Jana Gana Mana

जनगणमन अधिनायक जय हे, भारतभाग्यविधाता !
पंजाब सिंधु गुजरात मराठा द्राविड़ उत्कल बंग,
विंध्य हिमाचल यमुना गंगा उच्छलजलधितरंग,
तव शुभ नामे जागे, तव शुभ आशिश मागे,
गाहे तव जयगाथा ।
जनगणमंगलदायक जय हे, भारत भाग्य विधाता !
जय हे, जय हे, जय हे, जय जय जय, जय हे !


Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people,
dispenser of India's destiny.
Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat, the Maratha country,
in the Dravida country, Utkala (Orissa) and Bengal;
It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas,
it mingles in the rhapsodies of the pure waters Jamuna and the Ganges.
They chant only thy name,
they seek only thy blessings,
They sing only thy praise.
The saving of all people waits in thy hand,
thou dispenser of India's destiny.
Victory, victory, victory to thee.

Jana Gana Mana ("The Minds of All People") is the national anthem of India. Originally written in formal Bengali language, it is the first of five stanzas of a poem composed by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. First performed in 1911 during the visit of George V, Jana Gana Mana was officially adopted as the Indian national anthem in 1950.

For years this beautiful compostion has been plagued in controversy due to the fact that it was composed on the occasion of the visit of George V to India during the Indian National Congress in Calcutta (1911). But how can anyone even doubt Tagore's loyalty to the nation? In his own words he wrote to a friend-

"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 [ed. God of Destiny] 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."

In short, Jana Gana Mana is addressed to God. It is not just a song, but a spiritual invocation to the Almighty in celebration of the multifaceted culture of this beautiful nation- India.

Extracted from Wikipedia [Link].