________________
OF THE HINDUS.
117
read the Vedas, but the stone was inmoveable. Rai DÁs then addressed it with this Pada:
Pada. "Lord of Lords, thou art my refuge, the root of Supreme happiness art thou, to whom there is none equal: behold me at thy feet: in various wombs bave I abided, and from the fear of death have I not been delivered. I have been plunged in the deceits of sense, of passion, and illusion; but now let my trust in thy name dispel apprehension of the future, and teach me to place no reliance on what the world deems virtue. ACcept, oh God, the devotions of thy slave Rai Dás, and be thou glorified as the Purifier of the sinful.”
The saint had scarcely finished, when the Sálagrám and cushion flew into his arms, and the king, satisfied of his holy pretensions, commanded the Brahmans to desist from their opposition. Amongst the disciples of Rai Dás was Juálí, the Ráni of Chitore: her adopting a Chamár, as her spiritual preceptor, excited a general commotion amongst the Brahmans of her state, and, alarmed for her personal safety, she wrote to Rai Dás to request his counsel and aid. He repaired to her, and desired her to invite the Brahmans to a solemn feast: they accepted the invitation, and sat down to the meal provided for them, when between every two Brahmans there appeared a Rai Dás. This miraculous multiplication of himself had the desired effect, and from being his enemies and revilers they became his disciples.
Such are the legends of the Bhakta Mála, and whatever we may think of their veracity, their tenor, representing an individual of the most abject class, an absolute outcast in Hindu estimation, as
