After Maharana Pratap’s becoming the ruler of Mewar the Rajput warriors were itching for a fight with the enemy that had humiliated them in the battle for Chittaur where thousands of soldiers had lost their lives, 30,000 citizens were butchered and 1500 women had leapt into the flames.
Every warrior was running to the forests to hone one’s battle skills and weapons. Their aggressive attitude was finding an outlet in the act of hunting.
Maharana Pratap also went to the forests for hunting. One day he went on boar hunting trip along with his younger brother Shakti Singh.
They sighted a boar. Greatly excited, the two raced their horses after the prey. Incidentally both of them shot their arrows at the boar simultaneously.
An arrow hit it and the boar fell dead.
The brothers converged on the kill.
Shakti Singh remarked, “Look brother! I killed it just in one attempt. That is how my marksmanship is.”
Rana Pratap didn’t like his claim. He was sure that it was his arrow that had felled the boar.
He said, “My dear brother, you are badly mistaken. My arrow killed the boar.”
It upset Shakti Singh. He protested, “No brother. It is my arrow. I can see it. Why would I lie about a silly wild boar?”
Rana Pratap spoke, “I am not saying that you are lying. I said that you were mistaken. That is my arrow sticking out of the boar.”
“Brother, you are the king, alright. Everything in this kingdom belongs to you by that right. But it does not make the boar your kill. My arrow killed it.”
Rana Pratap unhappily stared at his adamant brother and muttered, “That is my kill, Shakti.”
Shakti Singh taunted, “You must be joking brother Maharana.” Then, he called out to his servants and commanded, “Take that boar to my palace. I killed it with a single arrow shot. See?”
“Shakti Singh!” Maharana screamed. He was shaking in anger and spoke gravely, “By claiming the boar I killed you are insulting me. You are abusing the crown. As a brother I could have been lenient but your deliberate attempt to indirectly belittle the king smacks of the attempt at treason. It is unforgivable crime. Do you understand that?”
Shakti Singh angrily looked at his brother. He was not in a mood to yield.
He shot back, “You are using your status as Maharana to steal my kill. Don’t forget that I am also a prince just two years junior to you. The same blood flows in my veins. I will not let anyone greedily claim my kill.”
He angrily threw his spear at the ground.
Rana Pratap stared at the spear. Was Shakti Singh challenging him for a duel?
Pratap growled, “My arrow killed this boar. No one will take it away. It is now the symbol of the king’s honour.”
Shakti Singh raised his eyebrows and challenged, “A king who lays claim on his own brother’s kill can have little honour. If you want it so badly ask for it and I will give you as a present. But I won’t let anyone steal my kill.”
“Shakti! That is enough! You think you are very brave!? Let our swords decide who killed the boar.”
“That will be fair.”
Both the brothers had drawn their swords and were ready to kill each other. The royal servants were watching the scene aghast.
They dared not intervene between the two royal persons. But what was happening was very shameful which could make Mewar a laughing stock. In some way it was symbolic of how Rajputs quarrelled among themselves over trivial issues and spelled their own downfall.
Then, one of the servants remembered that the royal priest had also come to the jungle to collect some herbs and flowers that were to be used in yajna or havan. He was nearby scanning the plants.
The servant ran to him and recounted how the royal brothers were hell bent on making war. The priest ran to the spot where the two brother stood stalking each other with drawn swords.
The priest pleaded with folded hands, “Please princes, don’t do that. Listen to the prayers of your humble priest. Your swords are meant for slaying the enemies of our kingdom and not for killing each other. Please…please…”
Pratap and Shakti ignored his pleas. They had turned deaf to the words of sanity and were gnashing their teeth at each other. The priest realised that they had been transformed into blood thirsty animals by jealousy and autagonism. There was no use of wasting words on them.
Only a shock treatment could work. The priest made up his mind to offer his own sacrifice for the peace.
He looked skyward and invoked, “God! I offer my life for putting sense into the minds of maddened princes. The death of any of them would be unmitigated disaster for Mewar. One will lose life and the other will never again be able to live with himself. Please don’t take my death for suicide. I am doing it as a sacrifice to the goddess of peace.’’
He was holding a dagger which he was using for digging out herbal roots. The priest plunged the dagger into his chest crying, “Blood…blood…Brahmin killing! EEEEA!”
Blood spurted out of his chest and he fell down with a scream. The incident drew the attention of the duelling princes. They ran to the bleeding priest. The dagger was still buried in the chest of the priest as the blood poured out. The brothers stared at him.
“Why did you do that sir!” Pratap asked.
“Maharana! Please forgive me. I wanted to stop the quarrel between you two brothers,’’ said the dying priest. His body shook violently and then stilled into death.
The anger of Rana Pratap and Shakti Singh had seeped away. There boiling blood had all of a sudden cooled down by the chilling scene.
Both felt guilty for the death of the priest. The priest was given a royal funeral. The skirmish between Maharana and his younger brother had become known to all. Their act was coming under question. In challenging Maharana the younger brother Shakti Singh had committed grave crime amounting to rebellion. Some action against him was required to be taken as the matter has come to the public knowledge.
It was painful to Maharana Pratap because he had become king by dethroning one brother and now the act of another brother had created a moral crisis.
In the later case he was himself guilty to some extent. He did not show any generosity to his younger brother even over a minor issue like hunted boar.
At last Maharana Pratap ordered his brother, Shakti Singh to leave the kingdom and live in exile for showing disrespect to the crown.
Here it should be pointed out that the act of Shakti Singh could not be the result of only in the heat of a moment. There were some pent up angers in him against Pratap Singh that were waiting for an excuse to steam off. Shakti Singh was as good a warrior as Pratap himself. Perhaps he did not get the due importance under Pratap or was denied the responsibility he naturally deserved.
Had the act of Jagmal Singh made Pratap Singh brother-fobic? There are a lot of unanswered questions and the grey areas.
Rajputs suffered from this mindset of mistrust and the habit of squabbling and the sibling rivalries. Hindus were experts in creating enemies within their own families.
And where would such broken brothers go? The road led straight to the enemy camp.
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