The Story of Meerabai (as requested)

[Guest guest]

THE STORY OF MEERABAI

 

Meera Bai (also known as Mira) was one of the foremost exponents of the Prema

Bhakti (Divine Love) and an inspired poetess of North India. She is regarded as

an incarnation of Radha.

This is the story of the daring princess Meerabai, who revealed the secret of true happiness.

 

Meerabai, the great devotee of Krishna, who discovered that true wealth, lies

not in the palaces of kings but in the hearts of the Lord's devotees.

Around 500 years ago, the Indian kingdom of Rajasthan was a land of warriors and

sages, sadhus and kings. One such king had a daughter, the princess Meerabai,

who saw beyond such things as riches and war.

 

She was born in Samvat 1557 or 1498 A.D. in the village Kurkhi, in Marwar, near

Merta, a fortress-city, founded by her grandfather Rao Dudaji, about 40-50

miles north-east of Ajmer near Rajasthan. Meera was the daughter of Ratan Singh

Ranthor and the grand-daughter of Rao Dudaji of Merta.

 

When she was four years of age, she manifested religious tendencies. As a child,

she adored the cowherd god, Krishna, an image of whom she treated as a doll.

 

One day, while watching a wedding procession Meera asked her mother, "Dear

Mother, who will be my bridegroom?"

 

Caught by surprise and unsure what to say, Meera's mother smiled, and half in

jest and half in earnest, pointed towards the image of Sri Krishna and said,

"My dear Meera, Lord Krishna—this beautiful image—is your bridegroom her

mother replied, "Lord Krishna."

 

>From that moment on, child Meera began to love the idol of Krishna very much.

She spent much of her time in bathing and dressing the image. She worshipped

the image. She slept with the image. She danced about the image in ecstasy. She

sang beautiful songs in front of the image. She used to talk to the idol.

 

Sadly her mother died when Meerabai was only four or five years old. As her

father was away much of the time, she was then sent to be raised at her

grandfather's house.

 

Other members of the family were also inclined towards Vaishnava practices, and

in this environment Meerabai's own religious sentiments could grow freely.

 

Along with her general education she received lessons in music and dance too.

She acquired a good mastery over them. She must have been especially proficient

in music. The sweet musical quality of her songs is rarely found in the lyrics

of other poets. This melody is the main reason for the immense popularity of

her songs.

 

Meera had been worshipping Krishna right from her childhood. Nobody in her

parent's home had come in the way. On the other hand, they had encouraged it.

As she grew up, Meerabai's love for Krishna only strengthened. One night, she

dreams that she and Krishna are married…and for Meerabai, this is true also

in her waking life. She lives as if she is Krishna's bride. She was

passionately attached to the idol of Giridhar Gopal, a form of Lord

Krishna……and would refuse to be parted from it.

Meera's mother died when she was ten year old. She then came to live with her

grandfather who died in 1515. Her father's elder brother Vikram Deo who

succeeded to the throne arranged her marriage with Prince Bhoj Raj, the eldest

son of Rana Sanga of Chitter.

 

The marriage was celebrated with great pomp and grandeur in 1516. It seems Meera

had placed the idol of Sri Krishna by her side even on the bridal seat. The

royal family, which had the custom of placing a sword representing the

bridegroom by the bride's side, might well have allowed this.This marriage

raised Meera to a very high social status as the ruler of Chitter was

considered to be the leader of the Hindu princes. But as soon as she came to

live with her husband, her devotion to Sri Krishna began to cause displeasure

among the members of her husband's family.

It may seem strange that one should regard God as the husband and behave

accordingly. But it is not a new thing in the Bhakti cult. There are several

types of Bhakti (devotion). They are classified according to the relation that

exists between God and the devotee. If God is regarded with parental affection,

it is called as one's own dear child 'Vatsalya Bhava' (or the devotion of a

parent to a child). The relation between Yashoda and Krishna is a good example

of this type.

 

Instead of this, if a devotee considers God as his Master and firmly believes

that he lives only by that Master's Grace and owes everything in life to Him,

the relation would be that, which exists between Master and servant, It is

called 'Dasya Bhava' (devotion of a servant to the Master). The relation

between Hanumaan and Sri Rama is an example of this.When God is taken for an

intimate friend, it is called "Sakhya Bhava' - the devotion of a friend to a

friend. The friendship of Sri Krishna and Kuchela is of this type.When the

relation between God and the devotee is one of love and of the intimacy that

exists between husband and wife, it is called 'Madhurya Bhava'. This is

considered the highest form of devotion. The devotee is the wife and God is the

husband. A wife serves her lord in several roles. She looks after him with

affectionate care like a mother; she stands in attendance with respect and

obedience like a servant; she treats him with sweet familiarity like a friend.

In 'Madhurya Bhava' the devotee's relationship with God is exactly that of the

wife with her husband.Though Meera had firmly believed even from her young age

that Sri Krishna was her Lord, there is nothing to show in real life that she

neglected her husband. As an ideal wife she might have returned his love and

affection. But under no circumstances was she prepared to forget her Sri

Krishna. In the entire world nothing was greater to her than that love. She

loved to sit before the sweet little image of Sri Krishna, sing about Him in

her sweet voice and dance. That was her life. She was born for only that. How

could she give it up?But to others in her husband's house this looked like

impertinence. It made them hate Meera. Everybody at home advised the obstinate

girl to mend herself. She listened to their words calmly. In fact she would do

whatever else she was asked to do; but, if she was told to forget Krishna, she

could not bear it.

In the view of others, her intense devotion was nothing but a craze. When they

made sure that she would not budge whatever they might say, they grew

indifferent towards her.

 

 

Day by day she went on spending more and more time in the company of monks and

other holy people, meditating upon Sri Krishna. At last Bhoj Raj got a temple

built exclusively for her near the palace. (Some say that this temple was meant

to divert the large number of Sadhus who came to the palace.) Anyway this

provided Meera with a place where she could worship Sri Krishna in freedom. She

used to spend the whole day in song and dance there."When the whole world is

asleep I, being away from my Lord, keep awake. Likewise some one else separated

from her lover sits in a luxurious mansion stringing pearls, I know. Counting

the stars I spend the whole night. When will dawn the hour of happiness for me?

It is only after Giridhar, the Lord of Meera, comes that this suffering will

end," so she sang in great joy.Her own people who had seen her sing, dance and

go into ecstasy had concluded that she had gone mad. But the monks respected

her as a great saint. The number of those who came to be blessed by her sight

increased. She was revered among the people as 'a great saint', and as the

'Radha of Kaliyuga'.The prestige of the royal family of Chittore stood very

high. What a disgrace to such a renowned and noble family that the wife of the

prince went on singing and dancing with monks!Besides, she had insulted her

husband's family by not worshipping Mother Kali.Such were the thoughts that

crossed the minds of many in her husband's house. They were angry and had

nothing but contempt for her. But Bhoj Raj had immense love for her. Therefore

no one had the courage to say anything against her. There were no children from

this marriage.Sadly, Bhoj Raj passed away in 1521. He had been wounded in a

battle in 1518, and the wounds proved fatal. Within about five years after her

marriage Meera became a widow. She was only, twenty-three then. The only link

Meera had with the world had snapped. There was no one to care for her.

Meerabai was left vulnerable to the hostility of her conservative male

relatives, and that this hostility increased as Meerabai became visibly

detached from the affairs of the world and her obligations to her in-laws.

 

Overstepping all propriety, she would descend from the Sisodiya palace, into

town, where she would consort with sadhus and low caste bhaktas in local

temples; and apparently danced before the image of Krishna.

 

Her in laws were enraged. She was suspected of consorting with spies.

There were three attempts to kill her. It has been suggested that a much younger

male relative, Vikramajita, is supposed to have locked her into a room, but when

that failed to bring Meerabai to her senses, he attempted, unsuccessfully, to

then poison her.

 

It has been suggested that her relatives expected her to commit 'Sati', or

self-immolation, after the death of her husband; indeed, in one of her poems

Meerabai wrote, "sati na hosyan girdhar ghanshyam mhara man moho ghananami", "I

will not commit Sati. I will sing the songs of Girdhar Krishna."

 

Branded as mad, she had already suffered everybody's contempt. But this apathy

of her own people only strengthened her devotion. More than ever she clung

firmly to her Lord Krishna.

 

Sometime around 1538 Meerabai arrived in Vrindavan, where she spent most of the

remainder of her life before moving, shortly before her death, to Dwarka.

A group of Brahmins come to Meerabai, and tell her of the destruction of their

city, the brave death of Uda and others whom she loved. They beseech her to

return to the city and be their queen. Though she does not want to go, she

agrees to leave if it is Krishna's will.

 

It is said that Krishna himself could not bear their separation, for the next

morning, when the Brahmins return to the temple, they find only Meerabai's

shawl. Finally, the union of Meerabai and Krishna is complete.

 

It is Meera's bhajans or devotional lyrics through which she conveys her intense

love or Krishna, that have immortalised her story as his "bride", which also

lends credibility to Radha's love for the historical Krishna.

 

Meera's songs are inimitable, as sober and sincere expressions of deep love that

is thoroughly spiritual in character. The songs are a class by themselves and

will remain our prized possession. Her odes and hymns are so rich, sweet and

inspiring, not because of any high rhetoric or dexterity of language, but

because they are characterised by a tenderness and simplicity of feeling as

genuine outpourings of a heart completely dedicated to God.

 

The vocabulary of human love used in them is simple ' and familiar, drawn from

human situations that we come across in our day-to-day life, mostly connected

with the 'affairs of the heart'.

 

And yet they strongly appeal to us, especially to those who are themselves

devout and have got a good ear for music. Most songs pierce to the heart and

convince us of Meera's supreme devotion to Krishna. They unmistakably convey to

us that she knows her lord, for sure, to be the indwelling Master and the only

object of her worship, not the mere image she is fondly attached to.

 

Some of her best knows bhajans are:

 

Payoji Meine Ram Ratan Dhan Paayo

Mero to Giridhar Gopal

Pag Ghunghroo Bandh Meera Nachi Re

Saanwara Mari Preet Nibhajo Jee

Ayri Mey To Prem Diwani Meera

Jago Bansi wale

Karna Fakiri Phir Kya Dilgiri

Karuna Suno Shyam More

Jago Bansiwale

Baso Mere Naino Mein Nandlal

Chalo Man Ganga Jamuna Teer

 

…plus many more!

 

 

compiled from:

 

http://www.storytellingmonk.org

http://www.poetseers.org/ ,

http://www.exoticindia.com/product/HC40/aff10150

http://hometown.aol.com/turkseven/mirabai/

http://hinduism.about.com/gi/dynamic

plus personal records & information

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Dearest Sis Madhvi,

 

This was so touching, I felt like crying! What beautiful love and

devotion of Meera for her beloved Krishna.

 

Thank you so much. I am going to share this with all our Gurus.

 

Sairam & love,

 

Rina Shah

 

(Kenya)

 

 

 

saibabanews, MadhviSai@a... wrote:

>

> THE STORY OF MEERABAI

[Guest guest]

Thank you so much for this article. It was absolutely lovely!

Please sister, may I humbly request you --- if it is not too much trouble -- to

send some information on 'RADHA & MEERABAI' ie the similarity and the

differences between them in regards to their love for Krishna.

Thanking you in advance.

Vina Morjaria