History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c59.s5.3

v4.c59.s5.3

Shivaji was, therefore, a stranger to his father for several years after his birth. Her husband's neglect drove the mind of Jija Bai inwards and deepened her natural religious spirit, which she imparted to her son. Shivaji grew up in solitude, a mateless child, without brother, sister or father. The isolation of their life drew mother and son very close together and intensified his love for her till it became almost an adoration for a deity. From a very early age, he was thrown on his own resources, and learnt to carry out his own ideas unaided and to take the initiative without referring to any higher authority. Such education as he received was eminently practical; he became skilled in fighting, riding and other manly accomplishments; but the weight of evidence is in favour of the view that he was unlettered, though he mastered the contents of the great Hindu epics by listening to recitations and story-tellings and thus learnt their political lessons and moral maxims. He loved to distraction religious readings and songs (kirtan) and sought the society of Hindu and Muslim saints wherever he went. The want of book-learning, therefore, did not leave his mind a dull and sterile soil, nor impair his efficiency as a man of action in a world that was mediæval.