Jana Gana Mana… ‘Adhinayaka’ ?

Rarely does an auteur have the fortune of starting a century of controversy from the moment he creates a piece. As a phenomenon, Rabindranath Tagore is indeed rare. And the text in question is our national anthem, born infamous exactly 101 years ago.

Not so long ago a hoax message made its rounds via chain mails and social networking sites. This was in 2008, 2010 and 2012. It claimed that UNESCO had declared Jana Gana Mana to be 'the best national anthem of the world'. In 2004, Sadhwi Ritamvara circulated a hate audio cassette against Muslims, where she claims the song was an act of treachery. Hate mails and heated responses have done the rounds every year since 2001. In the late 1960's, 1980's, each time India went to war, each time a new government formed — there has been a furor over the origin of the song.

The Morning Song of India : in Tagore's Handwriting

The Morning Song of India : in Tagore's Handwriting

Jana gana mana adhinayaka jaya hey,
Bharata bhagya bidhata….

Critics, journalists, poets, politicians, and just about everyone has wondered who this 'adhinayak' could be. The one who governs the mind of the masses i.e. the 'jana gana-mana'. We all holler that line in school without really understanding it. Some firmly believe that Tagore had meant King George V as this shadowy 'adhinayak', the guy grandly called God of India's Fate (the 'Bharat bhagya bidhata'). That's weird, given that the rest of the considerably long song (we adopted only stanza one as our anthem), mentions a mother and a conch blowing charioteer, none of whom can possibly qualify as a king.

Bengal was partitioned by Lord Curzon in 1905. Tagore was instrumental in not just writing patriotic songs against this, but in organizing protests as well. One of these songs, 'Amar Sonar Bangla', went on to become the national anthem of Bangladesh.

On 12 December, 1911, King George V and Queen Mary held durbar in Delhi. The King annulled the partition there. On December 26, the royal couple graced a somewhat different durbar, the annual session of Indian National Congress at Kolkata. The Vande Mataram, avowedly patriotic, was sung on that day. The next day begun with Jana Gana Mana, sung like a hymn in chorus, and ended with 'Badshah Humara', a song in Hindi by Rambhuj Chaudhury openly praising the King. The session ended on 28 December with 'Namo Hindusthan' by Tagore's cousin Sarala Devi, openly praising the motherland.

Singing at Congress meetings was not new for Tagore. He rendered the Vande Mataram in the 1896 session. By 1908, Tagore was older and less enthused with these annual dos. So he sang an impromptu piece 'Amay bolo na gahite' ('don't ask me to sing'), a scathing comment on the emptiness of conferences in troubled times, and stomped out. Oops. Despite the jab, his stature induced Congress leaders to invite him again in 1911. We don't know whether the monarch was happy with the song. But a month later, a circular was issued by Director of Public Instructions, East Bengal, asking government servants not to send their kids to Shanitniketan, Tagore's educational institute. It was implied that disobedience might affect their service. In January 1912, a journal 'Tatwabodhini' published the song as 'Bharat Bidhata', classifying it as 'Brahmo Sangeet'. On 25 Januray, Jana Gana Mana was sung at Maharshi Bhavan as a prayer song under Tagore's guidance. In 1917, it surfaced in the Congress session again. Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, one of the extremist leaders, introduced it as 'a song of the glory and victory of India.'

None of these incidents could stop speculations about the 'adhinayak'. On 28 December, 1911, British loyalist newspapers, 'The Englishman' and 'The Statesman', reported that Tagore had sung for the King. On the same day, patriotic newspapers, 'The Bengalee' and 'Amrita Bazar Patrika' distinguished between the welcome song and a 'song of benediction' by Tagore. Loyalties, reporting style and public taste had undergone a lot of change by 1917. Reports of 'The Statesman' that year refer to the same song as patriotic.

In 1919, Tagore translated the song for his friend, Irish poet James H. Cousins. Cousins was the principal of Besant Theosophocal College in Madanapelle, Andhra Pradesh and Tagore was on a visit. 'The Morning Song of India' was adopted as the college prayer, in praise of god and motherland.

On 10 November 1937, Tagore wrote a letter to friend Pulin Bihari Sen: '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.'

On 19 March 1939 Tagore wrote: 'I should only insult myself if I cared to answer those who consider me capable of such unbounded stupidity as to sing in praise of George the Fourth or George the Fifth as the Eternal Charioteer leading the pilgrims on their journey through countless ages of the timeless history of mankind.'

Tagore was a complicated man and a dedicated creator. This means he had a turbulent mind and a steady career as writer-poet-lyricist-educator. W.B.Yeats, one of his strongest supporters for the Nobel prize mentioned a conversation with one of Tagore's followers: 'The National Congress people asked Tagore for a poem of welcome. He tried to write it, but could not. He got up very early in the morning and wrote a very beautiful poem, not one of his best, but still beautiful. When he came down, he said to one of us, 'Here is a poem which I have written. It is addressed to God, but give it to the Congress people. It will please them. They will think it is addressed to the King.'

Given Tagore's history of outbursts against the duplicity of politicians, it does sound plausible. After all, he had the doubtful privilege of closely knowing both dedicated freedom fighters and corrupt leaders.

Back in 1919, Tagore had denounced his Knighthood in a stormy overnight letter to Lord Chelmsford protesting against the Jalianwala Bagh massacre. The song 'ei monihar amaye nahi saaje' was written that very night :
'This bejeweled necklace doesn't suit me.

It hurts when I wear it,

Stings when I take it off...'

His Congress friends were slower in responding to the disaster.

A staunch believer in economic development through self-reliance, Tagore was in disagreement with Gandhiji on the issue of arson and bribery being used to fund and promote the Swadeshi movement. In fact, the novels 'Char Odhyay' (The Four Chapters) and 'Ghore Baire' (The Home and The World) revolve entirely around the Swadeshi debate. These however, are not as controversial as the national anthem. The 'adhinayak' continues to be debated in seminars, books, reports, forums, blogs. The deeper questions that Tagore brought up repeatedly in his works, on what 'India' and 'Indian' might mean, have been archived and forgotten. India and Bangladesh keep locking horns along the line of partition. 'Their' national anthem was penned by Tagore as a protest against the partition. 'Our' anthem was probably a hope and prayer at the annulment of the partition. In 2012, what a hot-headed man sung in 1908 continues to hold true of our national political scenario.

'Amay bolo na gahite, bolo na.

Eki shudhu haasi khela promodero mela?

Shudhu micche kotha chholona?'

Translation :

'Don't ask me to sing. Don't.

Is it just fun, games and merry making ?

Only false words and deception?'