Bharata (emperor)

Bharata
Bharat plays with lion cubs Painting by Raja Ravi Varma
Information
Title	Samrat or Emperor
Spouse(s)	Sunanda
Children	Bhumanyu

In Hindu scriptures, Bharata (Sanskrit: भरत, Bharata i.e., "The cherished") is a legendary emperor and the founder of the Bhārata dynasty and thus an ancestor of the Pandavas and the Kauravas in the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata. Though the Bhāratas are a prominent tribe in the Rigveda, the story of Bharata is first told in the Adi Parva of the Mahabharata, wherein he is the son of Dushyanta and Shakuntala. The story of his parents and his birth is also related in Kalidasa's famous play Abhijñānashākuntala.

India has been called Bharatavarṣa (the country of Bharata) after him and Bhārat is an official name of the Republic of India.

According to the Mahābhārata (Adi Parva), Bharata was the son of King Dushyanta and Shakuntala and thus a descendant of the Lunar dynasty of the Kshatriya Varna. He was originally named Sarvadamana ("the subduer of all"); the Mahābhārata traces the events in his life by which he came to be known as Bharata ("the cherished"). Bharata's exploits as a child prince are dramatised in Kalidasa's poetic play Abhijñānaśākuntalam.