कृष्ण जू राज़दान

MIRA BHAI-The Princess Devotee :

by Dr. Chaman Lal Raina

MIRA BAI --- THE DEVOTEE OF KRISHNA

Born in the year 1499 A.D.,Mira Bai was a princess of Kudaki Merata of the Rathore clan of Marward in Rajasthan. She was the daughter of the Rathore king Rattan Singh. The Chosen deity of the Rathore clan is Bhagavan Shri Chaturbujanath, and that is none else but  Lord 'Narayana' with four arms. Their clan was initiated into the Nimbaraka tradition of Shri Radha Krishna - Sarveshwar ji of Salemabad (Rajasthan). The Nimbharaka tradition believes in the Dvaita-Advaita mode of worshipping the Bhagawan Vishnu, i.e. duality and non- duality of the Absolute Divinity. The being and becoming are to be woven through Bhakti and Jnana.. This princely clan is said to be Vaishnavites, belonging to the 'Saguna' sect - realizing the Lord with attributes and form, along with the Shakti, in the form of Shri Radha. In this religious atmosphere the great Mira was born.

"The forehead of the little Mira, shows the signs of the female Guru", said by the  royal astrologers of that  pricely clan. Child Mira once rose up startled by the sound of marriage procession, that took place, below their palace. Mira of five was asleep at that time. She saw the child bride groom, dressed in the beautiful Mewari robes, artistically adored. Mira cried, "O Mother ! Who is my bride groom ?" Swift and prompt came the reply from her mother, "Giridhar Gopal is your bride groom."

Girdhar Gopal , the idol of Lord Krishna, placed in the palace and child Mira took it very seriously and started paying her respects to the idol. Since then Giridhar Gopal became a  focal  point  of her adoration with the mental attitude to seek Him, in that idol. This is known as Shabda-Shakti - the power of the Word, as described in the Shakti tradition and in the Upanishadic  scriptures. Shabda is Brahman. The Word is absolute Reality, the primal manifestation. It is the VAK, which is revered as the Para-Shakti in the Agamas.

Hinduism believes in the reincarnation. Lord Krishna is said to be the 'Shodasha Kala Avatara' - the Lord with sixteen digits - the sacred number in the Shakti tradition. The Devi Radha is said to be the sixteen syllabled Mother - Creatrix. Lord Krishna and Radha are complementary to each other to fulfill the Divine design of mutual understanding and trust. They took the Avatara to play the role of Divine transcendence.  In the language of Sri Aurobindo an Avatara lives the normal life, but his being is always conscious of applying the Divine nature in  life. He shows the way, as how to make the life's journey from 'dawn to higher dawn'. It is  a way to teach to the humanity how to reach the destiny. Verily, that is spiritual enlightment, for which Mira aspired from her early childhood.

What does Giridhar Gopal mean?

Giri in Sanskrit means a hillock and Dhar  means, he who holds it. The rule of Sanskrit grammer  under Samasa/compound known as the Samasat pada  suggests the meaning as he who holds the hillock is the Giridhara. So Giridhara is an epithet of Shri Krishna. The Bhagvatam says:

 Lord Krishna took the mount Govardhan on the little finger of his hand, purely to save the cow and cowherds from the heavy rains during  month  of Shravana(July/August). During his early childhood,Shri Krishna saved them from the Indra's curse - the god of rains and thunder. Was this a miracle, or a divine intervention, is a mystery for the devotees. But the scriptures say Lord Krishna was a Yogi par-excellence, and as  the Avatara of the later part of the Dwapar Yuga, he showed the right path to the humanity, making the people free from the superstitions of the time.   One of the names of Shri Krishna is Gopala.Gopala is the Cowherd, as the Yadavas are said to belong to the cowherd clan. Krishna was born of this clan from the wedlock of Vasudeva and Devaki in the prison, because his maternal uncle Kamsa was told by the foretellers that he was destined to be killed by the eighth child of his sister Devaki. So the couple was put in prison, with the motive to kill the eighth child at the very moment, the baby would be born.

The Bhagvat Purana says:  Lord Krishna was born on the 8th lunar date of the Bhadrapada month at the appearance of the moon time during mid-night at the concluding years of  the Dvapara Yuga - third aeon in the prison cell of Mathura. The moment Krishna was born, all the prison doors got opened, the prison officials got mesmerized and fell into sleep, during heavy rains. Vasudeva took the Lord Krishna just new born baby on his head in a Shurpa - winnowing basket and handed over to his trusted friend Nanda Gopa - the chieftain of the cowherds. Thus the Lord Krishna became a Gopala. A cowherd from a prince and the Saviour of Dharma  was recognised as the saviour and  the Lord. This was the spiritual criterion for Mira to understand the beauty and destiny of Avatara - incarnation, which she expresses in her songs known as Bhajans. Bhajans are the songs sung by devotees. These songs are always seeking for the divine grace.

Mira grew in age. She was married to Bhojraj the heir to the throne of Chittor (Rajasthan) in 1516 A.D. Though she was very devoted to her husband, yet she was always attuned with the flavour of Divine name of Krishna. Her singing of the Bhajans, came out not from intellect, but from the inner recesses of her heart. She would dance, playing Iktara - the one stringed musical guitar, in praise of Lord Krishna.

This was not appreciated by her in-laws. How the princess - the future queen of Chittor could be a dancing girl in the sanctum sanctorum of Chittor palace ? Thus she was put to trouble, torture and humiliation. She was put in turbulence and her life was made miserable by her 'Devar' the younger brother of her husband. She was poisoned, but with least effect on her body. A cobra was put  in the Charnamritam pot and was hit at her. 'Charnamrit' pot is a utensil of the gold/silver/copper in which the sacred Ganges/Ganga water is distributed with Paatri/special spoon three times on the right hand palm of the devotee, by the Pandit - the family male priest, after the ritualistic worship of Shalagram - the circular emblem of Vishnu is over. Thus , she grew more and more stronger in the spiritual ecstasy, through and through, day and night.

It is said that her spiritual Guru was Ravidas  Ji. It was he, who initiated her in the Girdhar Gopala Mantra - the sacred syllable of the Vaishnava tradition. What does this reflect ? The Divine name can be uttered by any person. It is the virtual ambrosia, and can be taken by the devotee at any time. Vaishnavi Shakti is for sustenance, for maintenance and for the coherence of thought , word and deed. Shri Vaishnava Mantra is for the realization of both Shri Radha and Shri Krishna in the Baalya Avastha/ child hood state of the Lord.

She ignored the caste system and worked for the liberation of woman from the traditional Purdha system, that was used by the Rajasthani women then. Through her god intoxicated deeds, she believed that all are equal in the eyes of God.

Being put to great humiliation and suffering, by her princely clan, she left for Brindaban - the play field of Lord Krishna and his Shakti in the manifestation of Radha in their childhood and pre- adolescence age. The Bhagavata Purana says : 'God does not descend alone, but with His Shakti also'. Radha is the incarnation of Lakshmi as the consort of Vishnu in His eighth incarnation, with a flute in His hand. Finally, Mira got immersed in the spiritual ecstasy, worshipped and adored Lord Krishna alone.

For Mira, Girdhara Gopala became a Mantra of Divine Love. All her thought process was a single pointed devotion to Lord Krishna. All the time, she would be absorbed in treating Him as a child. She danced in singing the glory of Shri Krishna . She sang the inner experience of "Vatsalya  Bhaava' in the lovely tunes , as if the Lord has manifested for her amusement. She would sing :

Mine is Girdhara Gopala, none else.

He who wears the peacock crown is Mira's Lord;

Father, mother, brother or kin,

none is mine,

I have flung the pride of my family:

What care I for any one!

Living in the company of saints,

I bade good-bye to the world and its opinions,

I tore aside my veil of many hues

 and bedecked myself with coarse thread;

Pearl and corals---,

I cast aside to weave the garland of wild flowers.

With my tears for water,

 I nourished the creeper of love;

Now that the creeper has spread,

 the fruit shall be joy itself.

The milk-churn I twirled with deep emotion,

And butter I gleaned: let him who would, have the leavings.

I was born for devotion's sake,

 but the sight of the world made my heart captive.

Mira is Thy maid, O Lord Giradhara;

 save me now .

Mira  is said to be the authoress of the Raga Govinda. A big anthology of Mira Bhajans are available in the Hindi script. Mira stands for unconditional love for the Lord Giridhar Gopal. Stimuli from the sense organs for inward journey reach the state of pure Krishna Consciousness, where they create the feeling of emotions, to have the glimpse of the Lord, which she sang in ecstasy in the form of Bhajans..

The impressions and tendencies, gathered from the spiritual atmosphere of saints, the godly persons, Sadhus made a pavement for Mira to ascend to the kingdom of God, which is 'Vaikuntha' in the Vaishnava tradition  of Hindus. She left her mortal body in 1546 A.D. at Dwarika (Gujarat), and she lost herself in the realm of Supreme Lord Giridhar Gopal. Her name and form merged  itself in the Supreme consciousness, known as Samvit in the scriptures.Before ascending to the higher consciousness of Samvit, she felt the rejuvenated life bubbling out of her ecstasy :

"How I prize the thought of heavenly bliss in my mind!

My eyes are filled with tears as I think of my Home;

The heart is constantly aching, every moment

The pain is getting more and more excruciating.

At night or in day I know no sleep,

Nor have I the least craving for food or drink.

Such pain dwells within me that I lie sleepless night and day.

To whom should I describe my anguish?

In my pain I wander hither and thither.

I seek a physician of Those Regions:

None is there to guide me;

I met my Sataguru, Saint Raidas,

Who gave me a souvenir in the shape of the Name of God.

I advanced and met my Lord, then was my pain allayed.

I threw dust on the head of the world,

Then did I attain to my Home.

(c.f. The Story of Mira Bai published by the Gita Press, Gorakhpur, India)