jora rusiyAna ko hai tega khurAsAna hU kI
nIti inglaNDa chIna hunnara mahAdarI
himmata amAna maradAna hinduvAnahU ko
rUma abhimAna habasAna-hada kAdarI
nekI arabAna sAna-adaba IrAna tyo hI
krodha hai turAna jyo pharAnsa phanda-AdarI
bhUShaNa bhanata imi dekhiye mahItala pai
vIra-siratAja-sivarAja kI bahAdurI
(BG.482)
Russians are as renowned for strength as khorAsAnians are for swordsmanship;
English suppress all in shrewd strategizing and Chinese in engineering;
But, it is by valour and manliness that Hindus distinguish themselves;
If Romans were known for their pride and glory, Ethiopeans are for timidity,
Arabs are for piety and Iranians for their courtesy and grace;
Turks are known for their uncontrolled wrath, and French for their intrigues and conspiracies
bhUShaNa has seen these different people on this earth
But found no match to compare with the bravery of shivAjI, the crown-jewel of bravery itself!
1. In listing Hindu as a nationality, along with English and French, Chinese and Russian, Turks and Iranians, it is clear that bhUShaNa is reflecting the contemporary consciousness of a Hindu-Nationhood and self-identity, which flies in the face of those who propose the perverted argument of Indian Nationhood being a post-British construct.
2. Are these attributes of people that he mentions, mere rhetoric of poetry, or is there any real sense that bhUShaNa felt about those? French for hatching conspiracy, and English for strategizing!!
भारतेन्दु 