- Meera
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For other people named Meera, see Meera (disambiguation).
Meerabai
Meerabai (c. 1498 – c. 1547AD) (alternate orthographies: Meera; Mira; Meera Bai) was an aristocratic Hindu mystical singer and devotee of Lord Krishna from Rajasthan and one of the most significant figures of the Sant tradition of the Vaishnava bhakti movement. Some 1,200–1,300 prayerful songs or bhajans attributed to her are popular throughout India and have been published in several translations worldwide. In the bhakti tradition, they are in passionate praise of Lord Krishna.
Practices
Details of her life, which has been the subject of several films, are pieced together from her poetry and stories recounted by her community and are of debatable historical authenticity, particularly those that connect her with the later Tansen. On the other hand, the traditions that make her a disciple of Ravidas who disputed with Rupa Goswami are consonant with the usual account of her life.
Contents
Biography
Meera, a Rajput princess[1] was born in Kudki (Kurki), a little village near Merta City, which is presently in the Nagaur district of Rajasthan in northwest India. Her father, Ratan Singh Rathore, was a warrior of the Rathore clan, the son of Rao Duda of Merta Rao Duda was son of Rao Jodha of mandore founder of Jodhpur.
As an infant Meera became deeply enamored of an iconic idol of Krishna owned by a visiting holy man; she was inconsolable until she possessed it and probably kept it all her life. Her mother was supportive of her religious tendencies but she died early.
Meera’s marriage was arranged at an early age, traditionally to Prince Bhoj Raj, the eldest son of Rana Sanga of Chittor. However her new family did not approve of her piety and devotion when she refused to worship their family deity and maintained that she was only truly married to Krishna.
The Meera Museum in Merta CityThe Rajputana had remained fiercely independent of the Delhi Sultanate, the Islamic regime that otherwise ruled Hindustan after the conquests of Timur. But in the early 16th century AD the central Asian conqueror Babur laid claim to the Sultanate and some Rajputs supported him while others ended their lives in battle with him. Her husband's death in battle (in 1527 AD?) was only one of a series of losses Meera experienced in her twenties, including the death of her mother. She appears to have despaired of loving anything temporal and turned to the eternal, transforming her grief into a passionate spiritual devotion that inspired in her countless songs drenched with separation and longing.
Meera's devotion to Krishna was at first a private thing but at some moment it overflowed into an ecstasy that led her to dance in the streets of the city. Her brother-in-law, the new ruler of Chittorgarh, was Vikramaditya, an ill-natured youth who strongly objected to Meera's fame, her mixing with commoners and carelessness of feminine modesty. There were several attempts to poison her.[2] Her sister-in-law Udabai is said to have spread defamatory gossip.
At some time Meera declared herself a disciple of the guru Ravidas[3] ("guru miliyaa raidasjee") and left for the centre of Krishnaism, Vrindavan. She considered herself to be a reborn gopi, Lalita, mad with love for Krishna. Folklore informs us of a particular incident where she expressed her desire to engage in a discussion about spiritual matters with Rupa Goswami, a direct disciple of Chaitanya and one of the foremost saint of Vrindavan that time who, being a renunciate celibate, refused to meet a woman. Meera replied that the only true man (purusha) in this universe is Lord Krishna. She continued her pilgrimage, "danced from one village to another village, almost covering the whole north of India".[4] One story has her appearing in the company of Kabir in Kashi, once again causing affront to social mores. She seems to have spent her last years as a pilgrim in Dwarka, Gujarat. It is said that Mirabai disappeared into the Dwarkashish Murti (Image of Lord Krishna) in front of a full audience of onlookers.
Poetry
Meera's songs are in a simple form called a pada (verse), a term used for a small spiritual song, usually composed in simple rhythms with a repeating refrain, collected in her Padavali. The extant versions are in a Rajasthani and Braj, a dialect of Hindi spoken in and around Vrindavan (the childhood home of Krishna), sometimes mixed with Rajasthani, and in Gujarati:
- That dark dweller in Braj
- Is my only refuge.
- O my companion, worldly comfort is an illusion,
- As soon you get it, it goes.
- I have chosen the indestructible for my refuge,
- Him whom the snake of death will not devour.
- My beloved dwells in my heart all day,
- I have actually seen that abode of joy.
- Meera's lord is Hari, the indestructible.
- My lord, I have taken refuge with you, your maidservant
Although Meera is often classed with the northern Sant bhaktis who spoke of a formless divinity,[1] there is no doubt that she presents Krishna as the historical master of the Bhagavad Gita who is, even so, the perfect Avatar of the eternal, who is omnipresent but particularly focused in his icon and his temple. She speaks of a personal relationship with Krishna as her lover, lord and master. The characteristic of her poetry is complete surrender. Her longing for union with Krishna is predominant in her poetry: she wants to be "coloured with the colour of dusk" (the symbolic colour of Krishna).
English versions
Alston and Subramanian have published selections with English translation in India.[3][5] Schelling[6] and Landes-Levi[7] have offered anthologies in the USA. Snell[8] has presented parallel translations in his collection The Hindi Classical Tradition. Sethi has selected poems which Mira composed presumably after she came in contact with Saint Ravidas.[9]
Some bhajans of Meera have been rendered by Robert Bly in his Mirabai Versions (New York; Red Ozier Press, 1984). Bly has also collaborated with Jane Hirshfield on Mirabai: Ecstatic Poems.[10]. Dr Prayag Narayan Misra has presented more than 20 devotional poems—available online in both Hindi and English languages[11]. The following describes Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu : "ab to Hari naam lau laagee":
- Now, I have a burning desire to chant the name of Hari—who steals away all sorrows and provides residence in paradise!
- O stealer of butter, You have appeared as an Ascetic in renounced order!
- Where have You discarded Your enchanting flute?
- And where did You leave your cowherd girls—with whom You performed pastimes in Vrindavana!
- With head shaven, saffron color piece of cloth tied on Your belly, You remind me of Your foster mother Yashoda, who tied Your feet with a rope because of Your stealing of butter!
- Now, Krishna—ever Youthful, You have appeared as Chaitanya MahaPrabhu in your latest incarnation in golden color (instead of the color of dark blue cloud);
- Your maid servant Mirabai is chanting Your Holy names, settled on her tongue!
Popular culture
Composer John Harbison adapted Bly's translations for his Mirabai Songs. There is a documentary film A Few Things I Know About Her by Anjali Panjabi.[12] Two well-known films of her life have been made in India, Meera (1945), a Tamil language film starring M. S. Subbulakshmi, and Meera a 1979 Hindi film by Gulzar. TV series, Meera (2009–2010) was also based on her life.
J. A. Joshi[13][14] has written a novel "Follow the Cowherd Boy"[15] published by Trafford Publishing[16] in 2006. Meera Bai's life has been interpreted as a musical story in Meera—The Lover..., a music album based on original compositions for some well known Meera bhajans, releasing 11 October 2009.[17]
Sagar Arts, the creator of mythological and historical serials such as Hatim Aladin, Chandragupta Maurya, Prithviraj Chauhan, Dwarkadheesh, Jai jai jai Bajrangbali, Mahima Shani Dev Ki etc, created a serial on July 27, 2009 – January 29, 2010. Younger Meera was casted by Aashika Bhatia and elder Meera was casted by Aditi Sajwan.
Bibliography
- Chaturvedī, Ācārya Parashurām(a), Mīrāʼnbāī kī padāvalī,(16. edition)
- Goetz, Hermann, Mira Bai: Her Life and Times, Bombay 1966
- Mirabai: Liebesnärrin. Die Verse der indischen Dichterin und Mystikerin. Translated from Rajasthani into German by Shubhra Parashar. Kelkheim, 2006 (ISBN 3-935727-09-7)
- Hawley, John Stratton. The Bhakti Voices: Mirbai, Surdas, and Kabir in Their Times and Ours, Oxford 2005.
- Sethi, V.K.: Mira—The Divine Lover; Radha Soami Satsang Beas, Punjab, India; 1988
- Joshi, Jai A.: Follow the Cowherd Boy; Trafford Publishing,Canada, USA,Ireland and UK, 2006
See also
- Aandaal
- Bhajan
- List of Rajputs
- Rana Sanga
- Meera Bai's Songlation by Sanjeevani Meera n Me
References
- ^ a b Gavin Flood, An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge 1996, page 144
- ^ Osho, Bin Ghan Parat Phuhar
- ^ a b Mirabai, V. K. Subramanian, Mystic Songs of Meera, Abhinav Publications, 2006 ISBN 8170174589, 9788170174585 [1]
- ^ Osho, The Wild Geese and the Water, Rajneesh Foundation International, Chapter 14.
- ^ Alston, A.J., The Devotional Poems of Mirabai, Delhi 1980
- ^ Schelling, Andrew, For Love of the Dark One: Songs of Mirabai, Prescott, Arizona 1998
- ^ Landes-Levi, Louise, Sweet On My Lips: The Love Poems of Mirabai, New York 1997
- ^ Snell, Rupert. The Hindi Classical Tradition: A Braj Bhasa Reader, London 1991, pp 39, 104–109.
- ^ Sethi,V.K.,Mira: The Divine Lover,Radha Soami Satsang Beas, Punjab 1988
- ^ Bly, Robert / Hirshfield, Jane, Mirabai: Ecstatic Poems, Boston, Massachusetts 2004
- ^ http://www.oocities.org/worldwidetechnologies/
- ^ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/25053908.cms
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaUqZzW7Or0
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wxp9dlsLzg&feature=related
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0n5dlGPz0k
- ^ http://bookstore.trafford.com/Products/SKU-000158294/Follow-The-Cowherd-Boy.aspx
- ^ http://www.vandanavishwas.com
External links
- Mirabai at Kavita Kosh (Hindi)
- Meera Songlation
- Largest collection of Meera Bai Bhajans in Gujarati on Swargarohan
- Bridal Mysticism: Story of Meerabai By Dr. Jyotsna Kamat
Categories:- 1498 births
- 1547 deaths
- Hindu devotees
- Hindu religious figures
- Hindu saints
- Hindi poets
- Indian religious leaders
- Indian women religious leaders
- Indian women writers
- People from Rajasthan
- People related to Krishna
- Ravidasi
- Sant Mat
- Mystics
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