Bharata (emperor)
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Bharata according to Hindu legend was the first king to conquer all world as known to the Vedic Aryans, uniting it into a single entity which was named after him as Bharatavarsha.
According to the Mahabharata[citation needed], Bharata's empire covered all of the Indian subcontinent, Afghanistan and Persia. The Republic of India is also known as Bharat after Bharata.
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[edit] Son of Dushyanta and Shakuntala
- See also: Mahabharata
According to one legend, Bharata was the son of King Dushyanta and Shakuntala and thus a descendant of the Lunar Dynasty of the kshatriya creed. Both he and Bharata, the son of Rishabha (see below), are believed to be the person after whom India was named Bharatavarsha. He was originally Named Sarvadamana (subduer of all); the Mahabharata traces the events in his life by which he came to be known as Bharata (the Cherished).
[edit] Son of Rishabha
In another version from mythological sources, Bharata was the eldest son of king Rishabha. Both he and Bharata, the son of Dushyanta, are believed to be the person after whom India was named Bharatavarsha. In his later years, this Bharata renounced the throne and became an ascetic in a forest. Though he had renounced most worldly desires, he is said to have become very fond of a deer fawn in the forest. Hence he is said to have been reborn as a deer, and then again reborn as Jadha Bharata in a Brahmin family.
[edit] Bharatvarsha
Bharata is regarded as the first and only emperor to rule all of India.[citation needed]
[edit] The Bharata Race
See Also: Mahabharata, Ancient India
The imperial dynasties of ancient India, such as the Kauravas and Pandavas of Hastinapura, are recognized in the Mahabharata.
Bharata was the greatest king of the Chandravanshi (Lunar Dynasty) of the kshatriya race.
[edit] Literary sources
Bharata's exploits as a child prince are dramatised in Kalidasa's poetic play The Recognition of Shakuntala.
Emperor Bharata's life and exploits are recounted in the great Hindu epic Mahabharata, in its Adi Parva.
[edit] Historicity
- See also: Vedic civilization and History of Hinduism
Bharata's paramount position as founder of modern India is imbibed in the consciousness of Indians, but mainly through sources of Hindu mythology and Hindu religious works. There is no historical or archeological evidence of Bharata's kingdom and reign.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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| Female Deities: Saraswati | Lakshmi | Dakshayani | Gayatri | Parvati | Durga | Shakti | Kali | Sita | Devi | Radha | Mahavidya | more... | |
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| Texts: Vedas | Upanishads | Puranas | Ramayana | Mahabharata | Rigveda | |
