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Vandemataram A tribute to Bharat Maa

July 11, 2021 at 9:02 pm by Editorial
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Anupama Nair

www.mediaeyenews.com

 

“But the heart, the eye, the yet deeper heart —
Still ablaze for the Beloved, their turmoil shines.
In the lantern by the road the flame is stalled for news:
Did the morning breeze ever come?  Where has it gone?
Night weighs us down, it still weighs us down.
Friends, come away from this false light. Come, we must
search for that promised Dawn”

But the promised Dawn did finally come after nearly 200 years of colonial rule. We lost millions of Bharat Ma’s sons and daughters starting from Siraj-ud-Daula (Battle of Plassey, 1757), to Mangal Pandey, Rani Laxmi Bai (1857) and finally Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, Veer Savarkar, and lastly the man who said “Give me blood, I will give you freedom”— Netaji.

As Rousseau, during the French Revolution said “Man is born free yet he is in chains”, it was true for India. The desire to be free is the dream of every human, but during the Raj, it was a rare commodity. For a century we were ruled by a Company called East India Company, who let loose a reign of terror. It was truly a black era.

Our great Prime Minister Modi inaugurated the Amrit Mahotsav or celebration of Bharat’s 75th year of Independence. We will be celebrating this event till 2022. I am going to write a feature on all those great men and women who fought against foreign invasion not just against the British. Today I am going to talk about the great Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and his book Anandmath and Vandemataram that was coined by him

It was in such an India, Bankim Chandra was born. He was an Indian author, "whose novels firmly established prose as a literary vehicle for Independence and helped create in India a school of fiction on the European model". His first notable Bengali work was the novel “Durgesh Nandini”, which features a Rajput hero and a Bengali heroine. The great philosopher Debendranath Tagore (father of Rabindranath Tagore)’s words, took “the Bengali heart by storm,” and with it, the Bengali novel was fully born. 

His greatest book was Anandmath, a patriotic tale of the revolt of the sannyasis against the forces of the East India Company, which was published in 1882. To his generation his voice was that of a prophet, his valiant Hindu heroes aroused their patriotism and pride of their race. “In Bankim Chandra, Nationalism and Hinduism merged as one, and his love for his country was characterized in the epoch-making song “Vandemataram” (“Hail to thee, Mother”)—which later became the slogan of nationalists in their struggle for independence”. After Anandmath, “Devi Chaudrayin” was also very popular.

It wouldn’t be wrong to say Vandemataram is truly characteristic of its composer. The book is set in the years during the famine of Bengal. It started with an introduction to a loving couple, Mahendra and Kalyani, who are stuck in their village Padachinha without any food and water during the times of the famine. They decided to leave their village and move to the next closest city where there was a greater chance of survival. Sadly, the couple was separated and Kalyani had to run through the forest with her infant to avoid getting caught by robbers. After a long chase, she loses consciousness at the bank of a river. A Hindu “Santana”, Jiban took the daughter to his home handing her to his sister while he shifted Kalyani to his ashram.

The husband, Mahendra, at this point was inspired by patriotism and joined the brotherhood of the sanyasis serving the Mother Nation. Kalyani wanted to help him in attaining his dreams by trying to kill herself, relieving him of worldly duties. At this point, Mahatma Satya joined her but before he could help her, he was arrested by the soldiers of the East India Company, because these sanyasis were fueling the revolt against the Company rule. When he was being dragged away by the soldiers, he spotted another sanyasi who was not wearing his distinctive robes and sings,

"In the mild breeze, by the bank of the river,
In the forest, resides a respectable lady."

The other sanyasi deciphers the song, rescued Kalyani and the baby, takes them to a rebel sanyasi hideout. Kalyani's husband, Mahendra, is also given shelter by the sanyasis, and they are reunited. The leader of the rebels shows Mahendra the three faces of  Bharat Mata as three idols of goddesses, being worshipped in three consecutive rooms of the ashram — “What Mother Was – An idol of Goddess Jagadhatri”,  What Mother Has Become – An idol of Goddess Kali and finally “What Mother Will Be – An idol of Goddess Durga”.

Gradually, the rebel influence grew and their numbers increased with every passing day. Emboldened, they shifted their headquarters to a small brick fort. The East India Company attacked the fort with a large force. The rebels blocked the bridge over a nearby river, but they lacked any artillery or military training. In the fighting, the East India Company make a tactical retreat over the bridge. The Sannyasis' undisciplined army, chased the East India Company forces to trap them. Once the bridge was full of rebels, the East India Company artillery opened fire, inflicting severe casualties on the sannyasis.

However, some rebels manage to capture some of the cannons and turned the fire back on to the East India Company's soldiers. The East India Company forces were forced to fall back, the rebels won their first battle. The story ends with Mahendra and Kalyani building a home again, with Mahendra continuing to support the rebels. You need to understand Anandmath was banned by the British, as it was set against the Sannyasi-led rebellion against the British East India Company in the late 18th century, but who can suppress the thirst for Independence for long?

The translation of Anandamath into English by Aurobindo inspire the nationalists of Bengal and India in the first decade of the 20th century. He even founded a journal called “Bande Mataram”, and he believed it was his duty to translate works that would instill patriotism in his compatriots. As per the BBC World survey, Vandemataram is the second most popular song in the world!

After this Bharat Mata was painted by the great painter, Abayindranath Tagore in 1905. “It represented an archaic spiritual essence, a transcendental idea of Universe as well as expressing Universal Hinduism and nationhood”. He portrayed Bharat Mata as a four-armed Hindu goddess wearing saffron-colored robes, holding the manuscripts, sheaves of rice, a mala, and a white cloth.

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There are 53 comments

  6. Anu Priya Sharma Nair |

    Vandemataram. Apt article for 75 years of Independence. Please put daily one such article. Will help people get more info

    Reply
  19. Arun Kumar Singh |

    I became emotional when I read this article. Thank you Anupama and Media Eye you are great. Love for your mother and motherland is greatest than all

    Reply

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