Jana Gana Mana (the complete song) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Jana Gana Mana is a five-stanza Brahmo

Brahmo

A Brahmo is either an adherent of Brahmoism to the exclusion of all other religions, or a person with at least one Brahmo parent or guardian and who has never denied his faith...

hymn composed and scored in a highly Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

ized Bengali

Bengali language

Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...

by Nobel laureate

Nobel Prize in Literature

Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...

Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...

. The first stanza of the song has been adopted as the National Anthem of India.

Lyrics of all 5 stanzas

The English translation below has been adapted from one posted by Sitansu Sekhar Mittra many years ago.

Apart from the above translation which follows the original very closely, Tagore

Tagore

Tagore is the name of a prominent Bengali family of intellectuals, writers and artists, generally known as the Tagore family.People - Jorasanko branch of the Tagore family...

's own interpretation of Jana Gana Mana in English is available as .

Lyrics in Bengali Script

জনগণমন-অধিনায়ক জয় হে ভারতভাগ্যবিধাতা!
 পঞ্জাব সিন্ধু গুজরাট মরাঠা দ্রাবিড় উৎকল বঙ্গ
 বিন্ধ্য হিমাচল যমুনা গঙ্গা উচ্ছলজলধিতরঙ্গ
 তব শুভ নামে জাগে,        তব শুভ আশিষ মাগে,
 গাহে তব জয়গাথা।
 জনগণমঙ্গলদায়ক জয় হে ভারতভাগ্যবিধাতা!
 জয় হে, জয় হে, জয় হে, জয় জয় জয় জয় হে।।

  অহরহ তব আহ্বান প্রচারিত, শুনি তব উদার বাণী
 হিন্দু বৌদ্ধ শিখ জৈন পারসিক মুসলমান খৃস্টানী
 পূরব পশ্চিম আসে       তব সিংহাসন-পাশে
 প্রেমহার হয় গাঁথা।
 জনগণ-ঐক্য-বিধায়ক জয় হে ভারতভাগ্যবিধাতা!
 জয় হে, জয় হে, জয় হে, জয় জয় জয় জয় হে।।

  পতন-অভ্যুদয়-বন্ধুর পন্থা, যুগ যুগ ধাবিত যাত্রী।
 হে চিরসারথি, তব রথচক্রে মুখরিত পথ দিনরাত্রি।
 দারুণ বিপ্লব-মাঝে       তব শঙ্খধ্বনি বাজে
 সঙ্কটদুঃখত্রাতা।
 জনগণপথপরিচায়ক জয় হে ভারতভাগ্যবিধাতা!
 জয় হে, জয় হে, জয় হে, জয় জয় জয় জয় হে।।

  ঘোরতিমিরঘন নিবিড় নিশীথে পীড়িত মূর্ছিত দেশে
 জাগ্রত ছিল তব অবিচল মঙ্গল নতনয়নে অনিমেষে।
 দুঃস্বপ্নে আতঙ্কে       রক্ষা করিলে অঙ্কে
 স্নেহময়ী তুমি মাতা।
 জনগণদুঃখত্রায়ক জয় হে ভারতভাগ্যবিধাতা!
 জয় হে, জয় হে, জয় হে, জয় জয় জয় জয় হে।।

  রাত্রি প্রভাতিল, উদিল রবিচ্ছবি পূর্ব-উদয়গিরিভালে –
 গাহে বিহঙ্গম, পূণ্য সমীরণ নবজীবনরস ঢালে।
 তব করুণারুণরাগে       নিদ্রিত ভারত জাগে
 তব চরণে নত মাথা।
 জয় জয় জয় হে জয় রাজেশ্বর ভারতভাগ্যবিধাতা!

জয় হে, জয় হে, জয় হে, জয় জয় জয় জয় হে।।

Historical significance

The poem was composed in December 1911, precisely at the time of the Coronation Durbar

Delhi Durbar

The Delhi Durbar , meaning "Court of Delhi", was a mass assembly at Coronation Park, Delhi, India, to mark the coronation of a King and Queen of the United Kingdom. Also known as the Imperial Durbar, it was held three times, in 1877, 1903, and 1911, at the height of the British Empire. The 1911...

of George V

George V of the United Kingdom

George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....

, and "Bharat Bhagya vidhata" and "Adhinayaka" is considered by some to be in praise of King George V and not God. The composition was first sung during a convention of the then loyalist Indian National Congress

Indian National Congress

The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...

in Calcutta on Dec. 26, 1911. It was sung on the second day of the convention, and the agenda of that day devoted itself to a loyal welcome of George V on his visit to India. The event was reported thus in the British Indian press:

"The Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore sang a song composed by him specially to welcome the Emperor." (Statesman, Dec. 28, 1911)

"The proceedings began with the singing by Rabindranath Tagore of a song specially composed by him in honour of the Emperor." (Englishman, Dec. 28, 1911)

"When the proceedings of the Indian National Congress began on Wednesday 27th December 1911, a Bengali song in welcome of the Emperor was sung. A resolution welcoming the Emperor and Empress was also adopted unanimously." (Indian, Dec. 29, 1911)

Proposed arguments

Many historians aver that the newspaper reports cited above were misguided. The confusion arose in British Indian press since a different song, "Badshah Humara" written in Hindi

Hindi

Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...

by Rambhuj Chaudhary , was sung on the same occasion in praise of the monarch. The nationalist Indian press stated this difference of events clearly:-

"The proceedings of the Congress party session started with a prayer in Bengali to praise God (song of benediction). This was followed by a resolution expressing loyalty to King George V. Then another song was sung welcoming King George V." (Amrita Bazar Patrika
Amrita Bazar Patrika
Amrita Bazar Patrika was one of the oldest newspapers in India; it is written Bengali . It debuted on 20 February 1868. It was started by Sisir Ghosh and Moti Lal Ghosh, sons of Hari Naryan Ghose, a rich merchant from Magur, in District Jessore, in Bengal Province of British Empire in India. The...

, Dec.28,1911)

"The annual session of Congress began by singing a song composed by the great Bengali poet Ravindranath Tagore. Then a resolution expressing loyalty to King George V was passed. A song paying a heartfelt homage to King George V was then sung by a group of boys and girls." (The Bengalee, Dec. 28, 1911)

Even the report of the annual session of the Indian National Congress of December 1911 stated this difference:

"On the first day of 28th annual session of the Congress, proceedings started after singing Vande Mataram. On the second day the work began after singing a patriotic song by Babu Ravindranath Tagore. Messages from well wishers were then read and a resolution was passed expressing loyalty to King George V. Afterwards the song composed for welcoming King George V and Queen Mary was sung."

On 10 November 1937 Tagore wrote a letter to Mr Pulin Bihari Sen about the controversy. That letter in Bengali can be found in Tagore's biography Ravindrajivani, volume II page 339 by Prabhatkumar Mukherjee.

"A certain high official in His Majesty's service, who was also my friend, had requested that I write a song of felicitation towards the Emperor. The request simply amazed me. It caused a great stir in my heart. In response to that great mental turmoil, I pronounced the victory in Jana Gana Mana of that Bhagya Vidhata [ed. God of Destiny] of India who has from age after age held steadfast the reins of India's chariot through rise and fall, through the straight path and the curved. That Lord of Destiny, that Reader of the Collective Mind of India, that Perennial Guide, could never be George V, George VI, or any other George. Even my official friend understood this about the song. After all, even if his admiration for the crown was excessive, he was not lacking in simple common sense."

Again in his letter of 19 March 1939 Tagore writes,

"I should only insult myself if I cared to answer those who consider me capable of such unbounded stupidity as to sing in praise of George the Fourth or George the Fifth as the Eternal Charioteer leading the pilgrims on their journey through countless ages of the timeless history of mankind."
(Purvasa, Phalgun, 1354, p738.)

Moreover, Tagore was hailed as a patriot who wrote other songs too apart from "Jana gana Mana" lionizing the Indian independence movement.He renounced his knighthood in protest against the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

Jallianwala Bagh massacre

The Jallianwala Bagh massacre , also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place in the Jallianwala Bagh public garden in the northern Indian city of Amritsar, and was ordered by Brigadier-General Reginald E.H. Dyer...

. The Knighthood i.e. the title of 'Sir' was conferred on him by the same King George V after receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature

Nobel Prize in Literature

for "Gitanjali" from the government of Sweden. Two of Tagore's more politically charged compositions, "Chitto Jetha Bhayshunyo

Chitto jetha bhayshunyo

Chitto jetha bhayashunyo is among one of the most quoted poems in India and Bangladesh.Written by Rabindranath Tagore before India's independence, it represents Tagore's dream of how the new, awakened India should be...

" ("Where the Mind is Without Fear" :Gitanjali Poem#35) and "Ekla Chalo Re

Ekla chalo re

"Jodi Tor Daak Shune Keu Na Ase Tobe Ekla Chalo Re" , commonly known as Ekla Chalo Re, is a Bengali patriotic song written by Rabindranath Tagore in 1905....

" ("If They Answer Not to Thy Call, Walk Alone"), gained mass appeal, with the latter favoured by Gandhiji and Netaji.

Literary interpretations

The proponents of the controversy stress the usage of the following words and phrases to claim that Jana Gana Mana was written for the King and the Queen of England-

Stanza 1: (Indian) People wake up remembering your (King George V's) good name and ask for your blessings and they sing your glories.

Stanza 2: Around your 'throne' (refers to the King) people of all religions come and give their love and anxiously wait to hear your kind words.

Stanza 3: Praise to the 'King' for being 'the charioteer'.

Stanza 4: Drowned in deep ignorance and suffering, poverty-stricken, this unconscious country waits for the wink of your eye and your mother's (the Queen's) true protection.

Stanza 5: In your compassionate plans, the sleeping Bharat (India) will wake up. We bow down to your feet O Queen, and victory come to Rajeshwara (the King).

Proposed arguments

The supporters of the nationalist message of Jana Gana Mana claim that "King","Throne" and "chariot" refer to the Almighty (for e.g. Lord Krishna from Bhagvad Gita) who will lead India to freedom. "Ma" on the other hand is more likely to refer to "The Motherland" i.e. India, than King George V's mother- The Queen. In Amar Sonar Bangla, the national anthem of Bangladesh, Tagore has used the word "ma" and "mata" numerous times to refer to the motherland. In his deeply mystic book "Gitanjali

Gitanjali

Gitanjali is a collection of 103 English poems, largely translations, of the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore.This volume became very famous in the West, and was widely translated....

" (an offering of songs to the God) Tagore has used the same metaphor of God as "King":-

Poem #50:  "I had gone a-begging from door to door in the village path when thy golden chariot appeared in the distance like a gorgeous dream and i wondered who was this King of all Kings!"

Poem #51:  "The King has come- but where are lights, where are wreaths? Where is the throne to seat him?..... Open the doors, let the conch-shells be sounded!"

Poem #35:  "Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high...Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake."

The following phrases ignored by the proponents of the King George V controversy strengthen credibility of Jana Gana Mana's patriotic message:-

Stanza 1:"Jana gana mangaldayako" The saving of all people waits in thy hand. Saving from what? Obviously British imperialism.

Stanza 2: The call of the Lord (not the King or Queen)is announced in every Indian home continuously in their prayers. He brings "Oikyo" i.e. unity of the people to gain freedom.

Stanza 3: "Jugo Dhabito Jaatri"(Pilgrims of the ages)are those who follow the path leading to god, not to some King or Queen of British Empire. Similarly "Biplabo" i.e. fierce revolution is our freedom struggle and "Shankhodhwoni"(conch-shell sound) in mythology announced the start of a "battle", here- nationalist struggle against the Empire. This is a path of sacrifice and only God can protect from fear and misery (Sankato Dukho).

Stanza 4: Through nightmares and fears, our mother i.e. motherland protected us in her lap, not the Queen.

Stanza 5"Nidrito Bharato Jaagey" (Sleeping India awakens). This phrase has been used at least once by every nationalist poet to awaken the masses for revolution against British Imperialism. The "Supreme King" makes a mockery of King George V in the sense that the protector of India is a king above all mortal kings.

Regional aspects

Another controversy is that only those provinces that were under British rule, i.e. Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat, Maratha etc. were mentioned. None of the princely states - Kashmir, Rajasthan, Andhra, Mysore or Kerala - or the states in North-East India, which are integral parts of India now, were mentioned. Neither the Indian Ocean nor the Arabian Sea was included, since they were directly under Portuguese rule at that time. But opponents of this proposition claim that Tagore mentioned only the borders states of India to include complete India. Whether the princely states would form a part of a liberated Indian republic was a matter of debate even till Indian Independence. 'Dravida' includes the people from the south and 'Jolodhi' (Stanza 1) is Sanskrit for "seas and oceans". Even North-East which was under British rule or holy rivers apart from Ganges and Yamuna are not mentioned to keep the song in its rhythm. India has 28 states, 7 union territories.

In 2005, there were calls to delete the word "Sindh" and substitute it with the word Kashmir

Kashmir

Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...

. The argument was that Sindh

Sindh

Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...

was no longer a part of India, having become part of Pakistan as a result of the Partition

Partition of India

The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...

of 1947. Opponents of this proposal hold that the word "Sindh" refers to the Indus

Indus River

The Indus River is a major river which flows through Pakistan. It also has courses through China and India.Originating in the Tibetan plateau of western China in the vicinity of Lake Mansarovar in Tibet Autonomous Region, the river runs a course through the Ladakh district of Jammu and Kashmir and...

and to Sindhi

Sindhi people

Sindhis are a Sindhi speaking socio-ethnic group of people originating from Sindh, a province Formerly of British India, now in Pakistan. Today Sindhis that live in Pakistan belong to various religious denominations including Islam, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Christianity...

culture, and that Sindhi people are an integral part of India's cultural fabric. The Supreme Court of India

Supreme Court of India

The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Constitution of India...

declined to change the national anthem and the wording remains unchanged.

External links

National Anthem - Know India. National Portal of India. Government of India. (Also contains the official version of the Indian National Anthem in mp3 format)
A rendition of Indian Anthem in MP3 format from the Indian embassy in Lisbon, Portugal.
Jana Gana Mana (India's National Anthem) - An Inferential Linguistic Analysis from The Hamilton Institute