One Soldier Of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj!

Vietnam is a small country from South –East. It fought for twenty years to attain its independence from the US. The President of Vietnam had said after winning the battle that they had followed the strategy of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and therefore, they could defeat the powerful USA.

The United States had won World War II and wanted to interfere in the politics of Vietnam. However, the US army in Vietnam never used to know where, how, and in which manner, the Vietnamese fighters would attack them. The Vietnamese guerillas used to hide in the dense forests. The dream of the USA to divide Vietnam could never be fulfilled. Shivaji had defeated the mighty Mughal army by using the same strategy. Vietnam soldiers followed his path. Though the US soldiers had modern machines whose light used to get switched on wherever there was human urine in the area, then they used to find where Vietnamese guerillas were hiding and bombed that part killing guerillas. There again, the strategy of Shivaji was found beneficial. The Vietnamese guerillas started collecting human urine in earthen pots and hung such pots in the trees, as a result of which the US machines started getting signals of the presence of a large number of guerillas. The US army then used bed-bugs to find the guerillas. Bugs used to go in the direction of humans for sucking blood, but guerillas used gas to kill all the bugs. Many such schemes were used by the USA but the Vietnamese proved to be one step above them by using the counter striking strategies of the great Shivaji Maharaj. Finally, the USA realized that it is not possible to defeat these guerilla fighters and had to withdraw. Shri. Milind Gadgil, a war-journalist has written a very interesting book on this guerilla strategy. 

After the war was won by Vietnam, the President of the country was asked by reporters the secret behind defeating superpower like the USA. The President had said that it was quite obvious that our country was nowhere close to defeating superpower like the USA. But during the war, he came across an autobiography of a brave king from India. They took inspiration from him and planned their strategy and followed it. It was observed that within a few days they had started winning in the battle. Then the reporters asked the name of that king. To which, the President replied, “Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj! Had this great and noble king been born in our country, we would have ruled over the entire Earth.” The President had written his last wish before death that it may be written in his grave as ‘One soldier of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is laid to rest here’. This last wish of the President was fulfilled and the sentence can be seen even today.

Vietnam’s Lady Foreign Minister once visited India. As per the protocol, she was taken to see the Red Fort and ‘samadhi’ of Mahatma Gandhi. After seeing that, she asked about the ‘samadhi’ of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The Indian officers informed her that it was at Raigad in Maharashtra. She said that she wanted to go there and pay her respects to the great king. She could not go back to her country without prostrating before his ‘samadhi’, who was the inspiration behind their country defeating the most powerful country in the world, the US.

She went to Raigad and had the ‘darshan’ of ‘samadhi’ of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. She collected little soil from there and kept it in her purse with a lot of devotion and moved her soiled hand over her forehead. Reporters and some officers present there asked her about the reason for keeping the soil, to which she replied that this is the soil of brave warriors. A great king like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was born here. After going back, she would mix this soil with the soil of Vietnam so that great and valiant leaders will be born there as well.

Many years have passed since this incident had taken place. It was published in a periodical named ‘Sashakta Bharat’ in its November edition.

Thus was the story of "One soldier of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj!".Shivaji Bhonsale I, was an Indian warrior-king and a member of the Bhonsle Maratha clan. In 1674, he was crowned as the Chhatrapati (emperor) of the Maratha empire at Raigad. He was a great man having an exemplary character and was a good ruler. He brought about many reforms in his kingdom.

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Smarak(Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Memorial) is a monument under construction dedicated to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The statue will be located on a small island in the Arabian Sea, near Mumbai. It is likely to be completed in 2021. The proposed height of the statue is 210 meters and would be the World's largest statue on completion!