A statue of Gurjar Sri Savai Bhoj Bagaravat,
one of the Bagaravat brothers and the father
of Devnarayan bhagawan
The narrative begins with a prelude at a time
( Satya Yuga), when Brahma was performing a
Vedic sacrifice (jug) in Pushkar. Brahma
invited all the gods and Rsis to his sacrifice.
Among them is a group of twenty-four Rsis
living in the Nag Pahad, a mountain chain
running parallel to Pushkar. The Rsis were
disciples of Sankar ( Shankara). Sankar
forbade them from attending the sacrifice,
but they insisted on going because they had
received invitations from Brahma. Suddenly,
Sankar grew ravenously hungry. The Rsis
suggested to eat the fruits growing in the
forest which they consume for living. But
Sankar said that would not satisfy him. He
wanted more than plain fruit. But nothing else
was available in the forest. There was no
cereal or grain either. So, he turned to his
disciples and began consuming them one after
another. After he had eaten them and satiated
his hunger, he went to visit Brahma's sacrifice
himself.The sacrifice came to a halt because
of the sin Sankar had committed. He asks
Brahma how he should atone for his sin,
whereupon Brahma informed him that the only
means would be to offer the Rsis his own body
in a future existence, in which the Rsis are to
be born as the twenty-four sons of a single
father. This prelude is normally spoken and not
sung.
The narrative then shifts to a more historical
time ( Kali yuga). During the reign of King Vishal
Dev Chauhan, also Known as Bisaldev, of Ajmer,
the populace is being terrorized by a tiger
that feeds on one individual every night. On
one particular night, Hari Ram (according to
the oldest printed text he is a Gurjar as
Gurjar is Kshatriya caste they use simh (Veer
Gurjar) surname so did hariram) offers to
take the place of a boy whose turn it is to be
eaten by the tiger. He sets up a trap for the
tiger and beheads it. Then in order to wash
the blood off his sword and to cleanse himself
of the sin of slaughter, he goes to the holy
lake of Pushkar carrying the lion's head on his
shoulder. It is a full moon night (purnima).
Exactly at the same time on the opposite bank
of Pushkar Lake, a Brahman girl, Lila Sevri who
has taken a vow never to see the face of a man
is performing ablutions and bathing in the lake.
While bathing, she sees the reflection of a
man's body with the head of a tiger on the
surface of the lake, and conceives. She insists
that Hari Ram marry her now, but he vacillates
saying that such a marriage is not possible
because she is a Brahman and he is a Kshatriya.
Finally, however, King Vishal Dev Chauhan, also
Known as Bisaldev, allows him to marry the
Brahman girl. After nine months their son is
born. He has the head of a tiger and the body
of a man, and is named Bagh Simh. Later
because of his unusual and fearsome
appearance, no one is willing to marry his
daughter to him. He lives alone in a garden
attended by a Brahman cook. Once, on the day
of the festival of savan tij (swings), a number
of young girls of various GurjarGotras come to
the garden attracted by Bagh Simh's silken
swing. The Brahman allows them to use the
swing on the condition that each of them
circumambulate Bagh Simh. While they are
doing this, the Brahman performs the
necessary engagement rites. Unknowingly they
are engaged to Bagh Simh. Later Bagh Simh
marries twelve of them namely Kanta Kalas,
Ganiyanvanti Kalas, Lakmade Rathod, Jyanta
Saradana, Lali Saradana, Balma Saradana,
Barnavanti Chad, Bindka Chad, Dhanvantari
Chechi, Gauri Chechi, Rama Awana and Bindra
Awana. Kalas, Kathod, Saradana, Chad, Chechi
and Awana all are Gurjar Clans (or Gotras).[10]
Each of his wives gives birth to two sons who
are collectively called the Bagaravats.
According to written oldest literature by
anandaram phagna Bagh Simh (Father of
Bagaravats ) belonged to Chhatrapatti chauhan
dynasty of Gurjars. Savai Bhoj is the most
well known and courageous of the twenty-four
Bagaravats. Each day Savai Bhoj takes the
Bagaravats cattle herds to graze on the slopes
of Nag Pahad. One of the cows regularly leaves
the herd and returns on its own in the evening.
One day Savai Bhoj follows the cow and
discovers that it is being milked by the jogi
(ascetic) Rupnath. As compensation for milking
their cow, Rupnath gives Savai Bhoj a sack full
of grain. But the brothers have no use for the
small quantity of grain, so they feed it to
birds. The next morning, Nevaji, one of the
youngest brothers, discovers that the few
grains left sticking to the seam of the sack
have turned into gems. They realize their folly
and Savai Bhoj returns to Rupnath to become
his disciple. One day, being instructed by
Rupnath, Savai Bhoj heats a cauldron of oil and
circles it, while Rupnath follows. While they
are circling the cauldron, Rupnath tries to push
Savai Bhoj into the boiling oil, but Savai Bhoj
leaps over with the help of his cowherd's
staff. In the next round, Savai Bhoj follows
Rupnath and pushes him into the cauldron. Not
so agile, Rupnath falls into the boiling oil.
Instantly his body turns into a solid gold
nugget.While Savai Bhoj stands there
repenting his crime, the jogi reappears in the
hermitage as though nothing had taken place.
He explains that the golden nugget is a gift
that will grant the Bagaravats unending wealth
for a period of twelve years after which both
wealth (maya) and life (kaya) shall come to an
end. He also gives Savai Bhoj the gifts of a
mare-Bavli, a cow-Suremata, and an elephant-
Jaimangala, all of which have special powers.
Savai Bhoj returns to his home. The brothers
ask Tejaji, the eldest among them, what
should they do with their newly acquired
wealth. Tejaji advises them to bury the money
in the ground and hoard it. But, Nevaji
suggests that they do good deeds with the
money, like building wells and temples,
distributing the wealth and make a name for
themselves since both the wealth and their
lives will end after twelve years. The
brothers choose the latter alternative. Soon
their fame spreads far and wide. In due
course they meet their future enemy,
Durjansal, the king Rana (or Ravji) (ruler) of
Ran City. The Rana and the Bagaravats become
dharam-brothers. In an extended drinking
session in a garden named naulakha bagh near
Ran city, they overturn jars laden with wine
onto a hillside flooding the earth to such an
extent that the wine actually flows down into
the kingdom of Basak Nag (Vasuki), serpent
lord of the netherworld, who holds the earth
on his hood. Angered, king Basak deposits the
earth temporarily on a bull's horns and goes to
Bhagavan( Vishnu)'s court to complain about the
Bagaravats. But neither Basak, nor Hanuman,
nor Bhagavan can do anything to remedy the
situation because the Bagaravats are so
powerful. Finally Bhagavan assumes the form
of mendicant (jogi) and visits Sadu Mata, the
wife of Savai Bhoj, begging for alms. Sadu, who
has just completed performing ablutions and
bathing, appears in front of the mendicant
covered only by her long tresses. Struck by
her devotion, the mendicant (Bhagavan) grants
her a boon. Sadu desires that Bhagavan be
born as her son. Bhagavan promises to be born
as her son on the 13th day after the
Bagaravats have been killed.
After his return, Bhagavan requests Sakti
( Durga or Bhavani), who agrees to go to earth
to fulfill the task of destroying the
Bagaravats. She manifests herself as an infant
girl (later known as Jaimati) in a forest where
she is discovered by the King of Bhual, who
adopts her. Exactly at the time of her birth,
her maidservant Hira is born in the house of a
Mahajan. Jaimati grows up unusually fast. And,
soon Brahmans are sent out to find a suitable
bridegroom for her. She insists that they find
someone belonging to a family in which one
father has 24 sons. After a long and
frustrating search the Brahmans find the
Bagaravats. They arrange to have the queen
married to Savai Bhoj. But because they
already married, the Bagaravats suggest that
the queen be married to their dharam-
brother, the Rana. Thus, arrangements are
made for the Rana to marry Jaimati. When the
marriage procession sets out, Savai Bhoj
instead of the Rana, leads it. In the meanwhile
Jaimati orders the toran to be hung in a high
place that the Rana, who is 120 years old and
feeble cannot reach up to. Instead of the
Rana, Savai Bhoj strikes down the toran. When
the marriage procession arrives, the queen
pretends she has high fever. She asks her
maidservant to bring Savai Bhoj's sword that
is supposed to have healing powers. In the
inner chambers of the palace she then circles
the sword, thereby secretly marrying Savai
Bhoj. In public, however, she marries the Rana.
At the end of the ceremonies, when she is to
accompany the Rana to her new home, she
insists on staying with the Bagaravats. The
Bagaravats coax her into going with the Rana,
promising to fetch her after a period of six
months. Upon arriving in the Rana's palace,
however, the queen says she will not play dice
with the Rana till he has constructed a new
palace for her. The construction of the palace,
of course, takes a long time, and six months
are soon over. In the meanwhile, the
Bagaravats - even against the advice of their
wives - prepare to fetch the queen.The queen
elopes with the Bagaravats. The Rana is
patient, advising the Bagaravats in a brotherly
manner to send the queen back to him. But, the
Bagaravats stick to their decision. Finally, the
Rana gathers together the armies to fifty-two
forts on the banks of the Khari river. Jaimati,
who now has assumed her true form, Bhavani
promises to accompany the Bagaravats only on
the condition if they fight Rana's army one at
a time. She also demands that the brothers
offer their heads to her. The Bagaravats
willingly agree to her grotesque demands. A
Bharat (great war) is fought. In the battle
some of the brothers continue fighting even
after their heads have been severed by the
Goddess's discus. But in the end all of them
are slain and the Rana is victorious. The
Goddess assumes her Virat Rup (awesome,
terrifying form). Amidst the corpses of slain
warriors, she squats on the battle ground,
dripping with blood, stringing a necklace of the
Bagaravats' severed heads. After their
deaths, the Bagaravats' wives with the
exception of Savai Bhoj's wife, Sadu Mata,
commit sati (self-immolation)
