Part I
Gopi Chand's Birth Story

Introduction

Just as we learn nothing of Bharthari himself in his birth story, we learn very little of Gopi Chand in the first part of his tale. However, Gopi Chand's destiny is shaped more explicitly than is Bharthari's by the circumstances of his birth. A number of critical motifs are introduced in this briefest of the tale's four parts: Gopi Chand's personal beauty, the guru's love for him, and most of all the fact that he is "borrowed" by his mother. Gopi Chand literally "owes" his life to the guru Jalindar. He was a yogi before his birth and is destined to return to that state. Gorakh Nath plays a backstage part in Bharthari's procreation, for it is his magic power that allows the donkey progenitor to win Pan De. But Jalindar is the direct agent of Gopi Chand's conception—reducing his handsome disciple to ashes (not for the last time) and giving them to Manavati Mother to "lick up."

Whereas Bharthari's birth story begins with a father's curse and continues with a tale of bride-winning from a male viewpoint, Gopi Chand's has a completely maternal perspective throughout. King Bharthari's sister, Manavati (called Manavati Mother or Manavati Mata), is the central character in Gopi Chand's birth story. Like his eventual initiation as a yogi, Gopi Chand's birth as a king is engineered by Manavati. Although his birth involves a divinity's personal intervention and a yogi's loan, the story is far less fanciful to villagers than that of the talking donkey and his gold and silver palaces. Indeed, to village audiences the barren woman's desperate search for divine assistance is deeply familiar.

Manavati's tale of running from deity to deity, and of making appropriately pleasing offerings to each, resembles personal experiences I often heard narrated and several times witnessed, while I was living in Ghatiyali (Gold 1988, 149–54). Even the queen mother's temporary disgust with the fruitlessness of such activities and the subsequent revelation—inspiring redoubled faith—that there is one god who has not been tried but who just may do the trick, are patterns well known to modern villagers.

Once Manavati presents herself in the yogis' camp in the Chapala Garden, we are in more exotic territory; few if any villagers have walked among crowds of yogis. Gorakh Nath strides through Bharthari's story as a lone apparition of striking and singular power, but Jalindar Nath is always surrounded by disciples (visible and invisible). Despite the extraordinary nature of their numbers and way of life, Jalindar's cohorts are portrayed in a manner that coincides with villagers' notions about run-of-the-mill yogis. They are not a terribly attractive lot. Rather, except for Gopi Chand, the two chief disciples, Charpat and Hada, and Jalindar himself, the massed yogis are deficient characters: crippled, ugly, aged. In the opinion of many Rajasthani peasants yogis are a scruffy group among whom one in a thousand might be the real thing.

Charpat Nath's encounter with Hira Dasi is almost a replica of Gopi Chand's future confrontations with two sets of slave girls, as well as of Bharthari's with Pingala's maidservants. Yet a few note-worthy and revealing differences stand out within the stock exchanges, insults, and misunderstandings. Gopi Chand and Bharthari want bread, but Charpat wants milk. Sharing daily bread represents the intimacy and substantial identity that is the hallmark of family unity in rural India. Milk does not transfer pollution in the way bread does; rather it is food that can be given to higher castes or even to deities.

Gopi Chand and Bharthari vent their anger by striking an impudent slave girl on her back, but Charpat contents himself with a blow to a rock. The effect is the same: the slave girl stops arguing and takes a message to the queen. But Charpat dazzles, rather than beating her into doing his errand. Gopi Chand and Bharthari, despite their yogis' costumes, react personally and viscerally to jibes from their "purchased" women. Charpat's relative self-restraint reflects his genuine noninvolvement in the householder's world; he has come on a mission for the guru that means nothing to him. In short, Gopi

Chand and Bharthari in the guise of begging yogis are still connected in several ways to palace life; Charpat Nath is not. Another salient factor, of course, is that neither Bharthari nor Gopi Chand is enough of a yogi to turn rocks to gold.

Text

"Gopi Chand, abide in prayer,^[1]  son,
Praise the true Master,^[2]  O Gopi Chand,
king and king's son, darling boy,^[3] Recite prayers, my dear darling boy,
and your body^[4]  will be immortal.
My son, be a yogi, my dear darling boy,
and your body will be immortal."

"My mother, the earth is ashamed, my birth-giver,
the sky is ashamed, Manavati Mother,
king's daughter.
My birth-giver, aren't you ashamed? Mother and birth-giver,
queen from the Color Palace.^[5] My mother, you have only one son, mother and birth-giver,
on whom you are forcing yoga.
My mother, God won't reward you, birth-giver,
Our stars favor prosperity.^[6]

[1] samaran samaran bhajanon. Samaran (H. simran ) means constant recitation of God's name or names; the verb bhajano has eighteen glosses in the RSK , including "to recite God's name" and "to be absorbed, to take refuge, to accept, to embrace." Manavati Mata is giving her son practical advice.

[2] sancha i nath . The term nath as used here is a name of God but also evokes the Nath yogis, among whom Gopi Chand is numbered, and the Nath jati , of which the singer is a member (see chapter 2).

[3] lala; a very affectionate word for male babies, used as a term of endearment for any male younger than the speaker.

[4] kaya; although explicitly perishable, kaya is more than sarir , the physical body; it is the perishable body endowed with a soul. Elsewhere (Gold 1988) I translated kaya , awkwardly, as "body-soul."

[5] rang mahal; to translate this as "ladies' palace" because it describes where the royal women dwell would take away the implications of rang or "color"—implications of enticement and pleasure.

[6] ugamai bhala satara . According to Bhoju, the message here is that only poor folk become yogis!

"My mother, who, when born a king,
turns yogi and departs?
Manavati Mother, king's daughter,
Tell me the hidden tale of such a one,
   my mother and birth-giver,
and I will do your bidding."

"My son, Rama was a yogi, son,
Lakshman was a yogi,
My darling boy, on Kailash Mountain, Bhola Nath,^[7]    my darling boy,
who created the earth.
My darling boy, I'll tell you someone closer,
   my dear darling boy,
your uncle Bharthari,
My son, in an instant he abandoned Ujjain's kingdom,
   darling boy.
He turned yogi and went."

"My mother, I have eleven hundred queens,
sixteen hundred slave girls,
My birth-giver, they will eat opium-poison and die, 
   birth-giver,
Why did you get me married?"

"My son, whose are the queens? Gopi Chand,
whose are the slave girls?
My darling boy, Time will eat them,^[8]  my dear darling boy.
But your body will be immortal.

"My darling boy, the kingdom you rule, Gopi Chand,
will dissolve.^[9] My darling boy, become a yogi, my dear darling boy,
and your body will be immortal."

[7] The first three examples that Manavati Mother glibly gives are not quite to the point; Rama and Lakshman spent twelve years exiled in the forest but did not renounce the world to become yogis. Bhola Nath is a name of the god Shiva, who was never a worldly king; he is, however, famous for straddling ascetic and worldly modes of being (O'Flaherty 1973).

[8] khal kha jave; Time (H. kal ) is death.

[9] parala ma jasi . Bhoju told me that parala meant a torrential rain, but in the RSK it is the Rajasthani for Sanskrit and Hindi pralay —the total cosmic dissolution that occurs cyclically in Hindu time.

"My mother, give me another twelve years.
Let me rule,
let me ride horseback,
My birth-giver, I won't break this promise to you, 
   birth-giver,
Later, I'll be a yogi."

"My son, twelve years? Gopi Chand,
Who gets them? My dear Gopi Chand,
My son, don't count on a moment, darling boy,
Time will eat you.
My son, be a yogi, my dear darling boy,
and your body will be immortal."

His mother had said all this,
now what did Gopi Chand declare?
"My birth-giver, without yogis, my mother and birth-giver,
you wouldn't have obtained a son,
My mother, yogis do tapas  in the woods, 
   my mother and birth-giver,
but you live in purdah.^[10] My mother, without yogis, my mother and birth-giver,
You wouldn't have obtained a son."

Sovereign Shiva! Indescribable! Indestructible!
                    (GC 1.1.s)

Gopi Chand was a king. His mother was childless. She had no son, so this is what she did: every day she feasted one hundred sadhus^[11] and one hundred Brahmans. She served them feasts fit for Brahmans. She also made gifts of one hundred cows. She did this for the sake of merit.^[12]

[10] Purdah, literally a curtain, "covers" a whole set of practices that are sometimes described as "the seclusion of women" although this seclusion is more symbolic than actual in rural life. A woman who "keeps purdah" would not normally leave her husband's house.

[11] Sadhu is a general term for any religious mendicant or monk or saint.

[12] pun; Sanskrit and Hindi punya . The concept of merit for rural North Indian Hindus is associated with intangible rewards gained through good works. Punya is understood as a kind of karma or action with effect, however refined. The accumulation of punya may help a soul toward a better birth without granting the ultimate aim of liberation from birth and death.

She gave one hundred cows every day. And she gave honorariums^[13] of gold to the sadhus and Brahmans, two golden coins to each.

After feasting them, she gave them honorariums of two golden coins.

[Aside to Ann and Daniel: Yes, she gave generously to them after feasting them, but you won't be able to give so generously to me, after having me sing. There is general laughter .]

Then she said to Gopi Chand, "Son, give up the kingdom and become a yogi. I brought you as a twelve-year loan. I brought you as a loan, after I served the guru and Lord Shankar. So be a yogi, son, and your body will be immortal."

"But Manavati Mother, I have fifty-two portals,^[14] I have fifty-three doorways, I have the rule over twelve districts, and a court of justice in my house. And I'm married to eleven hundred queens. Now I am the master of the kingdom."

And after him there was no younger brother, none at all.

"And now if I become a yogi, then to whom will I entrust the care of my kingdom? If I become a yogi, Manavati Mother, I won't be at all satisfied. I've ruled for twelve years and you say, 'Be a yogi.' Give me twelve more years to rule. And allow me to ride, to ride horseback. And later I won't break my promise to you, mother. Later I will be a yogi. Let me rule for twelve more years."

"Who gets eleven or twelve years, son?" his mother said. "Who gets twelve years, son, you can't count on a moment. And then there's the promise to the Guru Sovereign—that promise must be fulfilled or Time will eat you. If Time eats you, and you're dead, then who will enjoy these queens and slave girls? But if you become a yogi, son, your body will be immortal."

Then Gopi Chand said, "But mother, you live in purdah inside the palace, and yogis live in the jungle. They do tapas by their campfires in the jungle. But you live in the palace. So, how did you come to know any yogis?

[13] daksina; in Sanskrit ritual, an additional gift, a final pay-off to a priest or preceptor.

[14] dod yan; f.pl. of dodi , an architectural feature of Indian castles described as, among other things, a little room that one passes through to enter a big house; since this is one definition of portal, I settled on portal. Elsewhere (misled by village informants unfamiliar with palaces) I translated dodi as balcony.

"Within your domain, mother, are goddesses and gods: Mataji, Bhairuji, Salagramji.^[15] And there are a lot of ghosts and spirits, too. If you had worshiped them and taken a son, then you wouldn't be making me a yogi." That's what Gopi Chand said.

Manavati Mata said, "Look son, for twelve years I followed their rules,^[16] for twelve years." What rules? The ones about how to worship deities.

"Besides that, for twelve years I performed dharma^[17] and meditation, and besides that I feasted one hundred sadhus and one hundred Brahmans, and besides that I gave gifts to one hundred cows, and I built a temple for Salagramji. And for Mataji and Bhairuji and all the deities I built shrine-platforms.^[18] I staked flagpoles with waving banners above the temples at those deities' places,^[19] and every day I supplied soaked chickpea-offerings^[20] to all the deities. Whoever ate saltless bread and coconuts, to them I gave saltless bread and coconuts; whoever ate goats, to them I gave goats. If they ate buffalo, I offered up buffalo. Every day I offered up red paste^[21] and I worshiped them all for twelve years. I performed dharma and meditation. But it wasn't in my fate. There was no son written for me."^[22]

So twelve years went by, twelve years of dharma and meditation. And then she gave up dharma and meditation. She gave it up and

[15] Mataji may refer to any village goddess; Bhairuji is a particularly important minor deity in this part of Rajasthan and is often associated with cures for barren women; Salagramji is a small black stone, worshiped as a form of Vishnu.

[16] niyam rakhna; not perfectly translated by "follow the rules," for it implies internal discipline as well as external precision in maintaining the good habits and ritual observances demanded by any given deity.

[17] Moral conduct; here a coverall for appropriate religious acts.

[18] She distinguishes thus between Salagramji who, as a form of Vishnu, would reside in a temple and the regional deities who are usually enshrined on roofless platforms.

[19] A flagpole with a long pennant is one highly visible, moderately costly, and therefore pleasing offering often made to local gods in Rajasthan.

[20] bal bakal; bal is a sacrificial offering; bakala is defined in the RSK as boiled grains offered to gods or ghosts but in Ghatiyali refers to soaked chickpeas—of which Bhairuji is especially fond.

[21] kami; a paste made of red power and clarified butter that is smeared on icons to beautify and please them.

[22] See Gold 1988, 149–54, for barren women's transactions with deities in Rajasthan of which this is a realistic, if somewhat exaggerated, description.

made a resolution:^[23] "I won't give even a smidgeon of butter-offering^[24] to any god at all." She made a resolution: "Now I won't even give the raw ingredients for one meal to any Brahman. And I won't even give a scrap of bread to any indigent person." She made a resolution against doing dharma and merit.
(GC 1.1.e)

"Now, I won't even toss a scrap to a stray mutt. And if any Brahman should come, if any sadhu should come, I won't even hand out a pinch of flour." Thus she swore an oath.

For three days after making this resolution she did nothing for dharma or merit. The third night came, the third night ... and there was Lord Shankar, in the form of a boy, and he had locks like this on his head.

[As he said , like this, Madhu Nath gestured to Ann, who had curly, unruly hair: Like yours]

Like this, falling all over his head. And ashes, ashes were smeared on Baba, all over Lord Shankar.

[Addressing Ann: Do you know Lord Shankar?

Ann: Yes, I know Lord Shankar.]

Yes, it was Lord Shankar, Mahadev himself.

It was twelve midnight when he came, and the night watchman was making his rounds.

On his feet he was wearing wooden sandals, and in his hand he carried iron tongs. And on his shoulder he had a sack. And he cried "Alakh! " in the portal of the palace, at midnight, and sounded his horn.^[25] Lord Shankar sounded his horn and said, "Manavati Mata, give alms, my mother. A yogi is standing in the portal. Give alms!"

Then Manavati Mata said, "Yogi, just go away the same way you came. I have given up dharma and merit. I have made a resolution. I will not even toss a scrap to a stray mutt. I won't give any alms to any sadhu or saint. So go away. For twelve years I gave away much

[23] samkalp; a Sanskritic term for a vow or resolution normally made before some difficult religious undertaking such as a pilgrimage; its use here in the negative sense is clearly ironic.

[24] dhup; specifically clarified butter (ghi ) poured over smouldering cow-dung cakes; it is the most essential ingredient for the worship of local deities in rural Rajasthan.

[25] The description of Shiva's appearance and actions is typical of all descriptions of yogis in Madhu's tales.

wealth, and I had great faith in the deities, and I worshiped them a lot. But now I will give no burnt offerings to any deity, nor will I do anything for the sake of dharma or merit.

Then Lord Shankar said: "Hey Manavati Mata,

Don't give up truth, O brave one,
or you'll lose your honor too.
Bound to truth is Mother Lakshmi,
and she'll return to you.^[26]

Without a pillar the sky is buttressed. Truthful work is the channel for merit."^[27]

And she said, "Babaji, for twelve whole years, I feasted you sadhus but for three days I haven't given any feasts—that's why you have come to restore dharma. Isn't there a program for a feast somewhere else? It's three days since I've stopped giving daily feasts, as I did for twelve years, and you've come to restore truth. Just leave the same way you came. Yogi, I've given up truth and dharma. I worshiped the deities a lot and I also did a lot of dharma and meditation, but I met no son-giver on the face of the earth."

Then Lord Shankar spoke, "Manavati Mata, you must have worshiped pebbles and rocks—stones. If you had worshiped me, me, if you had worshiped me, then your job would have been perfectly done. What can come of worshiping rocks and pebbles?"

As soon as he said this, Manavati Mata opened the door of the palace and ran and clasped Shankar's feet. She fell at his feet saying "Hey, Grain-giver, who are you? Where have you been? I worshiped the thirty-three karor of deities, but who are you? Tell me, where is your place?"

"Manavati Mata, in the Chapala Garden,^[28] beneath a jasmine tree is an icon of Shankar. When did you ever worship that good Shankar?"

[26] This rhymed couplet or doha is a local saying.

[27] The cumulative meaning of these enigmatic statements seems to be that Manavati Mata should have faith (as the sky stays up without a pillar), and if she continues her truthful work she will receive what she desires; Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity and well-being, will not abandon her.

[28] The Chapala Garden is a place that recurs throughout both tales—usually as a campsite for yogis, but it is also where Pingala's cremation and return to life took place in Bharthari 2.

"Alas, Grain-giver, I never worshiped you. I never even remembered Shankar. I was lost, circling around the other deities. And I never even remembered Mahadev, nor did I worship him."

"So if you never worshiped me, why are you faulting me? When did you ever worship me? And you are faulting me, and I never even ate your burnt offerings."

Manavati Mata took five Brahmans with her, and she took a tin of clarified butter. In with the butter she mixed saffron and musk, raisins and dates, almonds, raisins, and dates. And she took fine milk sweets. And she began to perform fire oblations over there. Where? In the Chapala Garden, Shankar's place.

And Manavati Mata stood on one foot. For three nights and three days, she remained standing, "Shiv, Shiv, Shiv, Shiv" she kept on praying all night and day. "O Shankar, O Shankar, O Shankar." And she had an altar set up by Brahmans. And they made butter oblations and milk-sweet oblations into the fire.

After only three days Lord Shankar was pleased, and as soon as he was pleased he came to Manavati Mata and said: "Ask and what you ask will be. If your kingdom is too small then I will double or quadruple it; if your riches and property are too little, then I will fill your treasury with diamonds and rubies; just ask, and whatever you ask will be."

She said, "O Baba, my kingdom is great, and I haven't the least shortage of riches or property, so give me a protector of the kingdom,^[29] a boy, give a child, because I have no protector of the kingdom."

Lord Shankar said, "Manavati Mata, it's not in your fate. It's not written by Fortune. So where can I get you a son? You came from God's house a totally barren woman."^[30]

She said, "Grain-giver, why not, why isn't it written for me?"

"It's not in your fate."

"So, Grain-giver, your promise is broken, your promise is broken, the one you made me, you gave me a promise. Over there, in the palace, you said that my job would be perfectly done. So, do my job perfectly, Baba, or else your promise is broken."

"Manavati Mata, I won't break my promise. There's another yogi

[29] That is, an heir.

[30] banjhari; a term used for a barren woman, often as an insult or a curse.

doing tapas , one Jalindar Nathji. Where? Right over there, in this garden. That yogi has fourteen hundred disciples doing tapas secretly, and fourteen hundred disciples doing tapas visibly, on the earth. Jalindar Baba. /Jalindar Nath/ Yes, the one with saffron burning^[31] in his campfire. Go to him, fall at his feet, and that yogi will be pleased. Then I will have one of his disciples given to you."

Manavati Mata turned and left Mahadev and now—Jalindar Baba's feet.

/She falls at his feet./
(GC 1.2.e)

Manavati Mata went to Jalindar Baba, whose eyelids were lowered as he was repeating prayers. She prostrated herself, respectfully greeting the Guru Sovereign. But he didn't speak. He had lowered his eyelids. Who? Jalindar Baba.

Fourteen hundred disciples of his were doing tapas secretly, within the earth, and fourteen hundred disciples were doing tapas visibly. Among the visible disciples Charpat Nath^[32] was the chief, and he stood by the campfire. Jalindar Baba had closed his eyelids.

Saffron was burning in his campfire, crackling, and Baba had shut his eyelids. As soon as Manavati Mata came she prostrated herself respectfully. "Hey Guru Sovereign," she implored him. She prostrated herself three or four times, and then she stood there for about an entire hour, but the Guru Sovereign didn't awaken. He didn't awaken, so Manavati Mata got mad. She said, "Well! A very surprising thing has happened! I am a queen, and I have prostrated myself in greeting to him, but he has taken no notice. Well, yogi, I am no less than you. You keep your eyelids closed for six months, but I will shut mine for twelve years."

Then Manavati Mata took the shawl with which she was wrapped and folded it up into a pillow and went to sleep beside the campfire.

Now Manavati Mata shut her eyes and did not awaken for twelve years. And rain poured down, in the rainy season, from Sravan to Bhadva .^[33] So Manavati Mata disintegrated. Termites ate her; scor-

[31] Saffron is in India, as in the West, highly precious, so to burn it is a sign of profligacy in which only a very powerful yogi would indulge.

[32] Charpat Nath is a figure mentioned in other Nath lore; verses attributed to him appear in collections of Rajasthani devotional literature.

[33] June-July and July-August, when rainfall is heaviest in Rajasthan.

pions hatched in her mouth. And mango, lemon, and orange trees sprang up in the middle of her stomach, in her intestines.

She died, she actually died, and a termite hill of clay rose there.^[34] She died. She went to sleep in that yogi's shelter,^[35] and twelve years passed. Twelve years passed and a great big tree grew in her stomach.

Twelve years were over, and Jalindar Baba's eyelids opened. As soon as they were open, he said to Charpat Nath, "Oh no, Charpat my son, you've neglected sweeping around my campfire. Look, over here's a termite hill, and over there a tree has sprung up."

"Hey, Guru Sovereign, I sweep around the campfire every day, but King Taloki Chand's^[36] queen, Manavati Mata, came into your shelter and went to sleep. She threw herself into your shelter, and you didn't wake up. Twelve years have gone by, father of a daughter! In twelve years she became a termite hill, right here. She died, so lemon and orange trees grew in her intestines. Now what will I do with her? If I sweep out the refuse, then where will I dump this queen?"

"Oh, so she's a queen is she?"

"Yes, she is King Taloki Chand's queen, Manavati Mata."

"OK, son, then uproot these trees and plant them in the garden and quickly search through that termite hill and take out her bones—find the ribs and wristbones of that one eaten by termites."

So he put Manavati Mata's fleshless bones back together, joint by joint, and over them he circled his tin with life-giving elixir.^[37] As soon as he circled that tin, she was standing there, and she prostrated herself and then stood with her hands pressed together. "Hey Baba, Jalindar Baba, I did not awaken before you did. You woke up first. So now, Baba, twelve years have gone by. I've been doing tapas , and now I am standing at your service. Twelve years have gone by, and now you have opened your eyelids."

Having heard that much,Jalindar Baba said, "Manavati Mother, ask and whatever you ask will be. If you want wealth, then you will

[34] The image of a person in meditation so deep that termites build hills on top is a conventional one in Rajasthani folklore.

[35] To be in the shelter (saran ) of a deity or powerful person has particular implications of surrender and asymmetrical reciprocity (Wadley 1975).

[36] One of the few references in the text to Gopi Chand's father.

[37] sarajivan kunpo; a kunpo (kupi, RSK) is a type of metal can in common use in the village. It is small and round with a long narrow spout in the center.

have no shortage; if you want a greater kingdom, then I will double or quadruple it; and if you want liberation then I will send you to the city of heaven."^[38]

"I have no lack of wealth, and my kingdom is great. Just give me a protector of the kingdom, give me a boy. I need a child to rule the kingdom."

"Hey Manavati Mata, it's not written in your fate. You came from God's house a barren woman, and a son is not written for you."

"Baba, your promise is broken. I spent twelve years doing tapas , and Lord Shankar promised: 'Serve that yogi and he will be pleased, and you will get a son.' So, Baba, you're breaking Shankar's promise."

Then Jalindar Baba said, "Hey, Manavati Mata, it's not written for you, it's not written in the womb. But I can give you one of my disciples, who, after ruling for twelve years must be given back to be a yogi. I will give him for only twelve years. Twelve years as a little boy, a mere boy, laughing and playing, those I will not count. When he becomes the kingdom's king, master of the throne—he has another twelve years—let him rule. Then make him a yogi and his body will be immortal. If not, Time devours him. You may take him from among my disciples."

Then Manavati Mata said, "Hey Grain-giver, better than sonlessness is twelve years. If that's all, well, OK. If all you can give is twelve years, Grain-giver, then give it. It's not written for me, so give me twelve years only, right now, and at least the stigma of barrenness will be removed, and I will have some pleasure. Afterwards I will make him a yogi."

"Manavati Mata, come tomorrow. Now go back to your palace. In the morning a yogi will come, and you should have him served alms of milk. That's all, pour in alms of milk and your job will be done."

So Manavati Mother went back to the palace, and in the morning he sent a yogi, he sent a disciple.
(GC 1.3.e)

[38] Liberation (moksa ) refers to release from endless rounds of birth and death—the ultimate aim of life for Hindus. This sentence of Jalindar's shows the merging in popular understanding of "liberation" with "heaven" (see Gold 1988, 233–41).

The next day dawned, and the Guru Sovereign ordered Charpat Nath: "Son, go and get alms of milk from the palace of Manavati Mata. Bring back alms of milk."

So Charpat Nath took his sack-and-stuff, his iron tongs-and-stuff, and he put on his sandals-and-stuff. Then he took his gourd-and-stuff in his hand. A seated yogi's a stake in the ground, but a yogi once up is a fistful of wind. The Nath took the wind's own form and turned his face toward the land of Bengal.

As soon as he entered the city he went to the palace. He passed through one portal, he passed through a second portal, and in the third portal he called, "Alakh! " He called "Alakh! " and he sounded his horn instrument. Who? Charpat Nath. As soon as he called "Alakh! " his voice came to Manavati Mother's ears. And as soon as she heard it, she said to her slave girl, "Slave girl, today a yogi is calling "Alakh! " at the gate. Fill a platter with diamonds and rubies and take it to him, give him alms. Ask for a blessing, and give him fine alms."

Then the slave girl filled a golden platter with diamonds and rubies and placed it on the palm of her hand. She passed through one portal, she passed through the second portal. In the third portal was a yogi to whom she called: "Hey, yogi, from which city do you come and go, for you strike me as an established Nath.^[39] Raise your eyelids, Baba Nath, I have come to take your darsan ."

Once she had said this, Charpat Nath raised his eyelids. Then she said, "Take these alms, Baba, I have come to take your darsan , and I have brought a platter filled with diamonds and rubies."

"Oh slave girl, why have you brought these pebbles and rocks, why have you brought a platter filled with stones? I will take alms of milk."

Then the slave girl said, "Is this a holy man or a prankster—a yogi or what? You're not a yogi at all, you seem to me to be sick. A yogi, father of a daughter! Yesterday or day before yesterday, troubled by hunger, you were a householder's boy, dying of hunger, and that's why you became a yogi, so it seems. So now you desire a scrap of bread for your alms. You're no yogi! I brought a platter filled with diamonds and rubies. If you took them, yogi, you could bathe

[39] thakana halo; literally, someone from a large estate in other words not a piece of human flotsam.

in Malva,^[40] go to Gujarat, go to all Four Established Places.^[41] For the rest of your lifetime, all you'd have to do would be sleep and eat, and still you wouldn't use it up—a platter of diamonds and rubies. But you have called them pebbles and stones. Yogi, if there were leaves in the middle of your destiny, then they would fly away, but it seems that a big rock is tangled there. That's why you have called diamonds and rubies 'pebbles.'"^[42]

As soon as she had spoken, Charpat replied, "OK, slave girl, there's a big stone caught in my fate. Do these rocks serve the purpose of food, huh? Nowadays do we wander about for money? Do we wander about for currency notes? Are they something to eat? What use are these pebbles and stones, these diamonds and rubies? They are hardly good for eating. Slave girl, bring me some alms of milk."

"Look at the yogi! It's a platter of diamonds and rubies and he's crying for milk."

Then Charpat Nath got angry. There was a big flat stone lying there, weighing five or ten maunds,^[43] and he struck it with his tongs, saying, "If you want wealth, take this from me," and he turned the entire stone to gold.

As soon as he turned it to gold, the slave girl shut her eyes. "Uh oh! This yogi is some weird miracle-worker!" And the slave girl ran away. She ran away and said to the queen, "Hey Grain-giver, honored queen, today it's your son-giver. He struck a flat rock with his tongs and turned it to gold, so go at once."

Manavati Mata rushed to the balcony to see the baba: "Hey Baba, what can I do for you?"

"Hey Manavati Mata, I have a desire for milk, bring me milk."

She said to the slave girl, "Bring our kingdom's twelve huge milk pots, and fill his gourd."

[40] Malva is a region of Madhya Pradesh—idyllic pastoral country in Rajasthani lore.

[41] char dham; four major pilgrimage centers (Badarinath, Puri, Rameshvaram, and Dvarka) located in each of the cardinal directions on the subcontinent; to journey to all four sites is beyond the financial means and adventurous spirit of most rural Rajasthanis.

[42] This speech is almost identical with other speeches made by slave girls to Gopi Chand in parts 2 and 3. Charpat's response, however, is very different from Gopi Chand's.

[43] One maund, a unit of weight that seems to have passed from India into British usage at some point, is currently considered equal to forty kilograms.

Then the slave girl emptied one milk pot into his gourd but the milk didn't even cover the bottom. She emptied the second, and the bottom was not covered. She emptied seven or eight pots. Then Queen Manavati Mata came: "Girl, let's see if there isn't a hole in this gourd."

"Manavati Mother, when this gourd overflows with milk, then your promise will be fulfilled. If not, then it won't be."

She said to the slave girl, "Pour in all the milk from our twelve milk pots, and run to the village, and demand the villagers' milk. Have it collected, for ... 'When the king gives a summons old women come running'^[44] ... so we'll be able to fill the gourd."

"No, Manavati Mother, I won't take the milk of others."

/I will take only yours./

"That's enough, I will take only yours." So she emptied in seven pots, she emptied eight, she emptied ten, she emptied eleven. As soon as she emptied the twelfth pot the gourd overflowed.

That was enough. Baba was pleased and said, "Enough, you have filled up my gourd."

She said, "Baba, your desire is fulfilled, so now what?"

"Manavati Mata, the Guru Sovereign orders you to come in the morning to his campfire in the garden."

So Charpat Nath left, and his gourd was full. He went back to the garden and emptied his gourd into a huge cauldron, and all the yogis filled their gourds from it. He gave all the yogis milk to drink. The disciples drank alms of milk, and the Guru Sovereign drank too, and all of them were pleased. And as soon as day broke, Manavati Mata came back. She came to get a son.
                    (GC 1.4.e)

Manavati Mata
at the break of day
went into the garden.^[45] Mother went to the campfire,
the guru's campfire.
Mother went to the campfire
and fell at the yogi's feet.

[44] Here this proverb may simply imply that as queen, Manavati can commandeer the villagers' milk if she desires.

[45] This is the final sung segment of GC 1.

As soon as she fell at his feet,
what did Baba Jalindar say?
"Mother, no son is written for you, birth-giver,
I shall give you one disciple.

"For twelve years
have him rule the kingdom,
Have the kingdom ruled, Mother.
Later make him a yogi, my mother and birth-giver,
as a yogi he'll be immortal.

"If you don't bring him to yoga,
then Time will eat him,
Time will eat him.
But if you make him a yogi, my mother and birth-giver,
as a yogi he'll be immortal.

"Fourteen hundred disciples of mine
are doing tapas  visibly,
Mother, doing tapas  visibly.
Go, and pick one of these fourteen hundred disciples, 
   the one that pleases you,
and that's the disciple you will receive."

Now Manavati Mata looked at
the fourteen hundred disciples,
their campfires were burning,
as the yogis recited prayers.
Seated amidst them all
was Gopi Chand.
Gopi Chand's campfire was in the center;
there he stayed amidst the yogis.

On his foot a lotus
sparkled,
on his left arm a jewel
gleamed, it gleamed
on Gopi Chand,
And on his forehead a moon so bright, it seemed as if 
   the sun were rising in the garden;
Mother was pleased.

"Baba, a boy has pleased me today, yogi,
now you please me.

"Baba, on his foot a lotus
sparkles, and on his left arm
a jewel gleams.
Baba, on his forehead a moon, yogi,
so that's the boy for me."

When Manavati Mother had said this much,
what did Jalindar Baba say 
   to Mother?
"Mother, don't tear out my liver, my mother 
   and birth-giver,
many disciples fill the garden."

"Baba, lend me that disciple,
give that very one to me.
If not you break your promise, Baba Nath yogi,
you break your promise to me.

"How can you break your promise, yogi,
how can you break it?"
So Baba called to Gopi Chand,
"Come here,
Son, go now, Gopi Chand, my darling boy,
Now you must rule the kingdom."

Baba called Gopi Chand,
called Gopi Chand,
and seated him by the campfire.
The yogi took his ashes-armband,^[46]  
   circled it over him,
and turned Gopi Chand to ashes.

He turned him to ashes
and gave them to Mother.

[46] A well-known demon in Hindu mythology possessed such an armband and was finally tricked into destroying himself with it; usually Madhu Nath refers not to an armband but to a "tin" that reduces to ashes, just as Jalindar's other tin brings the dead to life.

"Mother, now eat them, my mother, then go,
and you will have a son.

"Mother, you asked for only one,
you asked for one,
but I give you two.
Mother, one is Gopi Chand, but this sister of his,
Champa De, I also give.

"For twelve years take this bliss
in your hands, take it,
and have the kingdom ruled, too.
Later, make him a yogi, my mother and birth-giver,
as a yogi he'll be immortal."

Shivji Sovereign!
                    (GC 1.5.s)

At daybreak Manavati Mata went to the Chapala Garden. There, fourteen hundred of Jalindar Baba's disciples were doing tapas secretly and fourteen hundred were doing tapas visibly. At once, she fell at his feet: "Hey, Guru Sovereign, for twelve years I did tapas ." Manavati Mata fell at his feet, "Hey Baba, give me a son, Graingiver. Now my twelve years of service are complete. So now, Baba, fulfill your promise."

"Manavati Mata, these fourteen hundred disciples are doing tapas . Whichever one of them pleases you, that's the boy I will give to you."

So Manavati Mata went into the garden where the fourteen hundred disciples were doing tapas . She went among them, but some had twisted limbs and some were bearded, and some were longhaired, and some were crooked-mouthed—such sons! Some were old and some had white hairs. But Gopi Chand was a boy like Shambhurya [Nathu Nath's nephew, a handsome well-groomed youth present at the time], and on his foot a lotus was sparkling and on his left arm a jewel was gleaming and on his forehead was a moon, as bright as if the sun were rising—just as if in the middle of the garden the sun were rising. He was in the center of everything, in the midst of the campfires, and on both sides of him the other sadhus sat—but the light stayed only with him—with Gopi Chand.

Manavati Mata was pleased with him: "Oh my oh my! This is the very boy I will take for myself. What will I do with such bearded

fellows? What will I do with such twisted limbs, or ones like this who don't even understand speech? [Madhu Nath gestures toward Ann and there is general laughter .] What will I do with them?"

Manavati Mata said, "After my twelve years of tapas , I will take a boy like this one." She was pleased with Gopi Chand alone, among all the fourteen hundred disciples. She went to the Guru Sovereign's campfire, and stood there: "Hey, Guru Sovereign, a disciple has pleased me, and Grain-giver, the one who pleases me, that is the very one I ought to receive."

"Yes, Manavati Mata, which disciple? Which disciple pleases you?"

"Hey, Guru Sovereign, on his foot a lotus is sparkling and on his left arm a jewel is gleaming and on his forehead is a moon giving light—that's the boy that I will take."

Jalindar Baba said, "Manavati Mata, you are sonless. I am giving you a loan, and yet you have put your hand into my liver. The light of my entire assembly—that light is his only. He is the moon,^[47] Gopi Chand, and if I give him to you then I will live in darkness."

"Well Baba, then you break your promise. I did twelve years of tapas , I gave up my life-breath completely. Then your eyelids opened. What's your pain in the liver compared to mine? Trees grew in me, termites ate me! And now you are giving a disciple, and you say I have put my hand in your liver? If you don't give this boy then your promise is broken!"

/It's true!/

"How can you break your promise?"

"All right, Manavati Mother, go ahead and take the one who pleases you." The guru had given a promise.

"Son, Gopi Chand, come here." As soon as the guru gave the command, Gopi Chand came over there, asking, "Guru Sovereign?"

"Go, son, for twelve years rule the kingdom; marry queens and slave girls and rule the kingdom."

"Hey Guru Sovereign, why are you making me leave my devotional prayers? I won't go! What do they have over there in the

[47] The second half of Gopi Chand's name, Chand, means "moon" but is also a very common Kshatriya surname. Other legendary heroes in India, such as Chandra Lekha, also have moons on their foreheads.

kingdom? In the householder life stage^[48] one only falls into the noose of maya 's net."^[49]

"No son, go; recite your prayers and go, son. Rule the kingdom for twelve years, and enjoy yourself among the queens and slave girls. Rule, son, I am sending you."

"Guru Sovereign, I didn't expect this."

"No son, sit down." And he sat Gopi Chand down and circled his turn-to-ash tin over him, and burned him up into one pinch of sacred ash.^[50] Who? Gopi Chand. Then he took the sacred ash and gave it to Manavati Mata. "Lick it up," he said, and she licked it up with her mouth.

"Go, Manavati Mata, this Gopi Chand will be yours, and he will have a sister, too, Champa De. Go, I promised you one but I have given you two, sister and brother. Champa De is yours for her entire life, but Gopi Chand is given as a loan. Have him rule the kingdom for twelve years, and then make him a yogi. If you don't make him a yogi, Time will devour him."

Now he is born. These were the circumstances of Gopi Chand's birth.
                    (GC 1.5.e)

[48] A reference to the theory of four stages of life (char asrama ) in Hindu social codes.

[49] maya jal; maya or illusion encompasses all the pleasures and concerns of a householder's existence. Its snares are a recurrent theme in the tale.

[50] Although the word bhasm is used for ashes in the preceding phrase, those that Jalindar feeds to Manavati are called bhabhut —often translated as "sacred ash"—a term applied only to ashes of burnt offerings made to deities. This sacred ash has a variety of ritual uses and curative properties; yogis smear their bodies with it.