Cosmography and Geography in Early Indian Literature c6.s1.20

c6.s1.20

The origin of the name Bhārata-varṣa offers another instance of the diversity of traditions. According to many of the Purāṇas, the name was derived from Bharata, son of Ṛṣabha and grandson of Nābhi who was a descendant of Vaivasvata Manu,¹⁰ while certain other Puranic passages represent Bharata as the second name of Manu himself.¹¹ But the Bhārati-prajā or Bhārati-santati (the people of Bhārata or the Bhārata-varṣa) of other Puranic passages appear to mean the Bhārata people, reminiscent of the Bharata tribe of the Ṛgveda, the Mahābhārata representing them as the descendants of Bharata who was the son of Duṣyanta and is said to have become a Cakravartin or Sārvabhauma (universal monarch).¹² There are legends according to which Bharata conquered the whole earth and the dominions of that