Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, v. 3 of 3: or the Central and Western Rajput States of IndiaTod, James
History
Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, v. 3 of 3: or the Central and Western Rajput States of India
Tod, James
Rajasthan (India) -- History; Rajput (Indic people) -- History
Sehwan is erected on an elevation within a few hundred yards of the
river, having many clumps of trees, especially to the south. The
houses are built of clay, often three stories high, with wooden
pillars supporting the floors. To the north of the town are the
remains of a very ancient and extensive fortress, sixty of its
bastions being still visible; and in the centre the vestiges of a
palace still known as Raja Bhartrihari-ka-Mahall, who is said to have
reigned here when driven from Ujjain by his brother Vikramaditya.
Although centuries have flown since the Hindus had any power in these
regions, their traditions have remained. They relate that Vikrama, the
eldest son of Gandharap Sen, was so devoted to his wife, that he
neglected the affairs of government, which made his brother
expostulate with him. This coming to his wife’s ears, she insisted on
the banishment of Vikrama. Soon after a celebrated ascetic reached his
court, and presented to Bhartrihari the Amarphul, or ‘fruit of
immortality,’ the reward of years of austere devotion at the shrine of
Mahadeo. Bhartrihari gave it to his wife, who bestowed it on an
elephant-driver, her paramour; he to a common prostitute, his
mistress; who expecting to be highly rewarded for it, carried it to
the raja. Incensed at such a decided proof of infidelity, Bhartrihari,
presenting himself before his queen, asked for the prize—she had lost
it. Having produced it, she was so overwhelmed with shame that she
rushed from his presence, and precipitating herself from the walls of
the palace, was dashed to pieces. Raja Bhartrihari consoled himself
with another wife, Rani Pingula, to whose charms he in like manner
became enslaved; but experience had taught him suspicion. Having one
day gone a-hunting, his huntsman shot a deer, whose doe coming to the
spot, for a short time contemplated the body, then threw herself on
his antlers and died. The Shikari, or huntsman, who had fallen asleep,
was killed by a huge snake. His wife came to seek him, supposing him
still asleep, but at length seeing he was dead, she collected leaves,
dried reeds, and twigs, and having made a pyre, placed the body under
it; after the usual perambulations she set fire to, and perished with
it. The raja, who witnessed these proceedings, went home and conversed
with Pingulani on these extraordinary Satis, especially the Shikari’s,
which he called unparalleled. Pingulani disputed the point, and said
it was the sacrifice of passion, not of love; had it been the latter,
grief would have required no pyre. Some time after, having again gone
a-hunting, Bhartrihari recalled this conversation, and having slain a
deer, he dipped his clothes in the blood, and sent them by a
confidential messenger to report his death in combat with a tiger.
Pingulani heard the details; she wept not, neither did she speak, but
prostrating herself before the sun, ceased to exist.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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