Herstory Profiles: Love, Devotion, and Ecstasy in the life of Indian Poet Mirabai by Anjeanette LeBoeuf

Mira was born in Northwest India in 1498 CE. She is considered a 16^th Century Hindu Mystic, Poet, and Wandering Devotee of Krishna. Her relevance and importance is cemented in the moniker given to her of Bai. Bai, is a honorific ending which can also mean elder sister.  Mirabai is quite known throughout India and even across religious traditions. She is a celebrated Bhakti Saint whose devotion to the god Krishna is now lauded and praised.

Mira was born into a Rathore Rajput Royal Family (in modern day Rajasthan). It is said that from the very young age of 5, Mira expressed her devotion to Krishna. Her upper caste status did allow Mira to have access to education and religious practice. But her status also came with forced responsibilities. Mira was forced into a marriage to the crown prince of Mewar and would become a widow five years later. Her father and father-in-law would also later die during the ongoing struggles with Babur, the first Mughal Emperor. As she was still considered part of the Mewari royal family, her remaining in-laws tried to assassinate her on multiple occasions. Some of the attempts included sending her a vial of poison disguised as nectar and a basket of flowers which contained poisonous snakes.

For every single attempt made to try and kill Mira it is said she was miraculously saved through the intervention of Krishna. One of the last attempts to kill Mira included trying to drown her but instead she floated on the water. Towards the later end of her life, Mira would travel the course of India and would settle in Dwarka (in the Gujarat Region) where when she was dying it is said that her body merged with a Krishna statue and never seen again.

Throughout her life, Mirabai would defy societal, religious, and cultural expectations especially if they contradicted with her ardent devotion to Krishna. She would travel from town-to-town singing, dancing, and reciting poetry about her love and devotion to Krishna. She is lauded especially by the Bhakti traditions as she was publicly known for her love and treatment towards Krishna as her husband. Her poetry was highly popular in the oral tradition and spent hundreds of years, in multiple languages across the Indian subcontinent. Jane Hirshfield states,

To read Mirabai is to awaken more deeply into your own life. In her poems, she calls the Beloved by many names. She names also the listeners and witnesses to her path – ‘Friend’, ‘Sisters’, ‘Companions,’ we are still traveling with her along a northern Indian road lines with dusty palaces and fields awaiting the rains which may or may not come.

Mirabai: Ecstatic Poems, pg xiii (Robert Bly and Jane Hirshfield translations

The popularity and devotion of Mirabai is so beloved that she has multiple temples dedicated to her. Chittorgarh (Chittor Fort), one of the largest living forts in India contains one of the most popular temples dedicated to Mirabai. Her influence and importance to arts, spirituality, and culture has also seen her being the muse for poetry foundations, female music, and even a Science and Nonduality Community.

O friends on this path, my eyes are no longer my eyes. A sweetness has entered through them, has pierced through to my heart. How long did I stand in the house of this body and stare at the road? My Beloved is a steeped herb, he has cured me for life. Mira belongs to Giridhara, the One Who Lifts All, and everyone says she is mad.”

Mirabai: Ecstatic Poems, pg 5 (Robert Bly and Jane Hirshfield translations)

We have lost the majority of the primary records and texts including that of Mirabai’s biography. The majority of her life and her historical accounts are shrouded in mystery or even forms of uncertainty (if you are using Western standards) her poetry, devotion, and influence endures. She currently has 6 full length compositions.  She is considered one of the most influential and foundational Bhakti Saints especially during a time of political upheavals and societal changes.

She would also transcend her own religious tradition and find value and importance in the Sikhi Faith. Guru Arjan received a bound copy of Mirabai’s writings and poetry and would later try to incorporate them into the growing Adi Granth. In 1693, Guru Gobind Singh would publish Prem Ambodh Pothi which includes many poems by Mirabai and lists her as one of the 16 Bhakti Saints that are revered by Sikhs.

I leave you with a poem of Mirabai’s:

Don’t tell me no, Mother; I’m on my way to visit holy men. I know one wit a dark face; I’m his; the rest are nothing. Where I live, everyone e is sleeping; my eyes stay open all night. If the world doesn’t admire the Lord, it is mad; what wisdom does the world have? What am I saying? The Lord is inside me; he’s there instead of sleep. Some ponds have water only four months a year; but I stay away from those ponds. Hari’s water pours down; that’s good enough for my thirst. You say he is dark; I say beautiful. I am on my way to see his face. Mira’s pain comes from separation; what she wants to do, she’ll do.

Mirabai: Ecstatic Poems, pg 28 (Robert Bly and Jane Hirshfield translations)

Additional Online Resources

https://www.poemhunter.com/i/ebooks/pdf/mirabai_2012_7.pdf

https://scienceandnonduality.com/article/mirabai/

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/mirabai