Rajpath Becomes Kartavya Path

A View of Kartavya Path

Kingsway was the name that the British gave to the pivotal road in Delhi that runs from Rashtrapati Bhavan through India Gate to the National Stadium. 

After independence, Jawaharlal Nehru’s government translated the word “Kingsway” into Hindi and so the road became Rajpath. But the word “Rajpath” sounded as imperialist and monarchical as Kingsway. In a democracy, it is the elected representatives who rule, not any monarch. The name “Rajpath” was an anachronism in democratic India. It is a good thing that the government has finally changed the name of this road to Kartavya Path. 

The word “Kartavya” means moral duty. It creates the impression of a Karma Yogi of the tradition of the Bhagavad Gita. In the battlefield of the Mahabharata, Krishna counsels Arjuna to fulfill his moral duty to uphold the Dharma through Karma. The new name Kartavya Path symbolizes the idea that it is the moral duty of the politicians in power to uphold Dharma through Karma.