=The Chief of Sādri and his Wife.=—In the most tempestuous period of the history of Mewar, when the Ranas broke asunder the bonds which united them to the other chiefs of Rajasthan, and bestowed their daughters on the foreign nobles incorporated with the higher class of their own kin, the chief of Sadri, so often mentioned, had obtained a princess to wife. There was a hazard to domestic happiness in such unequal alliance, which the lord of Sadri soon experienced. To the courteous request, “Ranawatji, fill me a cup of water,” he received a contemptuous refusal, with the remark, that “The daughter of a hundred kings would not become cup-bearer to the chieftain of Sadri.”—“Very well,” replied the plain soldier, “you may return to your father’s house, if you can be of no use in mine.” A messenger was instantly sent to the court, and the message, with every aggravation, was made known; and she followed on the heels of her messenger. A summons soon arrived for the Sadri chief to attend his sovereign at the capital. He obeyed; and arrived in time to give his explanation just as the Rana was proceeding to hold a full court. As usual, the Sadri chief was placed on his sovereign’s right hand, and when the court broke up, the heir-apparent of Mewar, at a preconcerted sign, stood at the edge of the carpet, performing the menial office of holding the slippers of the chief. Shocked at such a mark of extreme respect, he stammered forth some words of homage, his unworthiness, etc.; to which the Rana replied, “As my son-in-law, no distinction too great can be conferred: take home your wife, she will never again refuse you a cup of water” [613].[4.23.10] Could authority deemed divine ensure obedience to what is considered a virtue in all ages and countries, the conjugal duties of the Rajputs are comprehended in the following simple text: “Let mutual fidelity continue to death; this, in few words, may be considered as the supreme law between husband and wife.”[4.23.11] =Devotion of Rājput Women.=—That this law governed the Rajputs in past ages, as well as the present, in as great a degree as in other stages of society and other countries, we cannot doubt. Nor will the annals of any nation afford more numerous or more sublime instances of female devotion, than those of the Rajputs; and such would never have been recorded, were not the incentive likely to be revered and followed. How easy would it be to cite examples for every passion which can actuate the human mind! Do we desire to see a model of unbounded devotion, resignation, and love, let us take the picture of Sita, as painted by the Milton of their silver age, than which nothing more beautiful or sentimental may be culled even from Paradise Lost. Rama was about to abandon his faithful wife for the purpose of becoming a Vana-prastha or hermit, when she thus pours out her ardent desire to partake of his solitude.