A Dose of Patriotism

I remember singing a lot of patriotic songs for republic and independence day during school days. Listening to some of them and singing some of them with swelled chest, I used to feel proud of maa bharati. However, as I moved into my mid-teens, I started to understand that the picture is not as rosy as the patriotic songs seem to have pictured. Anyhow, one thing I observed is that these patriotic songs revitalize ones energy to work hard for the nation even in the face of failure.
Recently, I was watching Chanakya (thanks to Pavan for providing the episodes). In one episode, after Ambhi signs a pact with Alaxander that he would help the Greece in their war campaign for world supremacy if he is made the king of the whole of Bharat the people of Takshasila are shocked. During this period, Chanakya was on a mission to get all the soverign states of Bharat under one roof to fight Alaxander and the Greek invaders. Chandrgupta, Chankya's student and a staunch nationalist is ordered by Chanakya to stay put inside the Takshasila Gurukul premises. Even though Chandragupta tries to get out of Gurukul to fight Alaxander, Chankya's other students, acting upon his orders, stop Chandragupta. A disappointed, agitated and sad Chandragupta is then portrayed to have sung the song "Hum Kare Rastra Aaradhan".

This song fills ones heart with great pride and love to the motherland. The song is so generic in nature, that it can be applied to any nation and any citizen. Every word is placed in this song in such a way that it gets right away embedded into the minds and hearts of the listeners. No wonder, this song is one of the favourites in various circles of RSS as well other unapologetic and patriotic organizations in the country. Written by Jayshankar Prasad ji, a pioneer of Chayyavadi (neo-romanticism) hindi poetry, this song is truly high quality stuff. It is sad that today's bollywood lacks poets who can weave a mala of words which get embedded into the heart and mind and bring a smile on the face!

You can download the song from here. There is also a video of the song on google videos from the series Chanakya.

Complete text in Hindi

हम करें राष्ट आराधन

तन से मन से धन से

तन मन धन जीवनसे

हम करें राष्ट आराधना………………।।…धृ

अन्तर से मुख से कृती से

निश्र्चल हो निर्मल मति से

श्रध्धा से मस्तक नत से

हम करें राष्ट अभिवादन…………………। १

अपने हंसते शैशव से

अपने खिलते यौवन से

प्रौढता पूर्ण जीवन से

हम करें राष्ट का अर्चन……………………।२

अपने अतीत को पढकर अपना

ईतिहास उलटकर

अपना भवितव्य समझकर

हम करें राष्ट का चिंतन…।………………।३

है याद हमें युग युग की

जलती अनेक घटनायें

जो मां के सेवा पथ पर

आई बनकर विपदायें

हमने अभिषेक किया था

जननी का अरिशोणित से

हमने शृंगार किया था

माता का अरिमुंडो से
हमने ही ऊसे दिया था

सांस्कृतिक उच्च सिंहासन

मां जिस पर बैठी सुख से

करती थी जग का शासन

अब काल चक्र की गति से

वह टूट गया सिंहासन

अपना तन मन धन देकर

हम करें पुन: संस्थापन………………।४