Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v3.c42.s1.t3.44

v3.c42.s1.t3.44

Gopināth.—Rao Ratan left four sons, Gopinath, who had Bundi; Madho Singh, who had Kotah; Hariji, who had Gugor;¹ Jagannath, who had no issue; and Gopinath, the heir of Bundi, who died before his father. The manner of his death affords another trait of Rajput character, and merits a place amongst those anecdotes which form the romance of history. Gopinath carried on a secret intrigue with the wife of a Brahman of the Baldia class, and in the dead of night used to escalade the house to obtain admittance. At length the Brahman caught him, bound the hands and feet of his treacherous prince, and proceeding direct to the palace, told the Rao he had caught a thief in the act of stealing his honour, and asked what punishment was due to such offence. "Death," was the reply. He waited for no other, returned home, and with a hammer beat out the victim's brains, throwing the dead body into the public highway. The tidings flew to Rao Ratan, that the heir of Bundi had been murdered, and his corpse ignominiously exposed; but when he learned the cause, and was reminded of the decree he had unwittingly passed, he submitted in silence.¹