Page:The Sikh Religion, its gurus, sacred writings and authors Vol 6.djvu/22

14 the funeral pyre. One day when the queen was boasting of the wonderful devotion of her sister-in-law, Padamavati smiled. When asked the reason she replied, 'To burn oneself alive with one's husband's corpse is far from being the acme of affection. True affection and love require a woman to sacrifice herself directly she even heareth of her husband's death.' 'In the present age,' replied the queen, 'thou alone art such a Sati,' a word defined by the author of the Bhagat Mal as a woman who considereth her husband a god and hath no concern with any other deity. Not feeling flattered by the well-nigh unapproachable standard of conjugal devotion which alone Padamavati considered as worthy of admiration, the queen determined to put her to the test at the first opportunity.

One day when Jaidev was absent from home, the queen arranged that one of the royal servants in pretended haste was to come to her when with Padamavati, and inform the latter that Jaidev had been attacked and killed in the forest by a tiger. On the servant coming to where they were seated and repeating this carefully tutored story, Padamavati swooned and fell lifeless to the ground. The queen who had brought about this disaster, turned pale and became distracted at the unexpected turn of events. She was severely rebuked by the king when he heard of the occurrence. Life became bitter to her, and she made preparations for death on a funeral pyre which she had constructed. When the circumstances were communicated to Jaidev, he appeared in time to hinder the immolation of the queen, and approaching the dead Padamavati sang his well-known ashtapadis. To the surprise and joy of all, she was restored to life, it is said, and joined her husband in his song.