of the past -- for countless thousands of years. One has to return to thinking about the term ‘countless thousands of years’ when one thinks about Indian history’s very long time-line whose start is difficult to define. In ancient texts, references are available to know in numbers the length of India’s past. Accurate calculations also are available about the length of one Yug -- 4.32 lakh years. And, the current Kalee Yug is of 4.32 lakh years, the Dwapar Yug has two such periods, the Treta yug has three such periods, and the Satya Yug has four such periods of 4.32 lakh years. Lord Shri Ram lived in the Treta Yug whose period was before the period of Dwapar Yug when Lord Shri Krishna lived. This will help us understand the depth of the time-line of India’s history. Some modern scholars may never agree with this time-line since they cannot think of such a depth of human history. This is out of ignorance, of course. But if one has to understand the ‘Bharat’ metaphor, one has to understand this time-line of calculable depth.