Bhagavad Gita · Mahabharata Codex

Bharata

भरत · bharata

Ancient emperor; ancestor of the Kurus

India still calls itself by his name.

Bharata was the son of King Dushyanta and Shakuntala, raised in a forest hermitage where as a boy he played with lion cubs. He became the first ruler to bring the whole land under one throne, and his descendants are the Bharatas. The epic is 'the great tale of the Bharatas', and when Krishna calls Arjuna 'Bharata' he is reminding him of the house he comes from.