216 THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY. [August, 187& You forbid my death, 0 Asso Pal! But without dying how can I regain my beloved? If I die not when the time has come for death, Raja Somachandra will be shamed. So thinking, Rani Pingla determined to die, and putting her husband’s turban on her bosom embraced it, heaved a sigh, and immediately expired. The Rabari, touched by the devotion of Rani Pingla, called out that the Raja was alive, and that his news was false, but it was too late, Rani Pingla having breathed her last. Her maidens now placed her corpse, still in death embracing her husband’s turban, on a magnificent funeral pile and set fire to it. Some time after the Rabari had been despatch¬ ed by the king, Raja Hun repented of what he had done, and taying relays of swift horses galloped to Chandravati. As he drew near the city he saw the smoke of the pyre, and meeting a girl asked her what it was. The damsel re¬ plied as follows:— fiitf sntf 5pr, srtet srrrr j, The flames arising from the pyre glitter like gold, And the smoke assumes a silvery Bhade: Husband! thy wife is burning, Whose house thou wast wont to frequent. On hearing this unexpected and heartrend¬ ing news, the King was overwhelmed with grief, and, dismounting, commenced wandering round the pyre. His ministers and nobles en¬ deavoured to comfort him but it availed nothing. Thus Raja Hun remained for many days. One day Guru Gorakhnath arrived at the place and said to Raja Hun, “ Why are you thus wander¬ ing in a shumshun” (place of cremation) ?. Raja HAn replied that he had lost his incompa¬ rable wife Rani Pingla. Just then a dibi or earthen waterpot of the Guru’s fell on the ground and broke, and the Guru commenced bitterly lamenting over its loss, and wandering- round the place where the fragments had fallen, groaning and weeping. Raja HAn was very much surprised at seeing so great a sage so much distressed at the loss of so trifling a thing as a waterpot, and thus addressed the Guru: “ Maharaj ! I wander in this place because I have suffered an irreparable loss in the death of my virtuous Rani, bnt your loss consists simply of an earthen pot, which I can make good a thousand¬ fold.” The Guru replied that he also could in his turn restore the deceased Rani to life. The King was oveijoyed at this, and the Guru sprinkled water over the ashes of the Queen. No sooner was this done, than twenty-five women appeared, all exactly resembling Rani Pin¬ gla. The Guru then desired Raja Hun to recog¬ nize his wife and take her home. The King however was unable to do so, as all the women were exactly alike. The Guru then sprinkled water on them all, and all but the true Pingla disappeared. The King then said that he had now no wish to return to the world again, but that he earnestly desired to become Guru Gorakh- nath’s disciple. Guru Gorukhnath endeavoured to dissuade the Raja from his purpose by con¬ trasting the easy luxurious life of a king with the wandering life of an ascetic, but the Raja remained immoveable. The Guru then sprinkled water over Rani Pingla, who, after casting a reproachful glance at Raja Hun from her beauti¬ ful eyes, disappeared, and Raja Hun followed Gorakhnath Guru as his faithful disciple. The tradition adds that the Parmar dynasty of Chandravati ended with Raja Hun. Chohan Sheshmalji, seeing the country without a Raja and in a disorganized Btate, attacked Chandravati and plundered the city, annexing the Parmar principality to his Pargana of Mawal. LIST OP WEAPONS USED IN THE DAKHAN AND KHANDESH. By W. F. SINCLAIR. Bo. C. S. I. Spears. B h a 1 a (M.)# : The long horseman’s-spear. B a r c h i (M.) : Short pike used by footmen ; generally has a spiked butt and long narrow square head, with no edge. H a 1 d a ? (M.): A broad hunting-spear used by the ThakArs of the Sahyadri hills. *II. Swords. S u r a i (M.) : The sword straight for two- thirds of its length, then curved. A h i r (M.) : The curve commences from the grasp. P h i ra n gi (M. lit. ‘ The Portuguese’) : A cut-and-thrust straight blade; either imported
- 3d. — Mar At hi j H.= Hindustani.
