| On
asking who the women were, they told that the women belonged to Jamlog, a village at which
a "Jagra' (nightlong vigil) in honor of Bijat was being celebrated and that they had
come to fetch water. Bija asked them if he and his companions could see the 'Jagra'
(vigil) and was told that they could come and see it, but must feel no fear of what they
saw even when offered seats of serpents and scorpions by the people of Jamlog. The women also informed the party that they would be offered grains
of iron to eat, and the women gave them rice, which they could eat, instead, concealing
the iron. Lastly, -the women told them that if they were desired to take the image to
their house for the celebration of a "Jagra" (vigil), they should seize it and
flee with it, but must on no account look back.
Accordingly Bija and his men went to Jamlog where they
found three images being worshipped with great pomp, and were told that the finest image
to which the greatest reverence was being paid was that of Bijat, the second that of
Bihai, and the third that of Ghatriali. Bija, on the pretence that he desired to worship
the images, was allowed to draw near with his companions, and they then seized the images
and fled. The men of Jamlog pursued them without success, but Bija's eighteen companions
looked back and perished. |
