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Textual
Narrative
The concluding
section of the last chapter dealing with an examination of the religious
and symbolic meaning of the images of the pa¤ provides us with a
transition to the second half of the present study which is chiefly
devoted to an interpretation of the contents of the narrative or text
as I shall call it below. The interpretation of the contents, while
drawing heavily from the oral narrative, also relies on the visual
narrative that may, in some cases, literally tell a different story. In
addition to the materials provided by the oral narrative and the pa¤ reference
is also made in a subsequent chapter to passages from a printed version of
the story. The printed text is particularly important not only with regard
to the kind of "historical discourse" it creates, but also in
terms of the contrast it provides to the oral narrative. But before moving
on to the questions relevant to the current chapter, a synopsis of the
narrative is given below.
Synopsis of the Narrative
The narrative is
composed of two main parts. These are recognized by singers as being
distinct halves, and are called Baga¤¡vat or Baga¤¡vat
Bh¡rat and ár¢ Devn¡r¡ya¸ Kath¡. The first
half deals, as its title suggests, with the Baga¤¡vats or the
Twenty-Four Brothers who are the ancestors of Devn¡r¡ya¸. The second
half, as is also clear from its title, deals with ár¢ Devn¡r¡ya¸.
While both halves of the narrative extoll the heroic deeds of the Baga¤¡vats
and Devn¡r¡ya¸, they also articulate different sets of values. Above
all this is apparent in the sources of sacred power that each give
prominence to. In the first half, sacred power flows from the devotional,
self-sacrificial deeds of the twenty-four brothers. In the second half, it
issues directly from the divine acts of Devn¡r¡ya¸, an avat¡ra
of Bhagav¡n.
The Baga¤¡vat
The first half
of the narrative called the Baga¤¡vat, has a time-frame spanning two
world-ages. The beginning of the narrative is situated in the satya
yuga at a time when when Brahm¡ is performing a Vedic sacrifice (Rajasthani:
jug) in Pushkar, the famous pilgrim town in Rajasthan.1
Brahm¡ invites
all the gods and ÎÀis to his sacrifice in Pushkar. Among them is a
group of 24 ÎÀis living in the N¡g Pah¡· (Serpent Mountain), a
mountain chain running parallel to Pushkar. These ÎÀis are disciples
of áa´kar. When áa´kar hears of the invitation, he forbids them from
attending the sacrifice. But they insist on going because they have been
called by Brahm¡. All of a sudden áa´kar grows ravenously hungry. The
ÎÀis suggest he eat the fruits growing in the forest in which they
live. But áa´kar claims this will not satisfy his hunger. He requires
more than plain fruit. But what else is available in the forest? There
is no cereal or grain either. So what does áa´kar do? He turns to his
disciples and demands they offer their bodies to him. He commences
consuming them one after auother.2 After he has eaten them
and satiated his hunger, he then takes it upon himself to visit
Brahm¡'s sacrifice. The sacrifice comes to a halt because of the
misdeed áa´kar has commited.3 He asks Brahm¡ how he should
atone for his misconduct. Brahm¡ lets him know that the only means
would be to offer the ÎÀis his own body in a future existence, in
which the ÎÀis are to be born as the 24 sons of a single father.
After this
relatively brief spoken (not sung) prelude, the temporal frame of the
narrative abruptly shifts to the kali yuga. The geographical
location has not changed. It is the reign of the legendary medieval king,
R¡j¡ Bisaldev of Ajmer.
The populace in
the kingdom of R¡j¡ Bisaldev is being terrorized by a lion. In order
to curb rampant killings, the king orders that one person offer himself
as food for the lion every night. On one particular night, a Rajput
called Hari R¡m,4 who is travelling through the ill-fated
kingdom, offers to take the place of a boy from the Kumh¡r community
whose turn it is to be eaten by the lion. He tricks the lion by placing
a figure made of dough at the place where it feeds. When the lion
attacks the figure of dough, Hari R¡m comes out of his hide-away and
beheads it. Then in order to wash the blood off his sword, and to
cleanse himself of the impurity of slaughter, he goes to the holy lake
of Pushkar carrying the lion's head on his shoulder.5 It is a
full moon night (p£nam). Exactly at the same time on the
opposite bank a Brahman girl called L¢l¡ Sevr¢ who has taken a vow
never to look at a man is performing ablutions and bathing in the lake.
While bathing, she sees the reflection of a man's body with the head of
a lion on the surface of the lake. Not only is her vow broken, she also
conceives upon seeing the image on the water surface. She insists that
Hari R¡m marry her now, but he vacillates saying that such a marriage
is not possible because she is a Brahman and he a KÀatriya. Finally,
they receive permission from King Bisaldev who wants to reward Hari R¡m
in any way that he wishes. After nine months a son is born to Hari R¡m
and L¢l¡ Sevr¢. He has the head of a lion and the body of a man, and
is named B¡gh SiÆh or B¡gh R¡vat. B¡gh SiÆh is abandonded at
birth. But the trees in the grove where he has been begin to turn green
and blossom, signalling that he has a godly nature. The king adopts him.
But because of frightening appearance he is placed in a garden under the
care of a Brahman teacher and cook. Later when he grows up, his unusual
features once again stand in the way of his finding a bride. He
continues to live his solitary existence in the garden attended by his
Brahman cook. One day on the festival of swings (s¡van t¢j), a
number of young girls of various castes come to the garden attracted by
B¡gh SiÆh's silken swing. The Brahman allows them to use the swing on
the condition that each of them circumambulate B¡gh SiÆh. While they
are doing this, he performs the necessary engagement rites. Thus
unknowingly they are all engaged to B¡gh SiÆh. Later B¡gh SiÆh
marries twelve of them. Each of his wives gives birth to two sons who
are collectively called the Baga¤¡vats.
The Baga¤¡vats,
whose mothers belong to different castes, are all married to Gujar
women. Of the 24 Baga¤¡vats, Sav¡¢ Bhoj is the most well-known and
courageous. Each day Sav¡¢ Bhoj takes the Baga¤¡vats' cattle herds
to graze on the slopes of N¡g Pah¡·. One of the cows regularly leaves
the herd and returns on its own in the evening. One day Sav¡¢ Bhoj
follows the cow and discovers that it is being milked by the ascetic R£pn¡th.
As compensation for milking their cow, R£pn¡th gives Sav¡¢ Bhoj a
sack full of grain. But the brothers have no use for the small quantity
of grain, so they feed it to birds. The next morning, they discover that
the few grains left sticking to the seam of the sack have turned into
gems.6 They realize their folly. Sav¡¢ Bhoj returns to the
ascetic to become his disciple. One day R£pn¡th has Sav¡¢ Bhoj heat
a cauldron of oil. When the oil is boiling he ask Sav¡¢ Bhoj to circle
it, while he himself follows. While they are circling the cauldron, the
ascetic tries pushing Sav¡¢ Bhoj into the boiling oil, but Sav¡¢
Bhoj -who has been forewarned of R£pn¡th's intentions - leaps over
with the help of his cowherd's staff.7 In the next round Sav¡¢
Bhoj follows the ascetic and pushes him into the cauldron. Not so agile,
the ascetic falls into the boiling oil. Instantly his body turns into
solid gold. While Sav¡¢ Bhoj stands there repenting his crime, the
ascetic reappears in the hermitage as though nothing had taken place. He
explains that the golden image is a gift that will grant the Baga¤¡vats
unending wealth for a period of twelve years after which both wealth and
life (m¡y¡-k¡y¡) shall come to an end. He also gives Sav¡¢
Bhoj the gifts of a mare, a cow, and an elephant, all of which have
special powers.8 Sav¡¢ Bhoj returns to his home. The
brothers ask Tej¡j¢, the eldest among them, what they should do with
their newly acquired wealth. Tej¡j¢, whose mother is a Bany¡, advises
them to bury the money in the ground and hoard it.9 Nev¡j¢,
one of the youngest brothers counters this idea by suggesting that they
do good deeds with the money, i.e. build wells and temples, distribute
the wealth, and make a name for themselves because both the wealth and
their lives is to end after twelve years. The brothers choose the latter
alternative. Soon their fame spreads far and wide. In due course they
meet their future enemy, the Rajput chieftain of R¡¸ City whose name
is R¡¸¡ (or R¡vj¢). The R¡¸¡ and the Baga¤¡vats become dharam-brothers.
In one extended drinking session, they overturn jars laden with alcohol
onto a hillside flooding the earth to such an extent that the alcohol
actually flows down into the kingdom of B¡sak N¡g, the serpent lord of
the underworld. Angered, R¡j¡ B¡sak deposits the Earth temporarily on
a bull's horns and goes to Bhagav¡n's court to complain about the Baga¤¡vats.
But neither B¡sak, "nor Hanum¡n, "nor Bhagav¡n can do
anything to remedy the situation not only because the Baga¤¡vats are
so powerful, but more so because they are immaculately devotional
towards the gods. Finally Bhagav¡n assumes the form of mendicant (jog¢)
and visits S¡·£ M¡t¡, the wife of Sav¡¢ Bhoj, begging for alms.
S¡·£, who has just completed performing ablutions and bathing,
appears in front of the mendicant covered only by her long tresses.10
Struck by her devotion, the mendicant grants her a boon. S¡·£ M¡t¡
desires that Bhagav¡n be born as her son. Bhagav¡n promises to be born
as her son on the 13th day after the Baga¤¡vats have been killed.
After his return,
Bhagav¡n requests áakti, who agrees to go to Earth to fulfill the task
of destroying the Baga¤¡vats. She manifests herself as an infant girl
in a forest where she is discovered by the King of Bh£¡l, who adopts
her. Exactly at the time of her birth, her maidservant H¢r¡ D¡s¢ is
born in the house of a Mah¡jan. áakti grows up unusually fast. And,
soon Brahmans are sent out to find a suitable bridegroom for her. She
insists that they find some one belonging to a family in which one
father has 24 sons. After a long and frustrating search the Brahmans
find the Baga¤¡vats. They arrange to have the queen married to Sav¡¢
Bhoj. But because they are already married, the Baga¤¡vats suggest
that the queen be married to their dharam-brother, the R¡¸¡.
Thus arrangements are made for the R¡¸¡ to marry R¡¸¢ Jaimat¢ as
the queen is called. When the marriage procession sets out, Sav¡¢ Bhoj
instead of the R¡¸¡, leads it. In the meanwhile R¡¸¢ Jaimat¢
orders the marriage emblem (toran) to be hung in a high place
that the R¡¸¡, who is old and feeble,11 cannot reach up
to. Instead of the R¡¸¡, Sav¡¢ Bhoj strikes down the emblem.12
When the marriage procession arrives, the queen pretends she has high
fever. She asks her maidservant to fetch Sav¡¢ Bhoj's sword that is
supposed to have healing powers. In the inner chambers of the palace she
then circumambulates the sword, thereby secretly marrying Sav¡¢ Bhoj.
In public, however, she marries the R¡¸¡. At the end of the
ceremonies, when she is to accompany the R¡¸¡ to her new home, she
insists on staying with the Baga¤¡vats. The Baga¤¡vats coax her into
going with the R¡¸¡, promising to fetch her after a period of six
months. Upon arriving in the R¡¸¡'s palace, however, the queen says
she will not play dice with the R¡¸¡ till he has constructed a new
palace for her.13 The construction of the palace, of course,
takes a long time, and six months are soon over. In the meanwhile, the
Baga¤¡vats - against the advice of their wives - prepare to fetch the
queen. The queen elopes with the Baga¤¡vats. The R¡¸¡ is patient,
advising the Baga¤¡vats in a brotherly manner to send the queen back
to him. But the Baga¤¡vats stick to their decision. Finally, the
R¡¸¡ gathers together the armies to fifty-two forts on the banks of
the Kh¡ri river.14 R¡¸¢ Jaimat¢, who now has assumed her
true form as Bhav¡n¢, promises to accompany the Baga¤¡vats only on
the condition that they fight the R¡¸¡'s army one at a time. She also
demands that the brothers offer their heads to her. The Baga¤¡vats
willingly agree to her grotesque demands. A great war (mah¡bh¡rat)
is fought on account of R¡¸¢ Jaimat¢ (or Bhav¡n¢). In the battle
some of the brothers continue fighting even after their heads have been
severed by the Goddess's discus. But in the end all of them are slain
and the R¡¸¡ is victorious. The Goddess assumes her awesome,
terrifying form. Amidst the corpses of slain warriors, she squats on the
battle ground, dripping with blood, stringing a necklace of the Baga¤¡vats
heads and arms.15 After their deaths, the heroes' wives with
the exception of Sav¡¢ Bhoj's wife, S¡·£ M¡t¡, commit sat¢.
Four infants survive the carnage. These are Bh¡´g¢j¢, Med£j¢,
Madn¡j¢, and Bh£¸¡j¢, each of whom are raised by step-parents.
ár¢ Devn¡r¡ya¸
Kath¡
The part of the
narrative concerned with the life of Devn¡r¡ya¸ is, in terms of
time-frames, also situated in the kali-yuga. While the first part
climaxes in the great bloody battle, the second part begins in the
aftermath of the war. In the midst of this cataclysmic setting the birth
of Devn¡r¡ya¸ ushers in a new era of renewal and well-being.
S¡·£ M¡t¡
practices severe tapas on a hill near the battlefield. After
eleven days, when her honour and life is about to be threatened by the
R¡¸¡ she calls out to Bhagav¡n, who has promised to be born as her
son. Devn¡r¡ya¸, who is playing a game of dice at the time with R¡j¡
B¡sak, lord of the underworld, rises up on a stream of water that
splits apart the rock on which S¡·£ is seated. Carried on that jet of
water in a lotus blossom, the infant Devn¡r¡ya¸ falls into
S¡·£ M¡t¡'s lap.
Threatened by the
R¡¸¡ again, S¡·£ M¡t¡ decides to flee to her natal home in Malwa.
Devn¡r¡ya¸ spends his childhood there without any knowledge of past
events. One day Choch£ Bh¡¶, the bard and genealogist of the 24 Baga¤¡vat
brothers comes to Malwa in search of Devn¡r¡ya¸ S¡·£ M¡t¡ who
knows of his intentions tries getting him killed, but Devn¡r¡ya¸
revives him. Choch£ Bh¡¶ then informs him of the battle between the
Baga¤¡vats and the R¡¸¡. Devn¡r¡ya¸ then decides against his
mother's will to return to his father's ancestral land and take revenge
on the R¡¸¡. While returning to the region of Bhilwara and his
capital town of Causl¡ Khe·¡, Devn¡r¡ya¸ marries three princesses,
one the daughter of a demon (dait), another the niece of an
underworld serpent king, and the third the daughter of the Rajput ruler
of Ujjain. The latter is Queen P¢palde who features most importantly of
other queens in the cult and narrative. While returning, Devn¡r¡ya¸
also meets up with his four cousins Med£, Madno, Bh¡´g¢, Bh£¸¡,
who likewise have grown up unaware of each others' existence. Whereas
Med£ and Madno have been adopted by the R¡¸¡'s ally, the king of
Ajmer, Bh¡´g¢ has grown up as a N¡th Jog¢ in the company of the
Baga¤¡vats' guru B¡b¡ R£pn¡th. Bh£¸¡, whose name has
been changed to Kh¡¸·er¡v, has been adopted by the R¡¸¡ himself.
But once the cousins realize their true origins, they join up with
Devn¡r¡ya¸ to launch an assault against the R¡¸¡. Before the final
encounter takes place, Devn¡r¡ya¸ releases his herd of 980,000 cows
and buffaloes into the royal fields in order to destroy the R¡¸¡'s
crops. In the end the cousins catch up with the R¡¸¡ who is trying to
escape. He is beheaded by Devn¡r¡ya¸'s bow-string. But when
Devn¡r¡ya¸ sees that Bh£¸¡ is sad over the death of his foster
father, he revives the R¡¸¡ only after Choch£ Bh¡¶ has extracted
the Baga¤¡vats' revenge from the R¡¸¡'s stomach. Devn¡r¡ya¸ then
retracts the title of "R¡¸¡" giving him the title of
Sisodia. Thereafter Devn¡r¡ya¸ instructs the revived R¡¸¡ to
establish the city of Udaipur, which according to the narrative is named
after one of Devn¡r¡ya¸'s names, Ud.
After Devn¡r¡ya¸
has taken revenge on the R¡¸¡, he decides to depart to heaven. But
his Queen P¢palde requests him not to leave her childless. A boy B¢l¡
and a girl, B¢l¢ are born to her. B¢l¢ is quick to realize her
father's divinity. But B¢l¡ is stubborn and refuses to acknowledge his
father's authority. After many unhappy incidents including being
befallen by leprosy, B¢l¡ begins to realize the divine power of his
father. He then agrees to look after Devn¡r¡ya¸'s very first shrine
and become Devn¡r¡ya¸'s first priest from which the lineage of
priests follow. Then, having established a place of worship, a lineage
of priests, and a community of devotees, Devn¡r¡ya¸ finally returns
in his celestial chariot to Baiku¸¶h.
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