he old king, Mādhāi,3 his favored [queen] Priyāvatī, and their two princes, Śāmsundar and Dāmodar, were among those so chosen. Priyāvatī constantly fussed over her husband, ministering to his needs in both body and spirit. While the king, indeed, did have many fine qualities and served to protect dharma, as a rule he proved extremely mean-spirited toward phakīrs. Whenever one of the phakīrs of God Khodā appeared in the city, Mādhāi would chain him around the neck and imprison him in a cell. If the phakīr was deemed to cast an evil eye, he would be blown to bits by the royal cannons; then for thirteen days the king would drink only water and eat only rice in penance. Numerous vaiṣṇavīs 4and ascetic sannyāsīs were always in at-tendance; they performed ritual sevā and pūjā worship, for which Mādhāi conferred gifts of great value.