16/03/2025
BHARAT : country's original name
Bharat : meaning
“Bha” means Light and Knowledge,
“rata” means “Devoted”.
Bharat means “devoted to light as against darkness”. The name “Bharat” was symbolic in nature revealing the fact that the whole country was highly enlightened spiritually.
The Vayu Purana says ‘he who conquers the whole of Bharata-varsa is celebrated as a samrāt’ (Vayu Purana 45, 86).
According to the Puranas, this country is known as Bharatavarsha after the king Bharata Chakravarti. This has been mentioned in Vishnu Purana (2,1,31), Vayu Purana,(33,52), Linga Purana(1,47,23), Brahmanda Purana (14,5,62), Agni Purana ( 107,11–12), Skanda Purana, Khanda (37,57) and Markandaya Purana (50,41) it is clearly stated that this country is known as Bharata Varsha. Vishnu Purāna mentions:
ऋषभो मरुदेव्याश्च ऋषभात भरतो भवेत्
भरताद भारतं वर्षं, भरतात सुमतिस्त्वभूत्
Rishabha was born to Marudevi, Bharata was born to Rishabh,
Bharatavarsha (India) arose from Bharata, and Sumati arose from Bharata
—Vishnu Purana (2,1,31)
ततश्च भारतं वर्षमेतल्लोकेषुगीयते
भरताय यत: पित्रा दत्तं प्रतिष्ठिता वनम (विष्णु पुराण, २,१,३२)
This country is known as Bharatavarsha since the times the father entrusted the kingdom to the son Bharata and he himself went to the forest for ascetic practices.
—Vishnu Purana (2,1,32)
The realm of Bharata is known as Bharātavarṣa in the Mahabhārata (the core portion of which is itself known as Bhārata) and later texts. The term varsa means a division of the earth, or a continent. A version of the Bhagavata Purana says, the name Bharata is after Jata Bharata who appears in the fifth canto of the Bhagavata.
– Vishnu Purana (2.3.1)[4][5]
uttaraṃ yatsamudrasya himādreścaiva dakṣiṇam
varṣaṃ tadbhārataṃ nāma bhāratī yatra santatiḥ
उत्तरं यत्समुद्रस्य हिमाद्रेश्चैव दक्षिणम् ।
वर्षं तद् भारतं नाम भारती यत्र संततिः ।।
“The country (varṣam) that lies north of the (Indian) ocean and south of the snowy mountains (Himalayas) is called Bhāratam; there dwell the descendants of Bharata