Shivaji and His Times c6.s5.3

c6.s5.3

The Bijapuri general had accepted the command in a spirit of bravado, and even boasted in open Court that he would bring Shiva back a captive without having once to dismount from his own horse. But his mind must have been oppressed by the heaviness of his task. He planned to effect his purpose if possible by diplomacy and raising the Maval chiefs against Shivaji. From Bijapur the expedition marched due north to Tuljapur, one of the holiest shrines in Maharashtra and the seat of Bhavani, the guardian goddess of the house of Bhonslé. Here, according to the story current among the Marathas, he ordered the stone image of Bhavani to be broken and pounded into dust in a hand-mill, and committed similar outrages at other Hindu shrines on his way.†