१८५७ का स्वातन्त्र्य समर (वीर विनायक दामोदर सावरकर - अंग्रेजों द्वारा छपने से पूर्व प्रतिबन्धित महाग्रन्थ)

NANA SAHIB AND LAKSHMI BAI
and his intelligence made a deep impression upon Bajirao,
who eventually resolved to adopt him. On the 7th
of June, 1827, Bajirao formally placed him on his
lap and adopted him. At this time Nana was
only two-and-a-half years old. In this manner, the
child born in the village of Venu became, by a
stroke of luck, the heir presumptive to the throne
of the Peshwas !
It was no doubt a great good fortune to be made heir
to the seat of the Peshwas of the Mahratta Empire. But,
O brilliant Prince, do you realise the great responsibility
accompanying this good fortune ? The throne of the
Peshwas is not an ordinary thing ! It was on this that
the great Baji sat and ruled an Empire. It was for this
that the battle of Paniput was fought. On this have
been poured the sacred waters of the Sindhu for the
anointing of generations of Peshwas ; on this the treaty
of Wargaon had been made and, most important of all,
on this is to come, or why, already has come, the conta-
minating touch of slavery. Do you realise all this ? To
be the heir to a throne is to undertake, to guarantee, the
protection and dignity of that throne. Then will you or
will you not guard the dignity of the Peshwa throne ?
Either the Gadi should be adorned with the crown of
victory, or it should be burnt in a brilliant pyre of glory,
like the proud women of Chitore ! There is no third way
of saving the glory of the Peshwa's throne ! O brilliant
Prince ! Think of this terrible responsibility, and then sit
on the Gadi of the Peshwas ! Since your father gave
reason for the taunt that the Peshwa's Gadi surrendered,
the whole of Maharashtra has became black with shame,
and all desire that if the Gadi is to end after all, it should
end even as it began—that if it is to die, it should die
fighting ! Sit proudly on that Gadi, O young Nana, so
that History may say with pride that the Gadi, whose
first Peshwa was Balaji Vishvanath, had for its last occu-
pant Nana Sahib !
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