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<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{short description|Legendary Emperor of ancient India}}<br />
{{about|legendary king Bharata of Mahabharata|character from Hindu Epic Ramayana|Bharata (Ramayana)|other uses|Bharat (disambiguation)}}<br />
{{DISPLAYTITLE:Bharata (''Mahabharata'')}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}}<br />
{{Infobox royalty<br />
| name = Bharata<br />
| title = [[Emperor|Samrat]]<br />
| image = Raja Ravi Varma - Mahabharata - Bharata.jpg<br />
| alt = Bharat<br />
| caption = Bharat plays with lion cubs<br />Painting by [[Raja Ravi Varma]]<br />
| birth_place = Sage [[Kanva]] hermitage<br />
| predecessor = <br />
| successor = [[Bhumanyu]]<br />
| father = [[Dushyanta]] of [[Hastinapura]]<br />
| mother = [[Śakuntalā]]<br />
| spouse = Sunanda, 2 others<br />
| issue = [[Bhumanyu]]<br />
| dynasty = [[Lunar dynasty|Lunar]]<br />
}}<br />
In [[Hindu scriptures]], '''Bharata''' ({{lang-sa|भरत|bharata|lit=The Cherished}})<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m01/m01075.htm|title=The Mahabharata, Book 1: Adi Parva: Sambhava Parva: Section LXXIV|website=www.sacred-texts.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/mbs/mbs01069.htm|title=The Mahabharata in Sanskrit: Book 1: Chapter 69|website=www.sacred-texts.com}}</ref> is an ancestor of the [[Pandava]]s and the [[Kaurava]]s in the Sanskrit epic ''[[Mahabharata]]''. Though the [[Bhāratas]] are a prominent historical tribe mentioned in the [[Rigveda]],<ref name=Singh>{{citation|last=Singh|first=U.|author-link=Upinder Singh|title=A History of Ancient and Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century|year=2009|publisher=[[Longman]]|location=Delhi|isbn=978-81-317-1677-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC|page=187}}</ref> the story of Bharata is first told in the [[Adi Parva]] of the Mahabharata, wherein he is the son of [[Dushyanta]] and [[Shakuntala]].<ref name=Apte>{{cite book|last1=Apte|first1=Vaman Shivaram|title=Revised and enlarged edition of Prin. V. S. Apte's The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary|year=1959|publisher=Prasad Prakashan|location=Poona|url=http://dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.4:1:2619.apte|chapter=भरतः}}</ref><ref name = Buitenen>{{cite book|last1=Buitenen|first1=J. A. B. van|author-link1=J. A. B. van Buitenen|title=Mahabharata Book I: The book of beginnings|date=1973|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=9780226846637|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i8oe5fY5_3UC|chapter=Introduction}}</ref> The story of his parents and his birth is also related in [[Kalidasa]]'s famous play ''[[Abhijñānashākuntala]]''.<br />
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In the epic ''[[Mahābhārata]]'', the ancestor of [[Kuru Kingdom|Kuru]]s becomes Emperor Bharata, and his ruler and kingdom are called Bhārata.<ref>[[Julius Lipner]] (2010) "Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices.", p.23</ref> The Bharata clan mentioned in ''Mahabharata'' is a [[Kuru Kingdom|Kuru]] clan which is a sub-clan of the [[Puru (Vedic tribe)|Puru]] clan.<ref>National Council of Educational Research and Training, History Text Book, Part 2, India</ref><br />
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==Bharata in literature==<br />
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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 (Hinduism)|Varna]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/mahabharata03buit/page/214|title=The Mahābhārata|publisher=University of Chicago Press|others=Buitenen, J. A. B. van (Johannes Adrianus Bernardus), 1928–1979,, Fitzgerald, James L.|year=1973|isbn=0226846636|location=Chicago|pages=[https://archive.org/details/mahabharata03buit/page/214 214]|oclc=831317|url-access=registration}}</ref> 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 ''[[The Recognition of Shakuntala|Abhijñānaśākuntalam]]''.{{sfn|Ganguly|2006|pp=130–132}}<br />
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==Story of Bharat==<br />
===''Abhijñānaśakuntalā'' version===<br />
According to a dramatized version of the events by the poet [[Kalidasa]], the king [[Dushyanta]] married [[Shakuntala]] on his hunting expeditions in forests. He was captivated by Shakuntala's beauty, courted her in royal style and married her. He then had to leave to take care of affairs in the capital.{{citation needed|date=November 2016}}<ref>{{Cite book|title=Theater of memory : the plays of Kālidāsa|last=Kālidāsa.|year=1984|publisher=Columbia University Press|others=Miller, Barbara Stoler.|isbn=0231058381|location=New York|pages=109, 122|oclc=10299417}}</ref> She was given a ring by the king, to be presented to him when she was ready to appear in his court. She could then claim her place as queen. Shakuntala gave birth to her child who was named ''Sarvadamana'' by the sage Kanwa. 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.{{sfn|Ganguly|2006|pp=130–132}}<br />
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This narrative varies dramatically from the version in the epic ''[[Mahabharata]]''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Macfie|first=J. M|title=Myths and Legends of India|year=1993|publisher=Rupa & Co.|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-7167-131-1|page=323}}</ref><br />
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===''Mahabharata'' version===<br />
In the ''Mahabharata'', the core story remains the same. However, in the story, Shakuntala's son Bharata is already 6 years old, and when they both appear in Dushyanta's court, the latter rejects both of them by saying that he had no relation with both of them and women are often experts at speaking lies, so he pretends to forget them in order to avoid embarrassment in front of his ministers and public. Shakuntala leaves angrily and frustrated. Suddenly, a divine voice echoes at the court, ordering Dushyanta to acknowledge Shakuntala and Bharata. Bharata succeeded his father as the king and with his unparalleled might, he subjugated the world. He proceeded to perform numerous Rajasuya and Ashwamedha rituals on the banks of Ganga, donating vast amounts of wealth to the Brahmanas.<br />
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Bharat had a son named Bhúmanyu. The Adi Parva of ''Mahabharata'' tells two different stories about Bhúmanyu's birth. The first story says that Bharat married Sunanda, the daughter of Sarvasena, the King of Kasi Kingdom and begot upon her the son named [[Bhumanyu]].<ref name="sacred-texts1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m01/m01096.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100116130453/http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m01/m01096.htm |url-status=dead |title=The Mahabharata, Book 1: Adi Parva: Sambhava Parva: Section XCV|archive-date=16 January 2010|website=www.sacred-texts.com}}</ref> According to the second story, Bharata had three wives, and nine sons from them. But these sons were not as their father and incapable of being his successor. Seeing Bharata's dissatisfaction, his wives in wrath slew all of their sons. Then Bhúmanyu was born out of a great sacrifice that Bharata performed with the help of the sage [[Bharadwaja]].<ref name="mahabharata-resources">http://mahabharata-resources.org/bharata.html {{Bare URL inline|date=September 2021}}</ref><br />
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The Bhagavata Purana gives another account of the adopted son of Bharata. When [[Angiras|Angiras']] son – Utathya's wife, Mamata was pregnant, Utathya's younger brother [[Brihaspati]] moved by desire sought Mamata. But the child in her womb obstructed the deposition of Brihaspati's semen. Instead the child was delivered by Mamata. Mamata and Brihaspati started to quarrel over the guardianship of the child. At last they left the infant boy abandoned. The [[Maruts|Maruta]] gods adopted the boy and named him Bharadwaja. When the wives of Bharata killed all their sons, the Marutas gave Bharadwaja to Bharata. Bharadwaja, also known as Vitatha, became the king.<ref>Bhagavata Bhagavata Purana Skandha IX Chapter 20</ref><br />
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===Bharata lineage===<br />
Emperor Bharat gave his name to the dynasty of which he was the founder to an eligible person who was not his actual son. It was in Bharat's dynasty that later the [[Pandava]]s of the epic ''[[Mahabharata]]'' were born, though Emperor Bharata is not a true ancestor of the [[Pandava]]s.{{sfn|Mackenzie|2004|p=157}}<br />
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==See also==<br />
* [[Bharata chakravartin]]<br />
* [[Bharata Khanda]]<br />
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==Notes==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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==References==<br />
* {{citation |last=Ganguly |first=KM |title=The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa<br />
|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m07/m07065.htm |edition= Drona Parva Section LXVIII|year=2006 |orig-year=1883 |publisher=Sacred Texts }}<br />
* {{citation |last= Mackenzie|first=Donald A|title=Indian Myth and Legend, CHAPTER IX: Prelude to the Great Bharata War|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/iml/iml14.htm |year=2004 |orig-year=1913 |publisher=Sacred Texts }}<br />
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{{Mahabharata}}<br />
{{HinduMythology}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bharata, Emperor}}<br />
[[Category:Characters in the Mahabharata]]<br />
[[Category:Solar dynasty]]</div>106.202.72.151