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historians, out of confusion or prejudice, have been writing that this name is derived from Bharata, the son of Dușyanta and Sakuntalā of the Candravamśa clan. I have yet to see proper authentication of this belief by any of these historians. The story of Dușyanta's son Bharata is found in the ninth chapter of Śrīmadbhāgavat. Here we find mentions of his conquest, fifty five Aśvamedha yajñas performed on the banks of the Ganges, and seventy eight Aśvamedha yajñas performed on the banks of river Yamuna but nowhere it is mentioned that this country derives its name from him.
There is another strong reason against this belief. This country was known as Bhāratavarşa even in a period predating that of Duşyanta's son Bharata. The authors of Niruktas on Vedas say - Bharata is the sun. Its glory is Bhārats. This indicates that the Bharata from whose name this country got its name was Sūryavaṁsi (the Sunclan) and not Candravaṁsī (the Moon-clan).
Another thing worth a mention is that in the hymns of Rgvedals and Yajurveda'' Bhāratī is unambiguously shown as related to Bharata of Aditya or Sūryavaṁsa clan. According to Hindu Purānas the geographical area known as Ilāvarta is north of Himalayas and Bhāratavarşa is south of Himalayas and north of the sea. The inhabitants of this area were called Bhāratī."?
Even the modern historians have confirmed this that our country got the eponym Bhāratavarşa from the name of Bharata, the son of Rşabhadeva. Dr. Vasudevasarana Agrawala mentions in his Mārkandeya Purāņa: A Study 18 – “In this context this should be clearly understood that according to Purāņas the name of Bhāratavarşa is related to Nābhi's grandson and Rşabhadeva's son Bharata. The authors of Purāṇas have not accepted the relation of Bhārata with the other Bharata, the son of Dusyanta and Sakuntalā. Even in Bhāgavat it is accepted that this subcontinent got its name from the great yogi Bharata, son of Rşabhadeva.”
Some other opinions are also worth consideration --
Bharata, from whom the eponym Bhārata was coined, was Rşabhadeva's son. – Ramadhari Singh Dinakara in Sanskrti ke Cära Adhyāya.
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