Of all the Rajput warriors, be it Amar Singh Rathor, or Maharana Pratap or Prithviraj Chauhan for that matter, there are two that have been known distinctly for their God like status.
King Ram of Ayodhya was a Warrior, A General and A king. His ethos of combat taught him to take the enemy head on. His ability to effectively use miniscule resources made him a Leader and an Administrator to reckon with.
But he failed on two fronts.
First, when he killed Bali, the Brother of Sugriv, it was not justified. He later paid in penance in the next birth as Krishn who died of the arrow of the Bheel who was reincarnated as Bali. This was something of a deal which I question.
Second, the choice between one's spouse and democratic will for an administrator may have been a difficult one, but here is where the catch lies. King Ram obeyed the will of the Washerman without effectively arguing for the purity and innocence of Sita, his rightful wife who stood by him in the most troubled of times. No wonder, his sons, of who I m a descendant of, chose to part ways. Although Ram may have been a मर्यादा पुरुषोत्तम, the Finest in character amongst men, He failed to protect the very person who had the greatest faith in Him.
Krishna Vasudev, a Jadaun of the Chandravanshi Lineage had been a master strategist, a diplomat and an excellent Statesman. He chose to go into the battlefield, not as a Warrior but as chariot steerer of the Archer Arjun. He also bore the wrath of Gandhari, the mother of the Kauravs owing to which, not only did He bled to death of the arrow wound inflicted by the Bheel, or the Bali of Tretayug, but the whole Dwarka sank like the Atlantis and His Dynasty came to an end with the death of His son Pradyumna.
However, owing to the Brahmin monopoly on the Hindu Philosophy, one Rajput Prince did something that no other had even dreamt of.
Prince Siddhartha of the Shakya Clan, better known as Gautam Buddha raised the bar to a new level. He realised the futility of weapons and felt that the collateral damage caused in terms of socio-psychological perspectives was way too much for a Kingdom to take. He left in search of finding the answers and took the path of meditation and connected to the subconscious mind. Thus, he took mastery over the greatest weapon that mankind had ever seen. It was the Human mind.
Controlling the Human mind through the practise of Yoga and Dhyan was something his predecssors had never thought before. His ability to focus and use the power of thought and intention on physical objects made him so much more powerful, than a weapon and armour wielding warrior that even before the battle could start, he had won it in the mind. He did not have to behead or kill, He just had to look at the adversary in the eye and Smile. :)
The story begins from the time when Ram was a student of Vishwamitra, who himselves had renounced Royalty for the life of an ascetic. Ram asked His teacher what is it that Vishwamitr found in renounciation that the Royalty could not offer. Vishwarath, the name of the Prince before he became an Ascetic called Vishwamitr, replied, the greatest strength is not in the Weapons and Armies, for that had failed him, but the power of the tranquil mind of the man who is free. Ram hence took his lessons in Tretayug and as Vishnu gave it a thought of trying out that role for Himself. He, henceforth incarnated Himself as Prince Siddhartha of Lumbini, and then the ShakyaMuni, or the Ascetic of the Shakya Clan, the way Vishwamitra was the Hermit of the Clan of Raghu.
In the Path that Vishwamitra chose, he challenged the Brahmins and the Gods of forces of nature and became the Brahmrishi, the Grand Sage, once a monopoly of the Brahmins like Vashistha.
That is where Buddha realised that collateral damage at war brought more misery than good fortune. He realised that preserving life, whether that of Self or the enemy was important for greater growth and prosperity. Thus He armed His warrior spirit with the greatest power of them all, Knowledge.
This Knowledge, once a domain of the Brahmins, had been acquired by a Rajput, the second to have done so after Vishwamitra. This had been to the Brahmin's displeasure that all the Rajput Princes who agreed with Siddharth's view were banished from their Kingdoms and fled to far off lands, carrying the ashes of their ancestors and their swords. Some of them reunited with the cousins of Kauravs in Gandhar, and some took the various skills of combat. science, Mathematics and Philosophy. In this fashion, Siddharth without shedding a single drop of blood, did what is expected of a Rajput. He brought peace and prosperity and saved a large chunk of Humanity from incessant killings, which the Brahmins had engaged the Rajputs in from time immemorial.
This is what being a True Rajput General was all about.
Without shedding a drop of blood, He conquered the largest land mass ever. And He did it, like no other could ever do. Neither Jesus, nor Mohammad and not his previous incarnations of Ram and Krishn. His message was read, heard and transmitted to lengths beyond oceans. His thought gave rise to the Neo-Rajputs in Japan, who we know as Samurais of today.
The Brahmins sought vengeance and declared that anyone who followed the Path of Siddharth was a Blasphemist. Despite knowing that He was the Vishnu Avatar Himself, they challenged Him, only to have realised that this made Him even greater and stronger. It is in His footsteps that Ashok made peace with himself and found the Ultimate Source of Infinite Power.
Reading His works, is when Sun-Tzu made the statement in the celebrated compilation, The Art of War.
"The Greatest General is not the one who wins Hundred victories in a Hundred battles. Winning Battles without Fighting is the Quality, the Greatest General Has."
This Greatest General was not just a warrior of Knowledge and a monk of Peace. He was a Rajput Prince .
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