The epic of Pabuji

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The epic of Pabuji is an oral epic in the Rajasthani language that tells of the deeds of the folk hero-deity Pabuji Rathor, who lived in the 14th century.

Buro was the elder and Pabuji the younger son of Dhadal Rathor. Pabuji wasn’t born of Dhadal’s wife, but from a celestial nymph who had promised him that she would return to him in the form of a mare when he was 12 years old. He had four companions in his adventures.

One of Pabuji’s early exploits was to fight the Khici clan, which had encroached on his country’s borders and was treating him and his brother arrogantly. He acquired the black mare Kesar Kalami from Lady Deval of the Caran clan. The mare, of course, was his own mother returned to him. Pabuji overthrew Mirza Khan, the cow-killing king; arranged for the marriage of his niece to the snake god Gogo; and stole a herd of she-camels from Lanka (Lanka here not referring to the island, but symbolically referring to a kingdom west of the Indus river) for his niece Kelam. On the way to deliver the camels, he passed through the land of Umarkot in Sindh (present-day Pakistan), where the princess Phulvanti fell in love with him. When Phulvanti’s father pressed Pabhuji to marry his daughter, Pabhuji at first resisted but finally agreed.

On his later return to Umarkot to be married, he stopped at Lady Deval’s court. She tried to detain him, saying she needed his protection. He said he intended to proceed but that he would return to help her whenever she called. So he and his party proceeded to the wedding, but encountered many bad omens, such as the finding of a tiger which his companion Dhebo killed. While at the wedding ceremony, Pabuji received word from Deval that Khici had stolen her cattle, so he immediately left to win back the herd. He accomplished that deed in a series of adventures that cost the life of his friend Dhebo.

Still, Deval detained Pabuji by various ruses. Meanwhile, Khici returned with his army for revenge against Pabuji. During the ensuing battle, Pabuji goaded Khici into a fury against him. At this point, a chariot came down from heaven and took Pabuji and his mare up to heaven. Subsequently, the Khici army destroyed Pabuji’s army.

The wife of Buro, Pabuji’s brother, had a dream that night in which she saw the destruction of the Rathor army, her husband among them. The next day, the widow, who was in advanced pregnancy, cut out the baby from her womb, named him Rupnath, and sent him to be cared for by her mother. Then she became a sati, by immolating herself on the funeral pyre.

Rupnath grew up without knowing of his origins. But when he was 12 years old he met the Lady Deval and she told him the truth of his origin. He became filled with a desire for revenge and plotted to kill Khici. Disguised as a holy man he found admittance to Khici’s palace. He came into the room where Khici was sleeping and beheaded him. He returned home to play ball with Khici’s head. Finally, his mission accomplished, he retired from the world to be a true holy man, living on a sandhill near Bikaner.