Once the enemy soldiers laid a siege to a Maratha fortress. The Maratha soldiers began fighting a defensive battle from within the fort. Even the day-long enemy fire proved futile. At night-fall the enemy retreated. In the darkness of the night three enemy soldiers went from the rear of the fort. One of them had a torch; another had a power-soaked long rope. The third had a ball of powder.
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All the three reached their appointed spot. Here was a let-out-drain which carried sewage water out from the fortress. The drain had the desired aperture. A Maratha defender of the fort was seeing all this from a distance. He at once reached the drain. A large ball fell just at his feet. A rope was attached to the ball. The other end of the rope was extending outside the drain. Seeing all this defending solider did not take long to understand the enemy’s objective. Just near the drain was the arsenal of the fort. The enemy wanted to blow up that part of the fort. It would have given them an open access to the inter apartments of the fort.
The enemy solider had ignited the powdered-soaked rope from outside. The Maratha solider had little to think. He had to decide immediately. He could have run away and saved his life. He did not shirk his duty. He had to protect the honor of the Marathas as well as the great name of Shivaji. The solider immediately kicked the ball into the drain and thrust his head in the drain hole. The ball exploded but its effects were not far-reaching because the drain had been blocked by the solider head. The brave solider had saved the fort.
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On hearing the sound of the explosion the other solider ran to the spot. They saw their companion’s body. His head had been shattered and scattered to pieces. They understood the whole story. This dutiful brave solider had scarified his life to save the fort and the lives of his companions. Everybody was in tears. They paid tribute to the brave soldier and were full of gratitude for him.
The report of the extraordinary bravery of the solider reached Shivaji. He reassured that so long as such brave and duty-loving people were there in a nation, that nation could not die. Arrangements were made to support the wife and the children of the martyr at State expenses. A large statue of the brave solider was installed in the mall hall of the fort.