Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v2.c27.s7.t2.43.3

v2.c27.s7.t2.43.3

for while the annals of Mewar make the restoration an act of grace, those of Marwar give it all the colours of a triumph. Were the point worthy of discussion, we should say both accounts were correct. The Rana had transmitted the recall of Chonda from Mandor, but concealed from him the motive, and while Jodha even held in his possession the Rana’s letter of restoration, a concatenation of circumstances, in which “ the omen ” was predominant, occurred to make him anticipate his induction by a measure more consonant to the Rajput, a brilliant coup de main. Jodha had left his retreat in the Run ¹ to make known to Harbuji Sankhla, Pabuji, and other rievers of the desert, the changes which the bard had communicated. While he was there, intelligence was brought that Chonda, in obedience to his sovereign's command, had proceeded to Chitor. That same night "the bird of omen perched on Jodha's lance, and the star which irradiated his birth shone bright upon it." The bard of Mandor revealed the secret of heaven to Jodha, and the heroes in his train: "Ere that star descends in the west, your pennon will wave on the battlements of Mandor." Unless, however, this "vision of glory" was merely mental, Jodha's star must have been visible in daylight; for they could never have marched from the banks of the Luni, where the Sankhla resided, to Mandor, between its rising and setting.