A hymn of Mira Bai is preserved in the Granth Sahib of Bhai Banno, which can be seen at Mangat in the Gujrat district of the Panjab, but it is not included in Guru Arjan’s collection.
Mira Bai was daughter of Ratan Singh Rathaur of Merata, a town between Bikaner and Jodhpur in Rajputana. She was born about A. D. 1504. She appears to have inherited her religious proclivities [ p. 343 ] from her mother. When Mira Bai was yet a child, the bridal procession of a youth of position passed by the palace. All the ladies of the court, except Mira Bai’s mother, went to the upper apartments to view the procession. She took the opportunity of their absence to worship an image of Krishan, called Girdhar Lai, which was set up in her private apartment.
Mira Bai laid aside her playthings to follow her mother, and said to her, ’ Who is my bridegroom ? Her mother smiled, took her in her arms, and, pointing to Girdhar Lai, said, ’ There is your bridegroom.’ Upon this Mira Bai instantly accepted him, and veiled her face according to the Oriental practice, which requires a wife to veil her face even from her mother in the presence of her husband. She became so enamoured of Girdhar Lai that she could not pass an instant without seeing him. Her love for him is compared to that of the milkmaids of Bindraban for Krishan. She in time indulged her passion without fear or shame, and without any regard for the traditions of her family concerning the retirement of women from the public gaze.
While her affections were thus engaged, she was betrothed to Kanwar Bhojraj, son of Rana Sanga of Mewar. The subsequent marriage in A. D. 1516, as might well have been expected, proved unhappy. Bhojraj came to Merata in great state with a large retinue, but when the marriage ceremony was being performed and the time came for the bride to circumambulate the pavilion set up for the ceremony, Mira Bai walked around the idol of Girdhar Lai, and took no notice of the bridegroom. When the time for her departure with her husband arrived, her parents wished *to send her off with suitable marriage presents, but she was miserable at leaving Girdhar Lai. She grew sad and restless, and wept to such an extent that she became insensible. When [ p. 344 ] she regained consciousness, her parents affectionately told her that, if it made her happy, she might take Girdhar Lai with her without any further ceremony. She replied that if they valued her present and future happiness, they would give her the image, and she would worship it with heart and soul. Her parents had already perceived that she was a saint and lover of God, and so at the moment of separation from their beloved daughter they presented her with the image as part of her dowry.
Mira Bai, who was overjoyed at obtaining possession of the object of her devotion, set it up in her palanquin, and during the journey feasted her eyes on its beauty. On arriving at her new home, her mother-in-law, the Rani, had hardly paid her the rites of hospitality, when she asked her to worship Durga, a goddess of a totally different temper from the playful Krishan. Mira Bai replied that she had devoted her body to Girdhar Lai, and she would bow her head to none but him. Her motherin-law replied that a good wife was improved by worshipping Durga. But Mira Bai closed the discussion by saying it was of no use to press her further, and she would abide by her first determination. On this the Rani became very angry, and went to complain of Mira Bai to the Rana : ’ This daughter-in-law of ours is worthless, for on the very day of her arrival she refuseth to obey me and putteth me to shame. It is clear what our future relations are to be.’
The Rana became excessively incensed, and went to his daughter-in-law with the intention of punishing her. The Rani, however, had sufficient sense to restrain him ; and he decided that the interests of domestic peace would be consulted by putting Mira Bai into a separate apartment. Though it is admitted by Nabhaji that Rukmini, who became Krishan’s consort, and the milkmaids who became Krishan’s playfellows, did not meet him until they [ p. 345 ] had sacrificed to Durga, yet as Mira Bai had already obtained Krishan, it was unnecessary for her to worship Durga, and no exception could be taken to her conduct on the precedent of Rukmini and the milkmaids.
Mira Bai on finding herself in a private apartment became excessively happy, and gave full scope to her religious enthusiasm. She set up her image, decked and adorned it, and devoted herself night and day to the company of holy men. Her sister-inlaw Udai Bai was sent to remonstrate with her, and said, ’ Thou art the scion of a noble house. Be wise and desist from the company of faqirs, which casteth a slur on both our families/ Mira Bai replied, ’ The slur of hundreds of thousands of births departeth on association with saints. The slur is on her who loveth not their company. My life dependeth on the company of saints. To any one who is displeased with it thy remonstrance would be proper/ It was on this occasion that Mira Bai composed the following hymns : —
O my friend, my mind is attached to Krishan ; I shall not be restrained from loving him.
If any one give me a reproach, I will give a hundred thousand in return.
My mother-in-law is severe, my sister-in-law obstinate ; how can I endure this misery ?
Mira for the sake of the lord Girdhar would endure the obloquy of the world.
I have the god Girdhar and no other ;
He is my spouse on whose head is a crown of peacock feathers,
Who carrieth a shell, discus, mace, and lotus, and who weareth a necklace. [1]
I have forfeited the*respect of the world by ever sitting near holy men. [ p. 346 ]
The matter is now public ; everybody knoweth it. Having felt supreme devotion I die as I behold the world.
I have no mother, father, son, or relation with me.
I laugh when I behold my beloved ; people think I weep.
I have planted the vine of love, and irrigated it again and again with the water of tears.
I have cast away fear of the world ; what can any one do to me ?
Mira’s love for her god is fixed, come what may.
The Rana, on being informed of Mira Bai’s determination, became beside himself with rage, and sent her a cup of poison under the name of charn-amrit, that is, water in which an image had been bathed. When she tasted the liquor she knew it was poison, and thus apostrophized : ‘ The body is perishable, so why weep if it perish in the service of Krishan ? There needs be no regret at the disappearance of a mirage or at the failure of the son of a barren woman to wed. It is not right to say that the moon perisheth on the thirtieth day of the lunar month. Lamentations are as vain as the grief of a bee at the fading of an imaginary flower. As the fruit of a tree falleth, sooner or later, so have I fallen at Krishan’s feet. As a pearl born in the ocean is turned into an ornament, so shall I glitter in Krishan’s diadem. The world itself is an illusion’.
Mira-Bai’s only grief at leaving her body was that the worship of Krishan might decline. Having informed the god of her father-in-law’s intention, she thus addressed the object of her worship — ‘ People will say that the king poisoned his daughter-in-law because she worshipped thee. I fear therefore that thy worship will be neglected, and the apprehension causeth me poignant misery. Who will now put on thy decorations ? Who will put the saffron mark on thy forehead, attach dazzling rings to thine ears, [ p. 347 ] twine a garland of pearls round thy neck, girdle thee with a jewelled zone, tie on thy golden armlets and anklets, light incense to gratify thy nostrils, make thee offerings of sweet basil, present thee with sacred food to satisfy thy hunger, and prostrate herself in adoration before thee ? My father-in-law hath already abandoned thy worship in his displeasure with me, others too will reproach thee with my death and cease to do thee homage. But after all why should I be anxious ? Thou thyself knowest the past, the present, and the future. Thou hast ever preserved thy saints from poison, fire, and sword, so why should I be anxious now ? ’
On this Mira Bai put the cup of poison on her head in token of submission, and then cheerfully drank it, On that occasion she composed the following verses : —
Radha [2] and Krishan dwell in my heart.
Some say that Mira is insane, others that she hath disgraced her family.
Opening her veil and baring her breast, she danceth with delight before her god.
In the bowers of Bindraban, Krishan with the tilak on his forehead gladdeneth my heart.
The Rana sent a cup of poison and Mira drank it with delight.
Mira’s lord is the all- wise Girdhar ; she is bound to his service.
The Rana waited to hear of Mira’s death, but her life was miraculously preserved, and her cheeks gradually assumed a higher bloom. She devoted herself to the further decoration and ornamentation of the image, and decked it out in fashions ever new. She sang thfc praises of her god and filled [ p. 348 ] her heart with delight and immortal love. She also composed the following on this occasion :
I knew the Rana had given me poison.
God who caused my boat to float across, separated the milk and water for me. [3]
Until gold is annealed, it is not perfectly pure.
O king, keep thine own family in seclusion ; I am the wife of another. [4]
I sacrifice my mind and body to the saint even though he be a pariah ; I have sold myself to god.
Mira for the sake of worshipping the lord Girdhar is entangled in the feet of holy men.
When the Rana found that the poison had produced no effect, he appointed tipstaffs to watch Mira Bai, and report when she again conferred with faqirs, so that she might be put to death when detected in the act. She was in the habit of laughing and holding playful converse with the idol. One day a tipstaff went and said to the king, ‘At this very moment Mira Bai is holding conversation and laughing with some one.’ The king took up his sword, and called out to her to open the folding doors. He asked her where the person was with whom she had been holding such pleasant discourse. She replied, ‘There he is before thee, mine idol, mine adored. Open thine eyes and look. He is neither afraid nor ashamed of thee.’
Nabhaji states that Mira Bai and the idol had been playing at Indian draughts, and at the time of the Rana’s entrance the idol actually extended its arm to move a piece. The Rana on witnessing the miracle became ashamed. There was, however, no real impression made on his- obdurate heart. [5]
[ p. 349 ]
Once when Mira Bai was ill she composed the following : —
Krishan with the large eyes looked at me, and smiled
As I was going to draw water from the Jamna and the vessel glittered on my head.
Since then the delightful image of the dark and beautiful one hath dwelt in my heart.
You may write and bring me incantations, you may write and bring me spells, grind medicine and give it me, that will not cure me.
If any one bring me Krishan as my physician I will gladly arise.
His eye-brows are bows, his eyes the arrows which he fitted thereto, and dischargeth to pierce me.
Mira’s lord is the wise Girdhar ; how can I abide at home ?
A dissolute and abandoned person tried to tempt Mira Bai’s virtue. He told her that he was armed with Girdhar Lai’s permission to give her such pleasure as she could only obtain from man’s embraces. She replied that she humbly submitted to Girdhar Lai’s order, but that they must first dine. She meantime had a couch placed and dressed in the enclosure where saints were assembled. She there addressed her would-be paramour : ‘ Thou needest not be ashamed or afraid of any one, as the order of Girdhar Lai is on every account proper.’ The man replied, ‘ Does any one do such things before others?’ She said she knew of no secret place, for Krishan was everywhere present. ‘ He seeth the good and bad acts of all and rewardeth men according to their deserts.’ On hearing this the ruffian turned pale, and vice gave place to virtue in his heart. He fell at her feet and with clasped hands asked her mercy and divine intercession. Mira Bai felt compassion and brought him, in the words of the chronicler, face to face with God.
Tulsi Das, according to all received accounts, lived nearly a century after Mira Bai, but some [ p. 350 ] poets have made them contemporaries. The following letter to Tulsi Das is attributed by Raja Raghuraj Sinh to Mira Bai : —
To the holy lord Tulsi Das, the virtuous, the remover of sin, greeting —
I ever bow to thee, dispel all my sorrow.
All my husband’s relations give me continual annoyance.
They cause me to endure great suffering when I associate with saints, and perform my worship.
Since childhood Mira hath contracted love for Girdhar Lai :
She cannot now free herself from it in any way ; it completely overpowereth her.
Thou art to me a father and mother ; thou conferrest happiness on God’s saints.
Write and inform me what it is proper for me to do.
Tulsi Das’s reply : —
They who love not Ram and Sita
Should be abandoned as if they were millions of enemies, however much we love them.
Prahlad abandoned his father, Bibhishan his brother Rawan, and Bharat his mother,
Bali his guru, the women of Brij their husbands, and their lives were all happier for having done so.
The opinion of all holy saints is that relations with and love of God are alone true.
Of what avail is the eye-salve which causeth the eyes to burst ; what more can I say ?
Saith Tulsi Das, that spouse is worshipful, that son is dearer than life,
Who is attached to Ram ; he is my real friend in this world.
As Mira Bai has been made a contemporary of Tulsi Das, so also she has been rfiade a contemporary of the Emperor Akbar. It is said that having heard of the virtues and beauty of Mira Bai, he went with his minstrel, Tansen, both disguised as [ p. 351 ] hermits, to visit her. The following lines in attestation of this circumstance are attributed to Mira Bai :—
O mother, I recognize Krishan as my spouse.
Akbar came to test me and brought Tansen with him :
He heard singing, music, and pious discourse ; he bowed to the ground again and again.
Mira’s lord, the all-wise Girdhar, made me his protegee.
It is said that, on observing her devotion, Akbar was . very pleased with the good fortune which enabled him to behold her. He made her a present of a jewelled necklace which she accepted with some misgivings, as it appeared too valuable an article for an ascetic to possess. The emperor was equal to the occasion, and said that he had found it while performing his devotional ablutions in the river Jamna, and thought it would be a suitable present to make her god. Tansen, it is said, composed an ode in her honour, and he and his royal master then returned to their capital. The necklace was too valuable not to provoke remarks unfavourable to its recipient. The Rana submitted it to assayers who valued it at a fabulous sum of money. On inquiry it was found to be the. same that a jeweller had sold not long previously for a large price to the emperor. Further inquiry led to the identity of the two strolling hermits with Akbar and his favourite minstrel. Mira Bai’s fate was now sealed. Her husband suspected that she had been polluted by the emperor. For this there was but one penalty in that age — she must die. Mira Bai’s father-in-law sent her a cobra in a box, so that when she opened it the reptile might sting her to death. She was told it was a salagram. Before opening the box she addressed it as follows : —
O salagram in the box, why speakest thou not ?
I speak to thee, but thou repliest not ; why art thou silent ? [ p. 352 ]
This ocean of the world is very immense ; take mine arm and extricate me.
Mira’s lord, wise Girdhar, thou alone art my helper.
On opening the box Mira composed the following: —
What shall the Rana do to me ? Mira hath cast off the restraints of her line.
The Rana once sent a cup of poison to kill Mira ;
Mira drank it with delight, loving it as if it were water blessed by her lord. [6]
The Rana hath now sent a box containing a cobra ;
But when I opened it and looked, the cobra became a salagram.
There was a sound of rejoicing in the company of the saints ; Krishan had mercy on me.
I decorated myself, attached bells to my feet, and, keeping time with both my hands,
Danced before the idol, and sang the praises of Krishan.
The holy are mine and I am theirs ; the holy are my life.
Mira is absorbed in the holy as butter is in milk before churning.
Rana Sanga, Mira’s father-in-law, was still obdurate and determined that she should die by the sword, but no one could be found to act as exe^ cutioner. She was then ordered to kill herself in whatever way she thought fit. By this time she was a widow, her husband having predeceased his father, and her person was at her own disposal. Promising that she would obey the Rana’s command she retired to her solitary apartment, during the night put on the dress of a mendicant, and left the palace. She plunged in the nearest river to die in obedience to the order she had received. It is said that she was miraculously preserved by an angel who brought her to shore and addressed her : ‘ O queen, thou hast obeyed thy father-in-law and art worthy of all praise for thy devotion, but thou [ p. 353 ] hast a higher duty still to perform. It is thine to set a high example to the world, and show unto men how to fulfil the designs of the Creator and become absorbed in Him.’ When she recovered she found herself alone on the river’s bank with the current flowing at her feet. She stood up in amazement, not knowing for the moment what to do. She met some cowherds, of whom she inquired the way to Bindraban. They presented her with milk, and directed her whither to proceed. She walked on singing her hymns, the object of blessings and attentions in the villages through which she passed.
On her arrival in Bindraban she desired to see Jiv Gosain. To her disappointment he sent her word that he would allow no woman into his presence. [7] She replied, ‘ I thought everybody in Bindraban a woman, and only Girdhar Lai a man. [8] I learn to-day that there are other partners than Krishan in Bindraban.’ By this she scoffingly meant that the Gosain placed himself on an equality with Krishan as god of Bindraban. The Gosain, on hearing her rebuke, went barefooted to do her homage, and beholding her became filled with the love of God. [9]
[ p. 354 ]
Mira Bai with loving devotion traversed every grove and pathway of Bindraban, and having fixed the sweet image of Krishan in her heart returned to her late husband’s home. On finding her fatherin-law still obdurate, she went on a pilgrimage to Dwaraka, where Krishan reigned after leaving Mathura. There again she became entranced with the pleasure of adorning and enhancing the beauty of her favourite god.
During her absence from Chitaur, the capital of Mewar, the visits of holy men to that capital ceased. Dissensions arose in the state. It was only then that the Rana realized what a holy person he had lost. He sent several Brahmans and instructed them to use every entreaty to Mira Bai to induce her to return, and finally to tell her that it was impossible for him to live unless she complied with his prayer. The Brahmans executed his orders, but Mira Bai refused to put herself again in the Rana’s power. Upon this the Brahmans sat at her door and declared their intention of neither eating nor drinking till she had returned with them. She replied that she lived in Dwaraka only by the favour of Krishan. She would go and take leave of him and return to the Brahmans. She went to do homage to Ranchhor, [10] the visible representation of that god, became absorbed in his love, and what she had she gave — a humble offering of verses at his shrine : —
O god, remove thy servant’s sufferings ;
Thou didst supply Draupadi with endless robes and save her modesty ;
For the sake of thy saint Prahlad thou didst assume the body of a man-lion ;
Thou didst kill Hiranyakashapu, who had not the courage to oppose thee ; [ p. 355 ]
Thou didst kill the crocodile and extricate the drowning elephant from the water.
O beloved Girdhar, Mira is thy slave ; her enemies everywhere annoy her.
Take me, my friend, take me to thy care as thou knowest best .
I have none but thee ; do thou show mercy unto me.
I have no appetite by day and no sleep by night ; my body pineth away.
Lord of Mira, all-wise Girdhar, come to me now ; I cannot live in thine absence.
It is said that Ranchhor, on beholding her supreme love, could resist no longer. He incorporated her in himself, and she became lost to human gaze. The Brahmans searched for her in vain. The only trace of her they could obtain was her sarhi, which was found enveloping the body of the idol. The Brahmans’ faith in Krishan was confirmed, but their mission otherwise was unsuccessful, and they returned sore disappointed to the Rana. The latter soon experienced the further mortification of beholding his state conquered and plundered, it is said, by the victorious army of Akbar as a retribution for the ill-treatment of Mira Bai.
The following is one of the hymns whose passionate devotion is said to have produced the result of Mira Bai’s union with Ranchhor : —
O Lord Ranchhor ; grant me to abide in Dwaraka, to abide in Dwaraka.
With thy shell, discus, mace, and lotus dispel the fear of death .
All places of pilgrimage ever abide in the Gomti for me.
The clash of thy shell and cymbals is to me ever the essence of pleasure.
I have abandoned my country, my queenly robes, my husband’s palace, my property, and my kingdom.
Mira, thy slave, cometh to thee for refuge ; her honour is now totally in thy keeping. [11]
[ p. 356 ]
It is said that in commemoration of the miraculous disappearance of Mira Bai, her image is still worshipped at Udaipur in conjunction with that of Ranchhor, the beloved Girdhar of her childhood.
The following is Mira Bai’s hymn in Bhai Banno’s Granth Sahib.
MARU
God [12] hath entwined my soul, O mother,
With His attributes, [13] and I have sung of them.
The sharp arrow of His love hath pierced my body through and through, O mother.
When it struck me I knew it not ; now it cannot be endured, O mother.
Though I use charms, incantations, and drugs, the pain will not depart.
Is there any one who will treat me ? Intense is the agony, O mother.
Thou, O God, art near ; Thou are not distant ; come quickly to meet me.
Saith Mira, the Lord, the mountain-wielder, [14] who is compassionate, hath quenched the fire of my body, O mother.
The Lotus-eyed hath entwined my soul with the twine of His attributes.
This is a description of Vishnu, of whom Krishan was an incarnation. ↩︎
Wife of Ayana Ghosha (a cowherd) and favourite mistress of Krishan while he lived as Gopal among the cowherds in Bindraban. — Dowson’s Dictionary of Hindu Mythology. ↩︎
That is, saved me in the ordeal. ↩︎
I am wedded to Girdhar Lai, not to thy son. ↩︎
Mira Bai’s idol is still preserved in a temple dedicated to her in the old abandoned fortress of Chitaur, once the home of the ancestors of the Maharana of Udaipur. ↩︎
Water in which her idol had been bathed. ↩︎
This originally Oriental exclusiveness had long previously been imitated by Christian ascetics. St. Senanus is represented as thus addressing a female saint who sought to land in his island —
Quid foeminis
Commune est cum monachis?
Nec te nec ullam aliam
Admittemus in insulam. ↩︎
On the principle, already stated, that God is deemed a husband and human beings His wives. ↩︎
Jiv Gosain was the son of Ballabh Acharya, and uncle of Rupa and Sanatan, two devout followers of Chaitanya, the great Vaishnav reformer of Bangal (A. D. i 485-1 533). Rupa and Sanatan had been ministers of the Muhammadan ruler of Bihar, and were of royal blood, high rank, and great wealth* all which advantages they relinquished to lead religious lives. Jiv Gosain was an author of some pretensions. He annotated a treatise of his nephew Rupa, describing religious pleasures and emotions. He wrote a book on the acts of Krishan, but his greatest work was one in which he amplified his annotations on the treatise of Rupa, and dwelt at length on the various phases of devotional exaltation. ↩︎
Krishan received the name Ranchhor when he fled from Raja Jarasandh to Dwaraka. ↩︎
The hymns in this life of Mira Bai are translated from Raja Raghuraj Sinn’s Bhagat Mal. ↩︎
Kawalnain, the Lotus-eyed, an epithet of Krishan, the object of Mira Bai’s special worship. ↩︎
Gun has two meanings — a rope or twine, and an attribute. ↩︎
Krishan. ↩︎