Bharata (emperor)

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For other uses, see Bharat (disambiguation).
Bharat plays with lion cubs
Painting by Raja Ravi Varma
Title Samrat or Emperor
Spouse(s) Sunanda
Children Bhumanyu

In Hindu scriptures, Bharata (Sanskrit: भरत, Bharata i.e., "The cherished")[1][2] is a legendary emperor and the founder of the Bhārata dynasty and thus an ancestor of the Pandavas and the Kauravas in the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata. Though the Bhāratas are a prominent tribe in the Rigveda,[3] the story of Bharata is first told in the Adi Parva of the Mahabharata, wherein he is the son of Dushyanta and Shakuntala.[4][5] The story of his parents and his birth is also related in Kalidasa's famous play Abhijñānashākuntala.

India has been called Bharatavarṣa (the country of Bharata) after him and Bhārat is an official name of the Republic of India.[4][5]

Bharata in Literature[edit]

According to the Mahābhārata (Adi Parva), Bharata was the son of King Dushyanta and Shakuntala and thus a descendant of the Lunar dynasty of the Kshatriya Varna.[citation needed] He was originally named Sarvadamana ("the subduer of all"); the Mahābhārata traces the events in his life by which he came to be known as Bharata ("the cherished"). Bharata's exploits as a child prince are dramatised in Kalidasa's poetic play Abhijñānaśākuntalam.[6]

Story of Bharata[edit]

Crying of Shakuntala

King Dushyanta married Shakuntala on his hunting expeditions in forests. He was captivated by Shakuntala's beauty, courts her in royal style and married her. He then has to leave to take care of affairs in the capital.[citation needed] She is given a ring by the king, to be presented to him when she appears in his court. She can then claim her place as queen. Shakuntala gave birth to his child who was named by the Sage Kanwa named as Sarvadamana. Surrounded only by wild animals, Sarvadamana grew to be a strong child and made a sport of opening the mouths of tigers and lions and counting their teeth.[6]

This is however a dramatized version by poet Kalidasa. This varies dramatically from the version in the epic Mahabharata.[7]

Vishnu Purana accounts the extent of Bharatavarsha,

उत्तरं यत्समुद्रस्य हिमाद्रेश्चैव दक्षिणम् ।
वर्षं तद् भारतं नाम भारती यत्र संततिः ।।

uttaraṃ yatsamudrasya himādreścaiva dakṣiṇam
varṣaṃ tadbhārataṃ nāma bhāratī yatra santatiḥ


He ruled virtuously and earned great fame and was known by the titles of "Chakravarti" (emperor) and "Sarvabhauma" (Sanskrit: सार्वभौमः). Bharata performed many sacrifices and Sage Kanva was the chief priest at those sacrifices. Bharata performed a hundred Horse sacrifices on the banks of the Yamuna, three hundred on the banks of Saraswati and four hundred on the banks of the Ganga. He again performed a thousand Horse sacrifices and a hundred Rajasuya. He also conducted sacrifices such as Agnishtoma, Atiratra, Uktha and Viswajit. He also performed many thousands of Vajapeyas.[6]

Bharata had a son named Bhúmanyu. In the Adi Parva of Mahabharata, it tells two different stories about Bhúmanyu's birth. The first story says that Bharata married Sunanda, the daughter of Sarvasena, the King of Kasi Kingdom and begot upon her the son named Bhumanyu.[8] According to the second story, Bhúmanyu was born out of a great sacrifice that Bharata performed for the sage Bharadwaja.[9]

Bharata lineage[edit]

Emperor Bharata gave his name to the dynasty of which he was the founder. It was in the Bharatas' dynasty that later the Pandavas of epic Mahabharata were born.[10]



External links[edit]