Page:The Sikh Religion, its gurus, sacred writings and authors Vol 6.djvu/17

Rh by shame and jealousy, and set out to drown himself. Krishan is said to have taken pity on him. He appeared to him and told him it would be a vain and foolish act to put an end to his life. It was very clear that his poetical merit did not equal that of Jaidev, but, to compensate him for his disappointment, Krishan ordered that one of the Raja's verses should be inserted in each of the twelve cantos of Jaidev's poem, and both compositions should thus go forth to the world and down to distant ages. This was accordingly done. The estimation in which the Gitgovind was held may be gathered from the following anecdote. A gardener's daughter while one day gathering egg plants was singing with great zest the following verse from the fifth canto of the poem :- The zephyr gently bloweth on the banks of the Yamuna while Krishan tarrieth in the grove.

On this, it is said, the idol of Jagannath followed her wherever she went, with the object of feasting his heart on the dulcet strains. The idol wore only a thin jacket which was torn by the brambles. When the king went to worship and saw the condition of the idol's dress, he in astonishment asked the priests the cause. When the Raja learned what had occurred, he was perfectly satisfied of the superiority of the product of Jaidev's genius, and issued a proclamation that the Gitgovind should only be read in a clean and purified place, as Jagannath, the lord of the world, himself was in the habit of going to listen to it. Not only Hindus, but men of all creeds were enchanted with the composition. It is related that a Mughal, on hearing of the divine honours paid to the work, used to peruse it with the greatest delight. One day while riding he was singing its verses, when he fell into an ecstasy of pleasure, and thought that, though a Moslem, he felt communion with Krishan.