Jana Gana Mana
জনগণমন
Jana Gana Mana is the national anthem of India. Its words are the first of five stanzas of Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata, a Bengali hymn written and set to music by Rabindranath Tagore in 1911, addressed to the dispenser of India's destiny.
- Written by
- Rabindranath Tagore (died 1941)
- Music
- Rabindranath Tagore
- Context
- First stanza of Rabindranath Tagore's hymn Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata; National Anthem of India
- Year
- 1911
- Language
- Bengali
Jana Gana Mana lyrics with English translation
Only the first stanza, the national anthem of India, is given; the full poem Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata has five stanzas (see the Bengali Wikisource source). The anthem is sung with the Sanskritised pronunciation shown in the transliteration. English: Tagore's own 1919 rendering, English Wikisource, The Morning Song of India.
জনগণমন-অধিনায়ক জয় হে ভারতভাগ্যবিধাতা। পঞ্জাব সিন্ধু গুজরাট মরাঠা দ্রাবিড় উৎকল বঙ্গ বিন্ধ্য হিমাচল যমুনা গঙ্গা উচ্ছলজলধিতরঙ্গ তব শুভ নামে জাগে, তব শুভ আশিস মাগে, গাহে তব জয়গাথা। জনগণমঙ্গলদায়ক জয় হে ভারতভাগ্যবিধাতা। জয় হে, জয় হে, জয় হে, জয় জয় জয়, জয় হে।
Jana-gana-mana-adhinayaka jaya he Bharata-bhagya-vidhata Panjaba Sindhu Gujarata Maratha Dravida Utkala Banga Vindhya Himachala Yamuna Ganga uchchhala-jaladhi-taranga Tava shubha name jage, tava shubha ashisha mage, Gahe tava jaya-gatha. Jana-gana-mangala-dayaka jaya he Bharata-bhagya-vidhata. Jaya he, jaya he, jaya he, jaya jaya jaya, jaya he.
Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people, dispenser of India's destiny. Thy name rouses the hearts of the Panjaub, Sind, Gujarat and Maratha, of the Dravida and Orissa and Bengal; it echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas, mingles in the music of the Jamuna and Ganges and is chanted by the waves of the Indian Sea. They pray for thy blessings and sing thy praise. The saving of all people waits in thy hand, thou dispenser of India's destiny. Victory, Victory, Victory to thee.
Translation: Rabindranath Tagore, The Morning Song of India (1919; public domain). Transliteration: Lyriccs (in the style in which the anthem is sung).
The story behind Jana Gana Mana
Tagore wrote the hymn in highly Sanskritised Bengali. It was first sung on 27 December 1911 at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress and published in January 1912 in the journal Tattwabodhini Patrika under the title Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata.
In February 1919, while staying at the Theosophical College in Madanapalle, Andhra Pradesh, Tagore translated the song into English as The Morning Song of India, and Margaret Cousins wrote down the musical notation. On 24 January 1950 the Constituent Assembly adopted the first stanza as the national anthem of India; the full anthem takes about 52 seconds to sing.
The anthem is sung every day in schools across India and at state occasions. Tagore also wrote Amar Shonar Bangla, the national anthem of Bangladesh, which makes him the author of two national anthems.
What Jana Gana Mana means
The stanza addresses the ruler of the minds of all people, the dispenser of India's destiny. It names the regions of the country, Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat, Maratha country, the Dravidian south, Odisha and Bengal, along with the Vindhya and Himalaya ranges and the Yamuna and Ganga rivers, and the waves of the surrounding sea.
All of them, the song says, wake at the auspicious name, ask for its blessing and sing its victory. The refrain jaya he, victory to thee, closes the stanza. The later stanzas, not part of the anthem, speak of the many faiths gathered round the throne, the long pilgrimage of the nation through rise and fall, and a new dawn after a night of darkness.
Quick facts
- It was first sung on 27 December 1911 at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress.
- It was published in Tattwabodhini Patrika in January 1912 as Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata.
- Tagore made his own English version, The Morning Song of India, at Madanapalle in 1919.
- The Constituent Assembly adopted it as India's national anthem on 24 January 1950.
- The full anthem takes about 52 seconds to sing.