Someone created a post on Facebook about Indian National Anthem being a homage to King George V and as the bad news travels faster, people have started believing it. The post
Stanza 1: The (Indian) people wake up remembering your good name and ask for your blessings and they sing your glories
(Tava shubha name jaage; tava shubha aashish maage, gaaye tava jaya gaatha)Stanza 2: Around your throne, 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, for leading the ancient travellers beyond misery.Stanza 4: Drowned in deep ignorance and suffering, this poverty stricken,unconscious country? Waiting for the wink of your eye and our 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 glory to Rajeshwara(the King).This whole poem does not indicate any love for the Motherland, but depicts a bleak picture of it. When you sing Jana Gana Mana, whom are you glorifying?Certainly not the Motherland. Is it God? The poem does not indicate that.
1. "The poem does not indicate that" Surely, such an article was written by someone who lacked intellectual acuity. A poem isn't always direct! Its the meaning behind those words that you have to understand. I'm sure that if this author had read "The Road not Taken by Robert Frost", he would infer that its actually about making a choice of road when one is stuck in a forest!
"Whom are you glorifying? Is it God?" Yes! The meaning can be easily interpreted by reading the translation itself -> "Praise to the King for being the charioteer, for leading the ancient travellers beyond misery". Tagore could be thinking about Lord Krishna, as to how being a Charioteer, he ensured the victory of the Truth.
And now, if you re-read the entire translation it seems as an ode to God.
2. But, the post also has this ->
only those provinces that were under British rule, i.e., Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat, Maratha, were mentioned. None of the princely states, which are integral parts of India now, such as Kashmir, Rajasthan, Andhra, Mysore and Kerala, were recognized.
"Dravida-Utkala-Bangal" - Dravida includes southern states - Kerala, Mysore too. Even if he hadn't included I still wouldn't believe this allegation for a simple reason - its a "poem" and not encyclopedia page to include all names.
This is what I believe. But I could be wrong. So you should hear straight from the horses mouth:-
1. From his letter in 1939(1) - "I should only insult myself if I cared to answer those who consider me capable of such unbounded stupidity"
2. Extract from another letter written(2) - “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 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.”
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