One’s life is dear to everyone. But for a parent and especially a mother her child is dearer than her own life. Every mother does everything for her child. For the children and to protect them parents have sacrificed their own lives, there are numerous such examples. When the children grow up they often go their own ways, live independent of their parents. But the parents ever pine for their children. Compared to father the mother is more close to her children because they are her exclusive world. Like father they are not distracted by the business of life, earning livelihood and playing the bread winner of the family. Smaller the child greater the affection a mother has for it. But the example of Panna Dhai is unique who offered her baby to the killer for sacrifice to save the baby of her dead master.
The old stories of sacrifices are mainly related to the royal families of Rajasthan as folklores. The heroines were princess, queens of the married to the royals. But Panna Dhai was exception. She was a commoner and merely a child’s nurse. Just a palace maid her rank was. Attending to the queen and suckling her baby was Panna Dhai’s job as a nurse. Even during those days beauty conscious ladies of upper class preferred not to suckle their babies. The queens were particular about it. So, a queen would engage a Dhai (nurse) who had her own baby of equal age because suckling the royal baby would be a part of her job. A Dhai would suckle the prince or princess and take care of it like a mother. The Dhais came from poor and humble backgrounds but they had a very special place and respect in the royal family and palace. Like ministers, body guards and cooks the Dhai was also required to be a trustworthy and loyal woman because she would become repository of many secrets of the royal family.
Panna Dhai was incharge of the 1½ year old son of Maharana of Mewar at Udaipur. He was the only child of Maharana, and hence a precious treasure being the sole heir to the throne.
Suddenly Maharana died and his rogue younger brother sat on the throne. Very cruel and selfish character he was. He began to eliminate the courtiers, ministers and commanders loyal to his dead brother’s family. They were replaced by evil characters like he himself was. Although he was Maharana for the time being yet he knew the throne rightfully belonged to the son of his elder brother. Sooner or later he would claim the throne since the subjects were loyal to his brother’s family.
The officials were carrying out his orders but they didn’t like him. He knew it. In getting rid of the men loyal to dead king he spent 2½-3 years. His brother’s son was now 4 years old boy, a growing danger for him. Panna Dhai had her own son who was also 4 years of age.
Meanwhile, he was busy hatching plots to eliminate his brother’s wife and the son to clear the way for his life long rule. Then his son would inherit the throne.
It was the moonless dark night of July. It was raining cats and dogs. Every now and then lighting flashed with thunder clap. Dark thoughts were clouding the mind of that cruel Maharana also. On a sudden impulse he got up and drew out his sword as the lightning flashed illuminating the metal. A crooked smile played on his face. He walked to the bed chamber of the queen, his widowed sister-in-law. She was asleep. In one blow of his sword he severed her head. Now the palace was in the hands of his men and women who worked as maids and servants. He ordered them to dispose of the body of the slain queen and then dashed to the chamber where Panna Dhai slept with her son and the prince.
Panna Dhai had got wind of his arrival.
Late Maharana had given the charge of his son to her and now the queen was also dead. She was the virtual mother-guardian of the prince now. She knew the cruel man would walk in anytime and kill the prince. The loyal Panna Dhai had no way of saving the life of her charge. There was a way but it offered little chance of success. She decided to take the chance. The idea was to switch babies and sacrifice her own child to save the prince. What she was going to do was unprecedented and no mother had ever even thought of sacrificing her child for the sake of the child of someone else. She had opted to answer the call of duty.
Panna Dhai acted fast. She took off the locket having royal sign from the neck of the prince and put it in the neck of her own baby. The same she did with the ring and bracelet of the prince. A stole she put on her son with his hand out showing royal ring and bracelet. Beside the prince she lay down just as a mother sleeps with her son held close to bosom. In that posture Panna Dhai acted to be fast asleep to raise no suspicion in the mind of that cruel man.
The killer walked in with blood-smeared sword. He woke Panna Dhai up by poking his sword tip lightly into her shoulder. Panna put on an act of waking up from deep sleep and stared at the intruder with eyes widening. He barked, “Dhai! Where’s prince?”
Panna made a squeaking sound and pointed to the sleeping figure of her son with trembling finger. The killer looked at the boy’s hand with ring and bracelet. He nodded his head and brought down his sword like a spear aimed at the chest of the sleeping figure with such force that it went through straight to partially come out of the bottom side of the cradle. The boy didn’t even cry. It happened too fast. The killer pulled out his sword and walked away with a satisfied look on his face.
Panna Dhai held prince to her chest tight and watched her son being sworded to death. She didn’t cry. She was shuddering as the killer returned to issue her an order from the door, “Dhai, I am not killing you and your son. I have achieved my aim. If you want to stay alive, run away with your son and don’t utter a word about what you saw happen here. Get out of my kingdom and find a place in some other state. Don’t ever betray me or you shall die.”
Panna Dhai vanished with the prince. In the morning the women of the palace saw the slain body of the boy and recognised it was Panna Dhai’s own son. They at once realised Panna had sacrificed her son to save the life of her charge the prince. With the prince she had gone underground somewhere because even a search by the spies of Killer Maharana could not find her. How she brought up the prince is not clearly known. But later he did come to claim his throne. Panna Dhai had become an example of loyalty and sacrifice, a true legend.
