One can say, that Nanasaheb was primarily a product of the initiation that he received at the hands of Chimaji Appa and Ambaji Purandare. Most of his initial years were spent at Satara near Shahu Maharaj, in the company of Chitnis, Pratinidhi, Naro Ram etc. worthies. Ambaji’s son Mahadoba and Nanasaheb were of the same age. The next pair was Sadashivrao Bhau and Nana Purandare. Purandare and Peshwa families were almost inseparable. In those days, the primary education for the children consisted of writing and reading skills in the Modi script, study of the Sanskrit language, and political and policy scriptures. Two of the following letters are memorable with respect to such education. The following letter from 5 May 1748, “To Chiranjeev (blessed with long life) Rajashree Raghunath, from Balaji Bajirao Pradhan, blessings. Whatever came to my mind when you left, I relayed to you. Always keep it in your mind. Raghuvansh, Vidurneeti, Chanakya, whatever else you know, think about them in your mind regularly. Recite them regularly in front of the Shastri in small snippets. While at ease, do read the Mahabharat from the Virat-Parva onwards. Do not remain engaged only in your hobby of riding horses. Practice your arithmetic calculations of additions, subtractions etc. profusely. Ensure that you follow Chiranjeev Bhau’s guidance in various ways. Do whatever he orders you to. Have your meals with Bhau. Do not tie your horses separately. Do not keep the company of mean people. Try and sit half-an-hour near the Revered Mother (Radhabai), Tai (Kashibai), Anubai etc. ladies for one or two days. Your health has not been well. Ensure you take medicine regularly to fix that. Accompany Bhau for horse-rides. Upon being ordered to visit Satara, request Bhau to allow Chimangiri Gangadhar Bhat to accompany you and take him along. Upon arrival at Satara, do not visit the two Queens, unless invited, or unless Govindrao (Chitnis) himself tells you to. Keep your dressing as per the time, situation, and your age. Keep performing your daily worship, little bit but alone, without making an ado about it. Do this much regularly, and do not indulge in vain pride. Through unwavering revering attitude, you must obey all your elders. Stay alert. Understand whatever your heart is able to. If you have any questions, bide time until you get your elders in a good mood before asking them. If you maintain this attitude of a disciple, it would be beneficial. Chiranjeev Janardan keeps studying hard. If he becomes better than you in all aspects, then how would you become a role model for him? What other special things to write! We arrived at the end of twenty-five days at Udaipur. Through Shree’s blessings, and our hard work, we’re trying to go towards Delhi. Bless you that the way next events occur we will plan accordingly.”
On 17 April 1760, Sadashivrao Bhau wrote the following letter to Bajaba Purandare from the Panipat campaign, “I did not hear much from you these last few days. Do write regularly in detail. We have crossed the Narmada taking the usual stops. We are on our way as normal. Do keep up with your practice for riding horses, writing and reading. Whenever father calls, keep going to Pune. Do not play much. Your mother, through affection, will not scold you. You will get spoilt, which won’t be useful. Here’s blessing you to excel at writing, reading and riding horses.”
These letters acquaint us with the nature of Nanasaheb, Sadashivrao, Raghunathrao etc. The suggestions contained within them seem heartfelt. In his childhood, Raghunathrao was arbitrary, would not listen to elders, and would behave as he liked. Instead of completing the studies assigned to him, he would keep riding horses, and while away his time in the company of lowly men. Sometimes he would even miss his usual meal-times. He seems to have had a habit of meeting Shahu’s queens directly and engaging in some schemes. It is probable that he would not listen to Sadashivrao Bhau. Therefore, worried about Raghunathrao, Nanasaheb warns him in the above letter about so many different things. Nanasaheb would remain carefree after entrusting the responsibilities to Sadashivrao Bhau. He was not that sure and confident about Raghunathrao. Dada (Raghunathrao) does not seem to have inherited from Bajirao any other quality apart from sitting atop a horse with elan. The letter also expresses that Janardan, who was younger to him, was better than him in terms of his nature. At one instance, Raghunathrao wrote, “Our life at Satara is good. I ensure I follow father’s orders, and study well. I visit the court twice a day. I also exercise regularly.”
Raghunathrao was a shade too dull in front of Sadashivrao’s aggression. He did not have his own fixed opinion about anything. He would pose a huge amount of faith in auspicious occasions and astrology. One can clearly discern his qualities like an enormous trust on destiny and God in all events. The resolute and firm confident emotion of Bajirao-Sadashivrao that they would do something, did not find a place in his heart.
To be continued…
NDHistories 