For last few weeks, people are talking all type of things about Rani Padmini of Chittorgarh. Some are saying that Rajputs lost all the wars they fought against Muslim invaders; well, I’ll accept that if it soothes your flared tempers for some reason. Some Devdutt called it highest form of patriarchal decision since a woman went on to sacrifice her life while her husband & other male of her family went on to fight the aggressor to ultimate death, yes, ultimate death.
There are many examples of sacrifices where people chose death over surrender to aggressor. The prominent examples are of Sikh Guru Teg Bahadur against Aurangzeb, Chandrasekhar Azad against British empire & Rani Padmini of Chhitor against Khilji. What’s common between these three sacrifices are that they inspired generations to come that your way of life, your culture is important. They inspired generations to fight against tyrants, aggressor & brute forces.
Guru Teg Bahadur stood against Aurangzeb, the king of India. Had it not been Guru Teg Bahadur’s refusal to accept Islam & accept the death as honour, Sikhism could have only been found in books. That one sacrifice of Guru Teg Bahadur gave us leaders like Guru Gobind Singh & Maharaja Ranjeet Singh.
Chandrasekhar Azad killed himself rather getting caught by British Army. By choosing death over being a prisoner, he gave a message to other freedom fighters that death as a free person is far more superior than leading a life of slavery & torture, hence, inspired the youth to take active participation in freedom movement.
What these two examples of sacrifice tell us that Rani Padmini’s don’t?
Rani Padmini was epitome of bravery who chose death over life time of rape & slavery. She didn’t chose to die because the Rajput fighters were not capable enough to fight. She chose death when she knew that death for Rajput fighters is certain since they were hugely outnumbered. Rajputs, even after knowing that death is certain in this war, chose to die. That was the sacrifice Rajputs made for Rani Padmini. Those flames gave rise to the Fighters like Rana Sanga & Maharana Pratap.
When Rajput Karni Sena is fighting to remove the fictional dream sequence, they are honoring the sacrifice Rani Padmini made for each one of them.