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| Mirabai (Author: Onef9day) |
This year’s selection has so far featured a poem by Mirabai titled “The Way They Held Each Other.” Its gripping simplicity is well worth repeating here: A woman and her young
daughter were destitute and traveling to another
country where they hoped to find a new life. Three men stole them while they were camping. They were brought to a city and sold as slaves; each to a
different owner. They were given one minute more
together, before their fates became unknown. My soul clings to God like that, the way they held each other.
Mirabai was not just being metaphorical here. She had dedicated her entire being to the devotion of Krishna (whom Hindus believe to be the final and complete avatar of Lord Vishnu). Many historical details of Mira’s life are not certain - and have been mostly gleaned from the more than one thousand bhajans (prayerful
poetic songs) that are attributed to her.
Mira’s love of Krishna is said to have begun when she was just an infant.
(She was allegedly born a Rajput princess - and the great-granddaughter of Rao Jodha of Mandore, Mumbai’s founder). She had an arranged marriage at an early age, but was already wedded in her heart and spirit to Krishna. Although her love for Krishna was at first kept private, it eventually overflowed into ecstatic public dancing (somewhat reminiscent of another Psalmist, King David – who, as 2 Samuel 6 tells us, was “leaping and dancing” while bringing the Ark into Jerusalem).
Because ecstatic public displays like these tend to flaunt convention, Mira is said to have incurred the wrath of her powerful brother-in-law. Legendary stories claim that he tried to murder her in many different ways, and that God miraculously saved her each time.
Resources
http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/blogs/maps.php?id=22697
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meera
Copyright April 26, 2012 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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