Thread on भारतवर्ष. Let us see the description of it from the Viṣṇu Purāṇa & see why the land is considered blessed. This will explain why name of our country should be Bhārat.

'Even the Gods sing, blessed are you all men born in Bhārata'

BTW, will use ITRANS, IAST both
1. Location
उत्तरं यत्समुद्रस्य: हिमाद्रेश्चैव दक्षिणम्
वर्षं तद् भारतं नाम: भारती यत्र संततिः ।।

समुद्र के उत्तर व हिमालय के दक्षिण
वह देश भारतवर्ष कहलाता है जहाँ भरतकी संतान वसी है

North of the ocean & south of the Himalayas, lies Bharatvarsh.There dwell progeny of Bharat
2. Geography

महेन्द्रो मलयः सह्मः शुक्तिमान् ऋक्षपर्वतः ।
विन्ध्यश्व पारिपात्रश्व सप्तत्र कुलपर्वताः ।।

सात कुलपर्वत - महेंद्र, मलय, सह्म, शुक्तिमान्, ऋक्ष, विंध्या, पारिपात्र

7 mountain ranges - mahendra, malaya, sahma, shuktimAn, riksha, vindhyA, pAripAtr
The land is divided into 9 parts. They are Indradvipa, Kaserumat, TAmravarNa, GabhastimAn, NAgadvIpa, Saumya, Gandharba, and VAruNa & 1 more dvIpa surrounded by ocean.

इन्द्रद्वीप: कशेरुमान् ताम्रवर्णो गभस्तिमान् ।
नागद्वीपस्तथा सौम्यो गन्धर्वस्त्वथ वारुणः ।।
The rivers Satadru, ChandrabhAgA, and other rivers, flow from the foot of HimAlaya. VedasmRiti and others from the ParIpAtra.
The Narmada & Surasa flow from the Vindhya. The Tapi, Payoshni, and Nirvindhya from the Riksha mountains; the Godavari, Bhimarathi, Krishnaveni, from the Sahya mountains: the Kritamala, Tamraparni, and others, from the Malaya range.
To the east, live the Kirāta. To the west, dwell the Yavana.

पूर्वे किराता यस्य स्युः पश्चिमे यवनाः स्थिताः ।

जिसके (भारत के ) पूर्व भाग में किराता स्थित और पश्चिम में यवना
In the middle reside BrahmaNas, KshatriyAs, VaiSyas, and SudrAs, occupied in their respective duties (sacrifice, arms, trade, & service)

ब्राह्मणाः क्षत्रिया वैश्या मध्ये शूद्राश्च भागशः ।।

ब्राह्मण क्षत्रिय वैश्य और शुद्रा वर्णविभागानुसार मध्य में बसे हैं
The principal people living on banks of the rivers are the Kuru & Panchalas. In the middle, the Kamarupa. To the east, live the Pundra, Kalingas & Magadhas. In the west are the Saurashtras, Suras, Bhiras. Karushas & Malavas, reside along the Paripatra mountains.
Others like the Hunas, Shakalas, Salwas, Raamas, Parasikaas.
पूर्वदेशादिकाश्चैव कामरूपनिवासिनः ।
पुण्ड्राः कलिङ्गा मगधा दाक्षिणात्याश्च सर्वशः ||

तथापरान्ताः सौराष्ट्राः शूराभोरास्तथार्बुदाः ।
कारूषा माल्यवांश्चैव पारिपात्रनिवासिनः ।।
3. RELIGIOUS IMPORTANCE

चत्वारि भारते वर्षे युगान्यत्र महामुने ।
कृतं त्रेता द्वापरश्च कलिश्चान्यत्र न क्वचित्

हे महामुने भारतवर्ष में ही चारों युग नामक - कृत, त्रेता, द्वारप और कलि हैं
और कही नहीं हैं
It is Bharatavarsha where the cycle of the of four Yugas, –– the Kṛta, the Treta, the Dvapara, & Kali, takes place.
अत्रापि भारतं श्रेष्ठं जम्बूद्रीपे महामुने ।
यतो हि कर्मभूरेषा ततोऽन्या भोगभूमयः ||

हे महामुने, यहाँ भी (जंबूद्वीप में ) भारत सर्वश्रेष्ठ
क्यूँकि यह ही कर्मभूमि है, अन्य देश भोगभूमि हैं

Bharat is supreme because it is the land of Karma unlike the other lands (of lust/bhog)
अत्र जन्मसहस्त्राणां सहस्त्रैरपि सत्तम ।
कदाचिल्लभते जन्तुर्मानुष्यं पुण्यसञ्चयात् ।।

हज़ारों जनमों के बाद बहुत पुण्यके उदय होने पर ही कभी यहाँ मनुष्यजनम मिलता है

Here, after a thousand births & accumulation of a lot of merit. Men are lucky to be born in Bharatavarsha.
गायन्ति देवाः किल गीतकानि धन्यास्तु ते भारतभूमिभागे ।
स्वर्गापवर्गास्पदमार्गभूते भवन्ति भूयः पुरुषाः सुरत्वात् ।।

देवता भी सदा यही गाते हैं की जिन्होंने स्वर्गापवर्गा के मार्गभूत (भारत) में जनम लिया है, वह लोग देवताओं के तूल भी धन्य हैं
"The gods themselves sing, blessed are the ones born in Bharatavarsha"
जानीम नैतत् क्व वयं विलीने स्वर्गप्रदे कर्म्मणि देहबन्धम् ।
प्राप्स्याम धन्याः खलु ते मनुष्या ये भारते नेन्द्रियविप्रहीणाः ।।

जानते नहीं हम(देव) की अपने स्वर्गप्रदेकर्मोंके नाश पर कहाँ जनम ग्रहण करेंगे पर धन्य तो वे मनुष्य हैं जो भारत में जनम लेकर इंद्रियोंकी शक्ति से हीं नहीं
"We Gods know not, when the acts that have obtained us this divine adobe shall have been fully recompensed., where we shall renew but we know that blessed are those men born in Bharata with perfect senses"
So now, once can see why Bharata and Bharatavarsha are the best possible names for this land.

India comes from Indus from Hindu from Sindhu. So people east of the Sindhu river. Aryavarta is very good but not all encompassing.

Bharata is the best, divine and from the puraNas.
Have seen some people suggest Hindustan and while it might sound okay, it’s mostly a name associated & coined by the Persians. The arabs picked it up. Before the muslims, hindustan finds little mention.
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