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OGFRAPH

MIRABAI

T II K SAINT OF MEW A IJ>

2095
I5Z72

S. S. WEMT A.

J. SAKLATWALLA MEMORIAL SERIES No.

MIRABAI

MONOGRAPH

MIRABAl

THK SAINT OF M K W A 13

S, S. M E H T, A B. A.

SEPO

Tie

Printed at the Fort Printing Press,
No. 1, Parsi Bazar Street, Fort,

and

Published by S. S. Mehta, B. A., Bhatwadi, Girgaon,
Bombay.

jfpiir

Born %~TTJ dJ&USrfl**^*. Died

18-9-1890. / ' 20-I-I9I9-

THE IJKLoVKl) MKMUl^ <>|
D. J, S.

•Still seems it so impossible H thing
That thou art gone,—
That not in all ray life 1 everni
With pleased ear,

Thy <|uu-k light feet atlvar.riiitf to my d
Again sliall hear.—

That thou not ever with inquiring looks
Or subtle talk,—

Shalt bring tome sweet hindrance 'mid ray books
Or studious walk.—
That whatsoever else of good for in*
In store remain,

This lieth out of hope my child, to see
Thy face again."

.<t<i
./. t I. /:.

" Those we call the dead

Are breathers of an ampler day

For ever nobler ends

(Tennyson, In Mem.)

PREFACE.

True Life is only Love and Love is only Bliss.

Our human life is but a preparation and probation
for a higher and nobler one —a blessed eternal existence
In the race of enjoying a higher life, the mode of running
differs with ench entity. Truth lies at the bottom of
the well — the striking parallel to this is supplied by
the Indian adage — " Dharmasya tattvam nihitum
Guhayam " — signifying that the essence of religion lie*
concealed in a mysterious cave. And this is illuatratec
by what Cardinal Newman calls the mystical view oi
the Universe i.e. the religious, insignt which sees in the
visible Universe only outward signs of the spiritual
realities within it and especially in human beauty a type
of the Divine perfection. This alone constitutes
duty, truth and beauty — for every one is going in
search of it — yet none has traced and found it except
those chosen by God. Truth is, therefore, perhaps
enjoined to be traced from cypher, since it arises from
anti-truth or untruth. It is u sat " — real existence of
the Eastern philosopher : for, it is the only Reality ;
and the manliness of man lies in pursuing Truth for
its own sake, and exhibiting the results of a persistent
and persevering investigation before the world for the
enlightenment and future guidance of all.

M&n created on the surface of this globe has to
trace out the Truth — " sat " — the real essence of
existence here below, and to feel sure or recognise in his
heart of hearts the mutual usefulness predominant over
all things that are capable of attracting him for
transitory enjoyment of worldly objects Times out of
mind the Eastern ideal has continued to exist and to
avow that worldly objects of happinsss are all evanascent
and divine bliss lies in extending to the widest range
possible the doctrine of " Bhutadaya" i.e., sympathy
for all existing objects, as practically as possible. It is
a patent fact that the first and final craving, again,
for uli is for happiness — irrespective of the means of
achievement ; for in regard to those means, differences
and dissimilarities arise.

There is in nature a variety of combining forces
which brings about a variety of forms and figures,
names and designations all over, from the minutest
insect to Brahma or from the infinitesimal bein^ to the
enormous or gigantic shape available. Nature teaches
a sound unfailing lesson of harmony to all in a fairly
equal and equitable manner. Every conflict signifies
ultimate creation, even1 after dissolution— for it is dis-
solution arid combination ; or distruction and construc-
tion ; or in other words still, Involution and Evolution.

This small manual does not need any long word of

intro luction, in as much as the philosophy contained in

'Mica's poetry was the philosophy, more or less, of the

Paranas, and especially, the Biiagavata ; so that it

Ill

cannot lay any cUim to the higher truths propounded
by Sankara. Ramanuja or Madhva. However, the most
popular form that .-criptiual expositions made by the
wi'itfcis of the middle ages took, was to a small extent
manifest, in the songs that made Mira's name immortal
in certain quarters. Mira's home after marriage proved
for her a life-long source of grief and distress. She
never liked to be gay or cheerful except in the grave
adoration of her celestial husband." Sri Krishna who
WHS her everlasting solace, and whose devotion alone was
capable of saving her from physical sin and secular grief
and misery. It was this love which opened her eyes to
spiritual beauty and heavenly mysteries. It is very
difficult to judge whether she decided upon the sure
and smooth line of action for her life in a spirit of
cynicism or stoicism. To her, such terms could have
signified nothing, to the critical analyser, it may be
easy to pronounce a definite opinion, but the present
effort is not meant to analyse her mind in such a subtle
and penetrating manner, only by basing the process on
vague folklores and traditions as well as a few verses,
that are available. Besides, I always am prone to
harbour scruples and misgivings perhaps more than
reasonable with regard to hastening the process of
analysis and examination of facts, and jumping to a
definite conclusion, so that that task and all other
subtler nutters are left to the discretion of abler and
more critical treatments of wiser and more comprehensive
intellects that can command more materials search drawr
I know, I have my own defects and drawbacks, flaws,

* Cf. The Lives of St. Clare, St. Agnes, St. Rose of Liniu and others.

faults and foibles and " what is writ is Writ, " _ more
than that or better than that, I cannot do.

Moreover, it may be added that there was no joy or
cause of cheerfulness in worldly joys and she eschewed
, them like evil. She pursued her prayer with perseve-
rance and remained devoutly and absolutely absorbed
in her loving worship of Sri Krishna, disregarding the
jibes and taunts of all concerned. Perhaps, she was
alive to t-hn sense contained in the pregnant words of
of Bhartrihari that :-<N[ %W aiTflff^r f^TRrf
^FI^ the world has been dreadfully infatuated
after drinking the wine of Vanity arid Egotism. This
immortal line is true throughout all times and all
climes.

And now in closing I crave for the leniency of the
indulgent reader for any faults of omission OL% com-
mission. This preface will be brought to an end by the
following Sanskrit Stanza : —

faft

MIRABAI-AND VAISHNAVISM IN GUJARAT.

CHAPTKR— I.

" Disguise our bondage as we will
Tis woman, woman rules us still."

Born in the land of Mewad, carrying at the back
the fame of history and connected in worldly bonds with
a dynasty of valorous deeds, Mirabai claims the attention
of Gujarat no less than that of Mewad and Mar war. She
belonged to that high and noble womanhood that has
made a mark in the Upanishads— the type of which is
represented by Gargi Vachaknavi who asked in the
assembly of learned Brahmans a set of intricate questions
of Yajnyavalkya and said : — " I have risen to fight thee
with two questions"; and by Maitreyi who said to her
lord : " Why, ray lord, if this whole earth full of wealth
belonged to me, tell me, should I be immortal by it '' ?

To this type of womanhood Mirabai belonged. Her
career in life enriched her surroundings and she played
the role in much better parts and in intense, of Ambapali
who invited the holy Gautama Buddha to her house,
much in the same way that Aspatia received Socrates —
and even more ; for Mirabai spread her religious
propaganda far and wide with immaculate series of
devout deeds and rapturous songs of spiritual develop-
ment.

The pride of Mewar and Marwar, Mira's fame spread
through out Gujarat only by virtue of her immortal Muse
that continued to shower praise of God's glory at all
iiines, without any artificiality about her. Nrisimha
[ehta was the Chaucer of Gujarati poetry ; but Mirabai
was the first Gujarati poetess. Her name and fame
claim our careful attention for more reasons than one.
The blood of the martyr is the seed of the church. This
adage bears its fruits in Mirabai, and the greater became x
her affliction owing to the infliction of undeserving
penalty upon her, the more immaculate proved her
character and the more fervent reverence and devotion
does she deserve from posterity.

History has proved the existence of race animosity -
during the l2th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th centu-
ries in India, and with no baited breath, can the
sex animosity be placed side by side. Both these factors
will have to be put under a close examination in the
sequel with regard to details but in the meantime, it
will be worth while to note that Vaishnavism was posed
against S'aivism during the age in which Mirabai lived.

Talking of Gujarat it can be asserted that unlike
the conditions of revolutionary Europe, when religious
calm evidently fled away from the atmosphere, poetry
was not frightened away by the storm, and polemical
writings began to redouble their force and assert their
ground. During the time of Nrisimha Mehta the so-called
Pdkhand Mata i.e., sham and hypocrisy in religious
belief had not gained its ground, and asserted its class

or spread its mischief so much -i< it di«l in liter days of
Akho and others. True literary history, to start with,
tlh-ii opens with the dawn of NTris; ' geaiua

in the 15th century. Gujarat at the time v ^tracted

greatly by strifes and internieine quarrels ; as a <
sequence of which there was a good <i r it

not anarchy and the sweets of peaceful life ii
could not be enjoyed. It was the time when the Tagh!
and Lodi dynasties ruled and paved the way sm<
by their Civil Wars for the advent an I victorious rule of
Babar and his descendants. Faith in old gods was flicker-
ing or forced in some places; chance or carprice on tin-
side, and power or predominance on the" other, perverted
or subverted the flow of faith in religion. In fact reli-
gion torn asunder was trying to grow hydra-headed. The
long continued quarrel between Dnyana and
became resolved into Bhakti, a more popular form ai.
proper resultant of the two forces. The Brahmanic c
close confined to the former and especially to the doctrines
of the Vedanta came to be launched into a period of
religious transition by the vigorously devoted preach;
of Nrisimha Mehta.

CHAPTER II.

The Earlier History of Gujrat.

[ It will not be amiss at this stage to advert to the
history of Gujarat en passant. From Jayshekhar to
Karan Yaghela and his conqueror Alla-ud-din, the pages
of history, purely as such, provide a proper narration
of facts, social, political and religious. But the earlier
part, if at all deserving attention can be summarised
by a bare mention of the rise of the Chalukyas who
subjugated the Maduras of the Konkan, and during the
regime of Pulakesin II, in the second decade of the 7th
century, even the Lats of Southern Gujarat, Gurjara or
Northern Gujarat and Raj pu tana as well as Malwa were
all conquered. In fine, these were all the dark days of
Gujarat, 610-620, A.D.

The word Gujarat has been traced to many etymo-
logies by the father of modern poetry — Xarmada Shankar
who cites the authority of Dr. Bhau Daji, and
observes that previous to the 7th century of the
Christian era, the word had no existence at all,
and that the race that founded the Kingdom of
Gujarat upon the ruins of Vallabhipur was known
by the name, Choras or Gujar.3, The boundaries,,
geographically speaking, as fixed by the well known
Pandit Vrijlal have bean laid down with some

certainty — based upon ancient writing. 'Garavi-
Gujarat' then stands bounded by Arbuda chains in the
North, the desert of Kachcha in th-j West, the river
Mahi in the south afrdDangarpura — Vansav&d4 districts
in the East. With these, it will not be difficult f>
compare the modern limits of Gujarat under the '
Sovereignty ; so that the work can be left to the care •
of the reader.

It will not be out of place at this stage to trace
the Vaishnava form of worship in the land. Avanti-
varma was the first Vaishnava king about whom w<- have
an occassion to read something in history proper, rlis
successor SankaravarmS, extended his conquests to Guja-
rat. He, it was whp exasperated the Brahmanas by
trusting to his Kay&stha financiers. And it was he on
whose funeral pyre, perished his three queans as Sati in
902 A. D.

From 980 to 1003, A D., many scenes disgraced
the court of Kashmir. This was the time when Mahmud
of Gazni was nigh and had already commenced his in-
vasions. This was, again, the time when as remarked l>y
Dr. Wilson in his work on the religious sects of the Hin-
dus, that nineteen classes of Vaishnavism and eleven
classes of Saivism and four classes of Saktas, besides other
miscellaneous sects existed in India. The chief apology,
be it observed in passing, for tracing briefly the origin
of the religious quarrel in the shape of Saivism an«l
Vaishnavism is no other than that of giving a connected

idea of the serious aspect it assumed during the ages of
Nrisimha Mehta, Mirabai and Dayaram, especially in
view of the fact that Mirabai was a Martyr to her faith
and has as a consequence a just claim to the immortality
•f her fame-

To give the reader some definite idea about the
leading doctrines of the V?iishnavite faith, it is but fit
to remark that it may appear in many forms to be a
survival of the Buddhistic faith. For there is- the same
theoretical equality of all men and all castes and the
same prohibition against the destruction of animal life.
There is one personal God, Vishnu, in whom they
believe ; and he is adored, by the common people as
Krishna. The amours of Sri Krishna with the milk
maids of Vrindavan are the conceptions of writers in,
.the Puranic period of Hindu civilization in India ranging
from A.D., 500 to A. D. 1000

As proved by Bankim Chandra, one of the greatest
of the modern age, the Mahabharata makes no mention
of these amorous stories. In fact, if the retrospect were
extended still farther in its range, it would be easy to
see that the worship of images in temples was unknown
to the Hindus before the age of Buddhistic revolution.
Priests gradually beoame the custodians of the temple ;
and pompous celebrations began to arrest the imagination
ofjjall classes, superstition increased; art and poetry?
music and sculpture ail lent their aid. Pilgrimages came
into being, and were organized on a very large scale-

Gods and tem; lu\!!y !>- ;i;i t > multiply ; and the

forms or' devot orse

ways.

'• The Worl'i j none,

Trust then the World's maker and all is well done,
Lean not on her Kingdoms thy back or thy he
For many, thy peers, she has nourished and s,
\\ hen the pure soul d esires from her prison to
Ifc is the same on a throne, or a dust heap to di

CHAPTER III.

Early History Continued,
Replacing: Sanskrit by Prakrit.

This was the eady history of the whole country,
when Rama and Krishna, on the one* hand and Siv.-i
the other, divided the hearts and enlisted the sympat
of the different classes of Gujarat. Each individual was
no doubt, inspired within himself or herself, with the-
consciousness of the Supreme Power, but the attributes
being different in certain cases, the out-ward forms and
rituals of devotion, began to differ. RamananJi doctrine
was spread with due ardour and enthusiasm in some
parts of India. Nanak-propa-g^nda was unfurling its
banner in the North of India ; and Kabir was trying to

make the thorny paths smoother for treading by means
of his preachings of toleration and unity of men through
God- Nrisimh Mehta was extolling the glory of the
Vaishnavite doctrine, while trying to identify himself
with Krishna, the subject of his song, the object of his
heart, and the Sole Pervader of the Cosmos. And so
followed suit the first poetess of literary Gujarat,
Mirabai.

The Puranic era as a whole with its Sanskrit form
of preaching had come to a close ; and ved£ntic doctrines ,
had taken a different and perhaps a more personal as
well as prosaic turn in the hands of Ramanuja, the great
Reformer and Religionist of the 12th century — The com-
ing of this great Luminary of Vaishnavisam was foretold
to Hnrita Rishi — "In thy line, Harita will be born Sesha
himself- My own-for world's salvation." Bhutapuri Mahat-
mya III (1045), Madhva and others who made it a
practically temporal form of worship more than the
highly metaphysical and therefore abstruse type of
ShankarachaTya's teaching between the llth and 14th
centuries, when Sanskrit which had already ceased
to be a spoken popular language, lost much of its favour
with leading writers also. And although Jagannath,
of Rasa Gangadhar fame, Jayadeva the immortal
author of Gitfi-govind and a few others manifested their
sincere devotion to the classical mother-language,
still their works were not sufficient to awaken the same
spirit of devotion in others owing to a great change
of time and. place and circumstances. The centuries

between A.D. 1000 and A. D. 1400 bear the stamp of
of literary dark ages of Gujarat. Quibbles, Wranglings
and hairsplittings, in arguments as a consequence of
attempting to root out Buddhism, filled the pages of
books that may not deserve to be called literary.

Literary endeavours were made with Prakrit or
Apabhramsa, that is to say corrupted Sanskrit as the
vehicle of thought, and yet no prose or poetic composition,
neither history nor philosophy came to be published.
The learned Shastri Vrijlal informs us that Apabhramsa,
which ought to have been more carefully and extensively
cultivated was as well consigned to oblivion ; and some
few tolerably fair attempts made by a handful of bards
remind us of the Bardic attempts daring the Pre-chau-
cerean times which can equally bear the name of
linguistic transition period. In the first and second
quarters of the 12th century, moreover. Prakrit found
favour with the people; and it became their spoken
language— the medium of oral intercourse. In fine,
Apabhramsa and Prakrit dug the grave of their divine
Mother Sanskrit, and yet the Sanskrit Muse did not
vacate the throne, for the Prakrit Muse-Hemachandra, a
famous Jain writer on grammar husbanded the resources
of Prakrit, and put forth its grammatical crop, early in
the }2th century.

Note:— For some glimpse of the spread of Visnnavism in Bengal and
the advent oi poets like Chandidas and Vidyapati followed by the rise of
that celebrated Saint of Nadia--Lord Gauranga— Chaitanya. (vide
J. Sarkar's Chaitanya and his pilgrimage— and D. N. Sen's Hist,
of Bengali Language and Literature).

Such was the condition of literary Gujarat when the
first rays were shot out by the Sun of Nrisimha Mehta's
faith. The Chaucer of Gujarat met with many difficulties-
including the one of expression owing to the change of the
popular language. The last brightness of Prakritic efforts
melted imperceptibly into the redness of the dawning
of Gujarati literature, and the brilliant genius of
Nrisimha Mehta's devotion first peeped out from beyond
the darkened clouds of our horizon. In his close wake
did Mirabai follow. Her works brought out with faith
and through faith, and bequeathed as a lasting legacy to
posterity, are apt to enlighten the heart of every reader,
even in the present civilized times, in the midst of which
they still continue to reflect a child like innocence
mingled with a tenacious fervour. They indicate a
deep and firmly rooted belief in a Holy Mission, and
a heavy obligation to fulfil it. The lives of Meht& and
Mira were faith, and faith was their individual life ; and
theirs was no idle contest consisting of words alone. The
religious element in the works of both alike tries to take an
all embracing view of life ; it tries to universalize~and
unite. With 'Tulsi' rosaries on their necks, upright
' Tilak' mark, a distinguishing badge of true Yaishnava
faith, puton their foreheads ; with marks also of Krishna's
holy feet impressed on their arms, Mehta and Mira in
their own respective ages, moving in an ecstasy of holy
faith in a circular dance with pious devotees, and sing-
ing praises and prayers to Sri Krishna day after day
kour after hour without caring for sensuous pain or

coveting for wordly pleasures can be pictured to the mind' s
eye by any student of Gujarati literature after reading
their sw6et naturally flowing force of easy musical lan-
guage in their works even today.

CHAPTER IV

)

There is one Mind, one omnipresent Mind,
Omniscient. His most holy name is Love.

' How long we live, not years but actions tell. That
man lives twice who lives the first life well." The litera-
ture of Gujarat consists mainly of poetry. Literature
as such is either. Drasya an object of sight or Sravya
an object of hearing or perhaps of both. Dramatic
writings which are only a numbered few are not attempted
by many authors, and Premanand stands out preeminent
above the rest. The 15th and 16th centuries A. D. claim
the first invoking and awakening of the Gujarati Muse.
After Mehta several writers flourished among whom are
counted Yishnudas of Stambatirtha — Cam bay, Bhirna of
Siddhapura ; Bh&lana of Patana, Tulsi of Kuntalapura,
Devidas of Sojitrsi, and Sivadas, a N"agar Brahman ot
Cambay. This galaxy of poets is closed by Akh£
Bhakta — who is a connecting link between the first
period and the second period ; the latter being closed
by Dayaram, who can be regarded as the poet of the-

transitional period which ushered in the 3rd age of the
literary history of Gujarat — this third age being closed
by the poet-laureate of modern times — kavi Narmadas-
hankar after whom poetry is lying in a moribund condi-
tion. So much for this. The remarkable feature of
the evolution of poetry in Gujurat is that it has been
graced by a female poet, whose name has remained up
to now a household word with the God-loving people
of Gujarat who have a leaning towards the song of Love-
Devotion* She is no other than -Mirabai of Mewad-
Marwar, at once poetess, martyr and saint. A saint
is essentially and necessarily a man or a woman of
.penance not always of external and outward penance but
always and everywhere a victim. Self denial must of
necessity be the precursor of a life of intimate union with
God and the more close the union, tha stern must be the
«elf denial. Now a days, men will not understand that
self must abdicate, if God is to reign; consequently, saints
are few as Virgil has sung "Rare nantes in gurgit vasto"
(swimming, one here and another there, in the vast deep.)
The sweet music of this devout lirstGujarati poetess falls
softly on the ready ear of every woman and enters into the
heart to dwell there. It is known to bring sweet nectar
from the blissful regions-of Krishna's sporting ground
of Vrindavana, It was her sweetly cherished dream ; and
as she thought if perfection dwelt any where in the
fleeting world, it did so in her dream and vision which
proved the sole source of solace in her life. Her heart ever
seemed to express " My sole possession is Thy love ; In
Earth beneath, or Heaven above, I have no other store ;

And though with fervent suit I pray, and importune
Thee night and day, I aak Thee nothing more." Her love
for God of which she was fully conscious from the very
beginning, gathered colour especially when her husband
and his kinsmen began to interfere with spiritual love.
And what sort of effect did the constraint produce ?
It was at this stage she experienced this change of
heart which filled her with joy and peace in the life
of faith and the mysteries of "inner life' and the
happiness of the state of ''recollection in God." The-
fervent devotional songs in which she describes this
crisis in lieu life are truly inspiring and point to the
early attainment towards a state of quietism and to
have cried "'Ever joined to Thee at all times, services all,
I must render Thee, 0, Krishna/' The fervency of her
love for Krishna became so great and over powering that
it allowed no intermission. It was a state of mind where-
in the taste of God was so great, so pure, unblended and
uninterrupted that it drew and absorbed the powers of
the soul into a profound recollection, a state of confiding
and affectionate rest in Krishna. During such ecstatic
state she had no sight but for her beloved Giridhara and
repeatedly renewed her spiritual marriage with her Re-
deemer Krishna. She excluded everything, every
thought of worldly existence in order to love, with
greater purity and energy, her spiritual lover Krishna.
Not unlike madame Guyon her poetic outpourings
similar to the " Spiritual Torrents " of pure Jove and
rt fixed state " which consist in the complete identifica-
tion of the human will with the will of God, were

bourgeoning themselves within her and at last found
expression in her devotional songs which are a heritage
of Divine Love and true Devotion left behind her to
the people of Gujarat.

.Like the Prin'cess of Tennyson she broke out within
herself, addressing her words to the Omnipresent Image
of Shri Krishna : " I wed with Thee ! I bound by pre-
contract your bride, your bondslave," And she <; Surren-
ders, without guile or art, to God, an undivided heart."
One spiritual and not carnal-love did she form ; and
clung to it steadfast through life. Fixing all her love
on God alone, worldly ties she snapped off entirely, and
thence forth in the living world her spirit closed with
Krishna at the heart, " Dsad to self and wordly things"
And as am>r vincil omnia, she conquered, with a love
rapture for God, all her transitory pain and misery,
passing all her time in the enjoyment of that crowning
and all surpassing happiness that beggars all description.
With a fiery glow on her face, and spotless blood flowing
in the deep recesses of her youthful heart, Mirabai sang
•sono-s celestial in praise of Shri Krishna ; the 'highly
vibrating and genuine accents of which are familiar even
to this day to all males and females of Marwar and
Gujarat. The refrain and burden of her devotion was like
the rapturous outpouring of heart of Madam Guyon : —

" Ah ! return, and love me still ;
See me subject to Thy will !
Frown with wrath, or smile with grace,
Only let me see Thy face !

Evil I have none to fear,
All is good; if Thou art near.
Be not angry ! I resigo, ,

Henceforth, all my will to Thine ;
I consent that Thou depart
Though thy absence breaks my heart ;
Go then, and for ever too ;
All is right that Thou wilt do.'

Her poetry like that of Mehta's will be found ever
teeming with Prema-tihakti or Prema Lakshna — tihakti
(Love-Devotion) — as opposed to Dnyana Bhakti (Know-
ledge-Devotion) ; but it is less deep rooted in the hearts
of Gujrati ladies than the poetry of Nrisitriha Mehta

It would be meet to quote here St. Rose's (of Lima)
Message to the Infant Saviour, for comparison with
Mira's general trend of thought and emotion in her songs.
(p. 155. Life of St. Rose of Lima).

' Fly, 0 Swift Messenger,

Fly to our Lord !

Oh ! haste to our Master adored !

Ask why he delays and remains

Far from our side.

' Tell Him I cannot live
Parted from Him ;
My life then no happiness knows ;
In Him only my heart can repose,
Or pleasure can find.

' Fly, noble messenger, fly !

Tell Him when he is not here,

I languish alone.

Tell Him his Eose must her Sorrow bemoan

Till the moment when He shall return'.

CHAPTER V.

[t is necessary to observe that the first period of
Gujarat! literature extends over the dynasties of Taghlakh,
Lodi and Mogul Rulers. It was decidedly a period of
political unrest. Religion was greatly out of joint ; and
association which is the essential feature of Society
disappeared. Priestcraft perished in a sense ; or it came
to be discredited in many cases. The political atmo-
sphere of the time, materialized the living as far as
selfish 'persuits were concerned; and it spiritualized
them in some cases in so far as resort could be had to
desperation. Morality and religion trembled in the
scales of Society, and the human intellect no longer spent
precious time in recouping fresh vigour, especially since
there was no proper association. Unity was a matter
of the past ; and there was hardly any concentrated effort
to examine the pros and cons ot many religious problems;
and to eliminate the unstable factor was to arrive at a
safe conclusion of the Oneness of the Soul, that cancels
all differences minor as well as major. Moreover, more
things are wrought by prayer than this world knows
of— and accordingly Meht£ and Mir& in their own res-
pective ages worked with a more potent spell. In the
galaxy of Gujarati poets, these two stand preeminent,
as astonished, nay ravished by a flow of pious feelings
that continued for a long time to pour out the crystal
\vater for drinking purposes in the phenomenal world.

The subject matter of highly elevated poetry turned
to the singing of God's glory as the poets became
inspired by the more sacred and more ancient Sanskrit
writings in the past. The Rarnay&na, the Mahabharat
and other Puranic writings supplied the theme ; and as
Max Muller would have it, they were all bent on the
Search for spiritual truth ; and the people sought and
honoured spiritual knowledge and spiritual wisdom.

Mir&bai, born of a noble line of the Riithod Rajputs
of Marwar and united by the tie of wedlock with the
Sissodia Rajput Chiefs of Mewad, can trace her origin to
the main stock of Lunar and Solau Dynasties. A
staunch devotee by birth Mira* can legitimately lay claim
to be called the first Grujarati poetess— since poetry was
devotion to a great ex tent. Gujarat boasts but of a few
women poets and the leading ones can be two — Mirabfti
in the North of India ; and Radh£bai in Baroda or West
of India — or as compared to the place of birth of Mir£bai
in the South.

Mirabai has her life sketched by many a learned
pen, and yet the difference of opinion depends much upon
conclusions drawn after making due researches in the
line of critical literary study. In the meantime, the
tradition that survives is rampant in the atmosphere
with many forms and faces ; and the reader before whom
it happens to be related is at a serious loss to make out
subtle distinctions for the purpose of recognizing the
truth. It is, more or less a tangled growth of stories
woven round her name, and it is hard to be free from that

growth- She has been portrayed before the reader as
Kumbha^ R&n&'s wife; and the picture has been so firmly
and indelibly impressed, that all endeavours emanating
howsoever much they may be, from the source of truth
will be considered futile or ill-placed. At the same time,
it is not less true that an unending contraversy will
rage round an attempt of denying the Epithet the Queen
of Kumbha-Ran& to her. However, the well known
correspondence which revealed the latest known fact
about her was carried on very recently with the authori-
ties of Udeypur, Jodhpur and such other Kajasthans
with which her name is connected and it has been publish-
ed. There ace at present a few reviews on the life and
literary history of Mirabai — and Colonel Tod, Kavi
Dayaram and Narmadashankar ; the author of the
Brihat Kavyadohan and Govardhanram ; the Bhakta-
m&la of Nabhaji, the Indian Antiquary issue containing
an account of Mirabai and the Encyclopedisea of Religion
and Ethics, are some of the conspicuous writings preser-
ving her memory in the world of religious devotion.

•
As this stage it will not be amiss to tackle the question

whether or not the title of poetess could be adequately
applied to Mirabai. It should be cleared at the outset
that devotion does take the form of verse and yet devo-
tional verses nee I not be designated as poetry. Devotion
pays hardly any regard to poetry and the well established
canons of Rhetorics, Vedic Poetry based on miracles
and mysteries of Nature is high soaring and the flights
of fancy are higher and more elevated than what could

be managed by average fancy, Setting alone the divine
Vedio Songs, it will be proper to advert to classical
poetry such as that of Kalidas, Bhavabhuti and others
whose works have poetic elements preponderating
over devotional, although the subject matter is
Rama and his ancestry or Krishna and his amorous
sports. Coming still lower down chronologically, Jaya-
deva is the famous poet whose poetry is as charming as
the divine lute on which Shri Krishna himself plays-
There is a matchless grace and beauty in the poetry
of devotion composed by him and yet devotion is only
subordinated to poetic charm. It will not be out of place
to cite one extract with n view to point out the contrast
between poetry standing out in alto relievo above
devotion — Jayadeva Sings and describes Krishna's amours
with other nymphs and describes also the gratification
of the five senses : —

41 One with star blossomed wreathes wooes him to rest his head,
Oil the dark pillow of her breast so tenderly out spread,
And o'er his brow with roses blown she fans a fragrance rare,
That falls on the enchanted sense like rain in thirsty air,
While the company of Damsels wave many an odorous spray.
And Krishna laughing loving sighs the soft springs away.
Sweetest of all that temptress who dances for him now
With subtle feet which part and meet in the Ras measure slow,
To the chime of silver bangles, and the beat of rose leaf hands,
And pipe and flute and cymbal played by the woodland bands
So that wholly passion laden-eye, ear, sense soul overcome
Krishna is theirs in the forest, his heart forgets.

The R&mayana and the Mahabharata are poetical and
devotional ; for poetry does not disappear, nor is devotion
slackened in any part of the two celebrated works of the
Mythical times of India. It is, moreover, neither safe
nor sound reasoning to allege that every devotion is
poetry or vice versa, but it is appropriate to argue that
some devotees are good poets, and some devotional songs
are true poetry. Nrisimha Mehta, Kabir and Mira
were devout poets, and their songs adoring Krishna's
amours reflect good and sometimes charming poetry
to a greater or smaller extent, poetical elements pervade
through the songs of devotion sung by them ; and
Dayaram has them in greater excess.

With regard to Mirabai, on the strength of a few
songs ih&i have come down to us as a priceless heritage we
can safely assert that from birth to death she was a
devotee ; but she cannot be said to be a poetess from
the cradle to the grave. At greater and more satisfac-
tory length, her songs will be examined in the sequel;
meantime, it will suffice to add that her poetry is full of
sentiment — * Rasa' which is one of the true definitions
of poetry as adopted by Pandit Jagannath in his ' Rasa-
gangadhar' — ' Kasatmakam f — 'Vakyain Kavyarn'. She
has scattered Rasa — sentiment loose, and it is concentra-
ted upon the praise and adoration of Shri Krishna ; of
this, her poetry gives a sweet and relishable taste to
the reader. However, to conclude the matter in a very
brief manner, it must be admitted that there is no thrill
of poetry but a fervour of devotion, highly expressive of
her 'sad lucidity of soul.7

CHAPTER VI.

We revert to the subject of ancient Gujarat and try
to know briefly the situation of the soil, once more. Mr-
Vincent Smith has remarked that the Gurjaras can be
traced to the Hunas ; and that they are at present a
tribe widely distributed in N.W. India. "The early
Gurjaras seem t > have been foreign immigrants, closely
associated with, and possibly allied in blood to the
White Huns. They founded a considerable portion in
Rajput&na, the capital of which is Bhinmal or Srimai
about 50 miles to the N. W. of Mount Abu. In course
of time, the Gurjara Pratihara kings of Bhilmal conquered
Kanauj and became the paramount power in Northern
India. The minor Gurjara kingdom of Bharoch (Broach)
was an off shoot of the Bhilmal monarchy."

It will not be out of place to pause and ponder ovor
the citation for a short-time. It appears from this that
the early settlers of Gujarat >vere the same that went as
far as Kanauj, spread over Rajaputtana, and descended to
Broach. It is, therefore, not strange if the Marwari
Gujarati is not fundamentally different from but on the
other hand, it is closely allied to the Gujarati language
of Kathiawad and Gujarat proper, in Modern times,
albeit the distinction is due to distance of dwelling
places — which fact confirms the very proverb in Gujarati
bar a gau boli badle— which signifies that at a dis-

tance of every twelve miles, it is natural that there are
some distinctions to be noticed in the same language as
it is spoken — this is provincialism — and the distinctions
are not of the root but of the offshoots — so do distinctions
appear in trees, not in the roots but in the offshoots. It
is no use pursuing the question any farther; suffice it to
say that Mirabai's birth place and Mirabai's place of
death differ in regard to the language and yet her
poetry can be adequately characterised as Gujarati
poetry.

At this stage it is but necessary to explain in clear
terms that the object of the present attempt is to be
availed of the existing materials that are brought out
as a result of research and base the fabric on rationally
sound ground work. The materials are semi-historical;
that is to say, tradition is inseparably mixed up with
history and tradition has clung steadfastly round the
name of Mirabai. A well known author has observed
that " India suffers today in the estimation of the world
more through that world's ignorance of the achievements
of the heroes of Indian history than through the ab-
sence or insignificance of such achievements."

Of course, it should be admitted that the ideal
expressed by Goethe is very difficult to follow in the
case of the biography of Mirabai ; and yet the present
attempt is meant to approach the ideal approximately.
Goethe says :— The historian's duty is to separate
the true from the false, the certain from the uncertain
and the doubtful from that which cannot be accepted.

Every investigator must before all things look upon
himself as one who is summoned to serve on a jury. He
has only to consider how far the statement of the case is
complete, and clearly set forth the evidence. Then
he draws his conclusion and gives his vote whether it be
that his opinion coincides with that of the foreman or
not." Tradition is sometimes more valuable than his-
tory and yet it is not history. Many folk tales have
clustered round the devout Rajput poetess, and they are
so full of miraculous and mysterious occurrences that
they cannot bear the search light of a critical examination.
Fortunately for the historian, however, these tradition-
ary materials refer to the time of history, in so far as his-
torical records and some few inscriptions bear upon the
time during which the events that took place can be
made the subject of a rational analysis ; and thus the
inference s<:> drawn will not be resting on very untirm
ground. This is a vantage ground plain and distinct.

So let us go to the origin of Gujarati as a language-
Prof. A. A. Maodonell of Oxford has remarked in his well
known History of Sanskrit literature that: — " Between
the begining of our Era and about 1000 A. D., Medieval
Prakrit which is still Synthetic in character is divided
into tour chief dialects. In the West, \ve find Apa-
bhramsa (decadent) in the valleys of the Indus, and Sau-
raseni in the Doab, with Mathura as its centre. Sub-
Divisions of the latter were draurjari (Gujarati) Avanti,-
Western Rajputani and Maharastri (Eastern Rajputani) ."
Prakrit is itself divided according to the celebrated Gram-

marian Vararuchi, into four dialects viz., M^gadhi, Maha
rashtri, Paisachi and Sauraseni. Any how the flow of
the Gujarat! language must have been fed by all sources
named above situated in different places such as Mathura
the shores of the Indus, Marwar and Gujarat ; hence can
resemblance be easily traced between Gujarati, Sindhi,
Marwari and even Panjabi. — This inference will agree
with the conclusions drawn by one of the living Gujarati
scholars— Mr. Kesha vial Harshadray Dhruva-who says:-

" From the iObh or llth century A. D. to the 14th
this might be called the Apabhramsa or old Gujarati
period ; from the 15th to the 17th century, this might
be called the middle Gujarati period ; from the 17th
century onwards — modern or new Gujarati period."

CHAPTER VII.

Apabhramsa has preserved some of the Rasa's com-
posed by bards — Bh&ts and Charanas as they are called
in olden times, who can be aptly and appropriately compar-
ed to the Troubedors of pre-Chaucerean Era. They came
into existence during the 10th century for the first time,
subsequently also, they began to grow in number
and strength. They were composed in praise of Rajput
kings and most of them are written in a language

that can be fairly regarded at this distant date as a
mixture of Mirwari, Vcaj and other dialects of the time.
If these R&S&S that ushered in the era of Gujarati
literature purely as such, composed as they were during
the 10th, llth, 12th, 13th centuries by bards were
written in a language that can be legitimately stamped
as the old or original Gujarati language, it will not be
unsafe to argte that the four topographical distances
noticed above made no linguistic difference ; but on the
other hand, this original Gujarati must have been a
spoken language in all those places, or that Gujarati
as we find it in the celebrated songs of Nrisirnha Mehtil
and Mir&b£i, must have been put into a melting pot
during the middle a^es and then the final shape it took
is the one we read in the song^ of the two authors of
the first period of Gujarati literature. Vrij and Hindi and
all such sister languages must have been born and
nurtured as Gujarati. Consequently Mir&b£i has a legi-
timate claim over Gujarat and her works unfold a langu-
age which is quite akin to Gujrati, if not pure Gujrati
itself.

It is but proper to note here the literary condition
of Gujarat, since it has a close bearing on the question of
Mirabai's career. The late Govardhanram Tripathi,
of revered memory has rein irked that : — "With the
fall of Anhilwad, — and the consequent uncertainty of the
security of person and property due to the advent of the
Mahornedans,— Brahmans, Banias and other well-to-
do classes, who alone could be thought in any way inter-

•

ested in letters were taken up with the anxiety of finding
out places of security and settling in them. They
entered, therefore on an era of wandering and scattered
themselves over all parts of Northern India as far as Bena-
res and Mathura. This state of mind was not in the
least calculated to foster a spirit of reading, writing or
studying. On the other hand, the Jain Sadhus had got
the protecting arm of their Gachchha^ over them
and were thus able to live quietly and peacefully, and
carry on undisturbed their studies in religion and litera-
ture. They were further able to preserve the purity of
their languages, because being ascetics, they were more or
less removed from contact with those who were following
wordly avocations: while Brahmans, Banias, and
others daily came in contact with their Mahommedan
rulers on the one hand, and Bhils, Kolis & other aborigi-
nes on the other, with the result that the purity of
their language was affected. Owing to such a combina-
tion of circumstances, the influence of Sanskrit and other
learned languages and literature began to wane, and the
birth of a new language, a mixture of Desi (the
language spoken by the masses), Prakrit, Hindi and
cognate tongues and its development, arrest our attention.
The seeds of early Gujarati literature were sown in the
beginning of the 15th century. Southern India was as
yet free from the inroads of the iconoclastic followers of
Islam, and was able to pursue peacefully its great
religious campaign, which culminated in the advent of
such renowned Aeh&ryas, Madhv£acharya and Ramanuja
about the twelfth century. The echoes of their preach-

ings and teachings penetrated into Gujarat too about
this time and influenced its people. n

The words giving a birds-eye-view of the middle
ages in so far as the social and literary history of Gujarat
have been quoted from the learned treatise of Mr. K. Al.
Jhaveri. The words put forth a sound theory and
represent the situation correctly. And the words that
have been uttered and regarded as authoritative by the
learned author of "Milestones in Gujarati literature" be-
long to a highly learned scholar and avowedly profound
thinker dovardhanrambhai, and have been borrowed here
perhaps at a tiresome length. But confirmation of the
statement made here by an authoritative theory is the
best apology.

" Bardic Songs, moreover, be it Femarked in passing
carne into being as precursors of real regularly composed
poetry in many climes but almost all at the same time.
This generatization can be deduced from two instances of
the East and one instance of the West. The other in-
stance is that of -Pawftdas or historic ballads in the
Maharashtra which followed and \vere to a very small
extent synchronous with Bardic songs. These ±>awada'8
resemble them in many respects, besides: The true
Paw ada is not a written poem at all; so is a Bardic
song. Mr. Acworth in his " Balads of the Marathas "
says : — " It is the song or ballad of the wandering bard
of the Maharashtra called the Gondhali which has been
handed down by memory from one generation to another.
The name of the original author is generally given at the

end of each ballad, but it is often impossible to identify
him. These Pawadas aro, in fact, unwritten bardic
poetry -

The ballads of the Gondhalis are the only class of

poetry which has universal currency among the Marathi
peasantry, but in spite of the interest which they excite,
modern circumstances are obviously growingly unfavour-
able to the popularity of the minstrels, and the advan-
tages of civilization will, nodoubt, before many years
are over, be too much for these products of a time when
the steam-engine and the high School were not."

The latter part of the quotation is an indulgence
sought for ventilating the opinion of the learned scholar
of the West through the medium of this sketch ; and if
it be deemed consistent with the topic here it is not
intended to enter into the discussion and examine -the
weight of the observation. All the same, it is very
important to note that there were Bardic songs in
Hindi-Raj putana, in Marathi — southern India, and
in Gujarati — Western India- They were itinerant
bards who went from the court of one king
to that of another and sang in praise of each
whose glory was described even to a remote pedi-
gree. But the Rasas were not exactly the same as
Bardic songs, and as such, these two need not be con-
founded with one another. Pt&sas were composed by Jain
Sadhus-fc, and detailed some story with a very high and
noble moral lesson in it. They aimed at — not the

*Cf. *Sadhu Hymns by Rev. Ahmed Shah.

glorifying of a ruler but — representing the evils of sin
or vice and the bright side of virtue by hanging a tale
thereunto. The Jain badhus — popularly called Suris —
indulged in composing Rasas during their peaceful
hours of undisturbed leisure in their monasteries, from
where they preached their sermons. This was a subs-
tantial part of their national education.

People were instructed in religion by means of draw-
ing out moral lessons from tales that were narrated in
verse. Some of the Sadhus composed real poetry ;
and they have preserved the social history of the people
of Gujarat. The political hiatory as such is not pre-
served but materials can be gleaned out of these tales
that may be regarded as shedding a side light on the
political condition that obviously gave a push back to a
certain extent to the literary and philosophical develop-
ment among the people. But then, these R&sas came
into existence only after the bardic songs were scattered

broad cast in the atmosphere. Thes Bardic songs and
Ras&s may fitly be considered the fore runners of Garbaa
and Garbis as have been sung by Mirabel and other
authors.

The Rasas are the immediate forerunners chronolo-
gically of poetical literature per se in Guj arat j and their
-language can be noticed in the following quotation : —

Jim sahakare koyal tahuke —

Jim kusum vane parimal mahake

Jim chandana sugandha nidhi — 29M

Jim Gan&ala lahare laheke—

Jim kayan^chala teje jhalake —

Tim Goyarna Saftbhagya nidhi — rlM 5|lHM

Jim Manasarovaranivasehamsa — 29H

Jimsuravarasirin kayane vatansa- 22H

Jim mahuyar rajipadani —

Jim rayanayar rayane vilase—

Jim ambar tar^gana vikase —

Tim goyam guna kelivani— RtM

From these lines it will be evident that they present
a beautiful poetical picture and that the language is not
quite dissimilar to tha modern Gujarati. In fact, this
was the type of poetry written in the 14th and the open-
ing part of the loth centuries ; and it was this language
from which the modern Gujarati is derived. This
language was a heritage of Gujarat and Kathiawad
commonly . with Rajaputana ; and so Mirabai's poetry
when it is written in the Gujarati as it is used in Gujarat
reflects still the original traces that are sufficient to
lead .the reader to an inference of a common stock from
which distance of localities made differences in dialects
merely in subsequent times.

The late S^stri Vrajlal, a leading learned scholar has
written an " Essay on Gujacati language," in which he
has noted the following is an instance of poetry in Apa-
bhramsa language : —

Aththotar su buddhadi—
Ravana tanai kapali —
Eku buddhi na sampadi — ^U $fe *t
Lanka* bhanjana kali— tffci <Hi<v<$|

There were 7800 sorts of intelligence in the head of
Havana ; ibut) not even one could be availed of when
Lanka was smashed down.

The same learned authority has transcribed some
instances of prose writings during the 1 4th and the loth
centuries ; some of them are as under : —

Lagbu baiaka danta vin& marai — *Q «Wl* s'ct f«Mi
Tihnu sAtaka dina 1— Ct6«j

Kshora karma kariun hui ^R h

tihnu sAtaka din 3 —

If a young child below the age of teething were to die
the effect of segregation extends to one day ; and K
his tonsure (of forelocks) were done, the same lasts till
three days.

So much for this subject.

CHAPTER VIII

RELIGIOUS SITUATION OF GUJARAT AND OTHER PLACES.

" The classical poets of Gujarat and their influence
on Society and Morals " is a masterpiece and is fre-
quently quoted from one part or another by writer;* on
any one of the topics relating thereto. The author,
the late Govardhanram Tripathi of revered memo-
ry has, remarked that* — " The soul and spirit
of this new religion was Bhakti, a word with its
numerous associations has no English word for it-
Worship prayer and even devotion are words which fall
short of the fall connotation of Bhakti. It means stand-
ing in the presence of God, serving Him, loving Him,
being loved by Him, talking to Him, seeing Him,
hearing Him and in fact, enjoying the Deity.1' Now,
with Mir&bai's Bhakti or Prema-Bhakti-Love-Devo-
tion, we are not, concerned at preseut ; for it will be
treated of, at the proper time and in its proper place.
In the meantime let us examine the bent* of religious
mind of Gujarat.

Jain and Buddha doctrines came into vogue in the
Rationalistic period of Indian civilization and continued
to be developed even in the Puranic age. The Up&sanA
was worship with due forms and ceromonies that
occupied the mind of the devotee externally ; and the
phenomenal .world was the only object in which the
attention was absorbed. These were a set-off against

the more abstruse teaching of the l> panishads. When
the Brahmans asserted their superiority over the
Buddhistic preachings, they introduced a multiplicity
of rituals and ceremonials while worshipping their deity,
and the Pur&nas began to supply two prominent forms
of Godhood— Siva and Vishnu. It is not worth while
to quote at length ior the sake of mere comparison the
Up&sakadas&of the Jains, detailed as they *tand in
Hoerules translation, and place the same side by side
with the Up&sakadasa of the Hindus ; but even a
hasty perusal of the translation will amply prove repay-
ing. It is consistent to add here that Siva-Kudra-and
other names were given to a deity in the Epic period
of sacrificial performances to one who was beneficient
and the nourisher of animals. Mah&iev, as he was
laterly designated finds its place as a minor deity in the
Kanshitaki Brahamana, so also with Vishnu. He is
noticed as conveying tiv.it part of the world which the
gods obtained from the Asuras by conquest, and Krishna
the son of Devake was not a Deity at all in the Epic age
of Upanishads.

Although the term JEihakti is applicable equally in
connection with the adoration of Siva and Vishnu, it
is no use pursuing the inquiry of its origin in the case of
Siva, for the present purpose; for Mirabai was a devotee
of Vishnu. She had intentionally apprehended the higher
;form of reality. Beneath this reality was found only one
desire which can only be described or connoted in the
language of the mystics as divine desire or cosmic con-
sciousness. She had come to feel and experience what is

named a cosmic need towards Purmic life which is so
beautifully expressed by W hitter :--a So some times
comes to soul and sense the feeling that is evidence
that very near about us lis the realm of spiritual
mysteries. The sphere of the superrnost powers impan-
ges oa this world of ours." It is however, clear to see
that the Vedic religion was a religion of the Elements
of Nature*, and the Puranic religion classed the same as
deifcies. Even the idea of a Trinity of Gjdhood was an
invention to work as a set-off against the Trinity of
Buddhistic doctrine. Vishnu was a name of the Sungod
originally in Vedic times and he was the cherisher of
all living beings and hence the Preserver too,

Descending to a later age, the poet SankarachaTya
period, if will be found th;U Chandragupta Vikramaditya
of Pataliputra and of the Gupta Dynasty, was tolerant of
Jainism and Buddhism, but himself was specially devoted
to the cult of Vishnu. A little further later on, we find
that there was sectarian animosity all over India; and as
a consequence one instance might be quoted to show that
each man and woman was free to selecc a particular
deity Siva, the Sun, Vishnu or another for special
adoration accarding to personal liking ; but at times
these various religious sects lived amicably together.
Harsh a in the North was a tolerant king ; but the king-
doms of the South unfolded another aspect. The earliest
Pallava King who flourished in the 5th Century was a
worshipper of Buddha. Hastivarame and other princes
followed Vishnu ; and Mahendravarma first persecuted

the followers of Siva being born a Jain — but was subse-
quently a convert to Saivism. This waft the condition ot
religious India as a whole Gujerat and Kathuiwul
were, therefore, no exception to the rule.

The doctrines of the Bhagwadgita mainly based
upon aotion preceded by right knowledge — Dnyfina —
Karma Samuchc^aya — came subsequently to be split up
into Karma andx Bhakti. These are but extraneous
equipments. Jayadeva was the poet of still later a^es
who developed the tale of arnorus of Krishna and
Radh& as related in the Bh&gwat — a work of a very late
age as compared with the rise of surgical flows of Sai-
vism and Vaishnavism at the original source. Be this as
it may ;' we are interested more in the Bhakti of Mir&-
bai, and it is but prudent to re-echo once more the
opinion of the late learned G. M. Tripathi :-

" The flame of Bhakti began to burn in the bosoms cf
Mirabai and N^risimha Mehta, of its own accord, i.e.. they
were both uninfluenced by the preachings or teachings
of any out aider. One point about Mirabai of special
interest and which distinguish her from other mystics
and seers is that in her, not unlike Narsimh Mehta
the culiminating mystical experience took the form of
melody, rhythm, harmony and burning spiritual rhapsod-
ies. Vallabh^chdrya the great founder of the Krishna
worship cult on the Western side of India came later
(he was born in 1479 A. D.) Chaitanya, who spread
Vaishnavisrn in Bengal, was born a few years after
(1485). Surdas who wrote on Radha and Krishna in

Hindi also flourished later, so that he is of opinion that
these two poets struck out a path for themselve in-
dependently of any teachings from outside Gujarat a
circumstance not very likely."

^.(This is quoted from Mr. K. Mt Jhaveri's book.)

Again, the learned authority as cited by Mr. Jhaveri,
has stated that : —

' It seems the missioneries of the new religion
of Bhakti were roaming about the whole of Gujarat
this time (the times of Nrismiha and Mir&); and
charming the people with a religion, which, while it
allowed people like Mira to pass an ascetic life peopled
their brains with the fairyhand visions of Krishna/'
The basic fact of mysticism, as in the case of
Mirabai, in its widest sense may be described in an alti-
tude of mind founded upon an intention or experienced
conviction of unity, of oneness, of alikeness in all things
Krishna in Bhagavat Gita (BK. 18) sings :

" There is true knowledge Learn it is this
To see one changeless Life in all the Lives,
And in the separate, one Inseparable."

CHAPTER. IX.

This leads us to the tracing of the rise and growth
of Vaishnavism in India and particularly in Gujarat.
Vaishnavism has its origin in Vedantism but the
Vedanta school has three main divisions and they are
known to be under Sankaracharya, Ramanuja and
Madhva. All the three schools equally follow the teach-
ings of the Upanishads and acknowledge tfceir autho-
rity, since they preached the Oneness of God — though not
Onness with God which marks the characteristic differ-
ence between the three. The two schools of Ramanuja
and Madhva presented in their practical form a sort of
sectarian aspect; and hence they were nearer allied to
the Bhigavata School. The Sutras of Vyasa Badara-
yana, the Bhagavadgita, and, the Pancha Ratra Tantras
are expositions of Vedanta and they came to be expound-
ed in different ways by different preachers and preceptors
who gave their names to the schools.

The Vaishnavite literature is abundant in the South
of India , and the Tamil works of the Alwars have preser-
ved it — the Alwars were known as the earliest Brahman
missionaries to the South. In the North, it is generally
understood that the propagation of Vaishnava faith by
Ramanuja gave rise to and spread the same in the North
— where it was a sorb of revival. Any how, this cult
flourished in the South under the strong impetus given

by the Bhakti — devotional songs of the Alwars, and their
Krishna worship which was unflinching — since they lay
great emphasis on the Avatars of Vishnu and admire
Krishna as a full-fledged incarnation of the Lord of
Preservation. It has been shown conclusively that in
these expository songs of Krishna worship, Brahman
priesthood is greatly extolled and Jain as well as Bud-
dhistic forms were as greatly denounced — which argues
that the Alwars were the " Northern Bhagavatas or
Vaishnavas."

Buddhistic doctrines had gained ground in earlier
ages ; but the Vaishnava faith was called into existence
to put them down and also to adjust higher doctrines to
popular forms and inferior intellects. For, instance, the
doctrine of Prapatti or Surrender suited requirements of
the master in those times — and it was inculcated by
Ramanuja who never allowed any privilege of
Vedic study to Sadras and women, and again never per-
mitted women to mix with men in devotion or Bhakti, so
that forNrisimha Meht& and Mirabai, his doctrines given
without any solvent or soothing balm, would have been
a bitter pill to swallow ; but how and when the soothing
solven came to be administered will be examined in the
sequel. At present, however, the topic concerns itself
with the 12th and the two succeeding centuries. Of
course, it may be remarked in passing that there was no
caste restriction, but general equality was asserted as
a permanent feature of Vaishnavisrn only from the 15th
century downward. This gave rise to many fanciful

theories :— *" Some asserted that divine grace acted like
the monkey i.e., the souls must exert themselves to get
saved, as the young of the monkey actively seizes its
mother during the latter's evolutions from tree to tree.
Others more indolent or more hopeful—asserted that
God's graoe was like the cat, which safeguarded its young,
unaided by any efforts of the latter. Hence, the maxim
fatal to many Hindu sects, as Barth points out that the
acts of the true devotee, of the Bhakta are indifferent,
and that the man who has once experienced the effect of
'Grace, whatever he may do, can sin no longer. Such
doctrines, carried to their logical conclusions dangerously
minimise resposibility and begeo a familiarity with sin
and an audacious disregard of purity in life."

The North was characterised during and prior to
Ramanuja's time by doctrines that brought Vaishnavism
to a degenerate state whereas in the South, there was no
levelling of the prevailing castes and the holy scriptural
writing ruled over all alike. Again, deification of the
preceptor or Guru Worship proved fatal to further pro-
gress, and on the contrary, it encouraged superstition as
well a^ veneration for persons who may have lost all
claim for respect. It has been proved indisputably that
in the North, Vaishnavism first affected the lower strata
of Society and then proceeded upwards. a In Bengal
Sak'taisrn had taken deep root among th? Brahmaaa
who practised their horrible mystic rites in secret, and
excluded the lower castes."

* Vide Critical Sketches of the Lives and Writings of Vuiehoavite Re-
formers in India by T. Rvj i GopiUachariar MA., B.L., p 149,

It is essential to note here that the land of the North
was the land of Krishna's birth and devotion to and wor-
ship of the God was deeply rooted there ; but Ramanuja's
preachings spread from the South to the North produced
a sort of Vaishnavite Renaissance in the North.

CHAPTER IX (Continued)

Northern India had put forth three Schools of
Vaishnava worship, viz., the one of Raraananda, that of
Vallabhacharya and the last of Chaitanya. Rama-
nand, it is believed, founded his fold of worship — Matha
—in Benaras, and gathered many followers together,
preaching Bhakti, asserted the efficacy of the " Rama v
mantra and did sway with caste barriers. His name
is immortalized by Nabh^jt, the author of the well
known Bhaktamala, the lives of saints and also by
Tulsidas, the famous bard who recited and composed the
Rarnayana in Hindi and about whom it is said by Dr.
Grierson thathe " on a of the was greatest reformers and
one of the greatest poets that India has produced, "
Kabir too was his disciple ; arid he was a Mussalman
weaver, but he founded a system of worship for uniting
Hindus and vlahommedans. The fourth stalwart sup-
porter of Ramanandism was Nanak, who as well tried by
means of his preachings to reconcile the two races.

Moreover, the faith of Yallabha and Chaitanya was
based on Krishna worship. Vallabha again, draws more
upon the Bhagavata, for the amorous dalliance of Krishna
with the Gopis which was not treated with a veneration
due from spiritual devotion as it was by Nrisimh and

Mird, who dealt with the same with religious fervour
and udored it with tlie sentiment of the highest Divino
Grace. In tact in the hands of Vallabha's followers, the
faith degenerated till it assumed the form of a suit in
the High Court of Judicature in 1862 in Bombay.

The last but not the least of the three sects was i he
one promulgated by Chaitanya who adopted Ltudha-
Krishna for his object of worship; and, consequently,
with his doctrines Mira's and Nrisimh's song had many
things in common. Tt was reserved for ( 'haitanya to
put in bold relief the position of the beloved to her
lover as that of the Soul to God. This was divine love ;
and had no c mcern with connubial love which was
earthly. Chaitanya propagated the worship of this
divine love during the opening part of the 16th century,
and yet the same existed at the beginning of the (Christ-
ian era. It was the soul's longing for God — the
craving of the individual soul for being united with
or absorbed into God — the Universal Soul — this it was
that Chaitanya tried to sing and preach as amours of
Krishna which were thus spiritualised.

It has been observed that " sages and poets who
cannot be suspected of favouring moral lapses have
agreed to regard the Krishna Idylls as symbolic of the
highest spiritual devotion that is possible to man. Many
of the Nammalvar's hymns and those of other saints in
the Tamil land typify this phase of devotion, and other
religions have adopted the ideal of female love as typical
of adoration due to the Most High. However this may

be, the chief popularity of the Radha cult arose, of
course, from the full play it gave to the amorous side of
human nature. In the earlier stages and in the case of
those adherents who were morally strong. There is no
doubt it led to no excess or abuse. But human nature
of the yielding type which it generally is, can hardly
resist long the insinuations to moral fall which such
excessive hankerings are bound to produce, and it is
therefore no wonder that the Radha-Krishna devotion,
and the promiscuous mingling of the sexes which it per-
mitted, have degraded to a pitiful degree vast crowds
of Chaitanya Vaishnavites, whose ignorance and supersti-
tion give them no chance of reformation. Many of the
Chaitanya sects adopted the reprehensible practices of
the Tantrics or S&ktas, and heuca fell into those very
sins which moved the moral wrath of Chaitanya and
prompted his attempts at reform."

Now, Chaitanya was born in the early eighties of the
15th century Anno Domini in Nuddea or Navadweep,
the central place of Nyaya philosophy. His life was
also full of mysteries and a crowd of traditions hangs
round it, as well as it does round that of Mira and
Nrisimha. It is easy to see that the early period Vai-
shnava literature in Bengal begins from the. time that
Jayadeva composed his lays and when Aiithila, was the
centre of learning after the fail of the last Hindu King
of Gaur. We find that <{ the divine lyrics of Radha-
Krishna love in the unparalleled melody of Jayadevas7
Sanskrit were echoed a century and a half later in Vidya

pati's mellifluous Maithil verse.'7 In fact, Vaishnavite
doctrines were retkctccl in the verses of poets in Bengal
during the first halt' of the lith century. The Maithila
Court encouraged to a great extent the so called Radha-
Krishna Songs, as far down as the 15th century, and
X.-uuliputi, Jaylnnnda, Chaturbhuj, Kavisekar and some
more were well known poets of the period in the Verna-
cular dialect. Of others that followed them during the
ensuing generations, we may omit even a bare mention.
The early literature of the Bengali Vaishnavas commen-
ces with Umapati who is identified with Umapati Dhara
by some critics.

With regard to the importance of Vrindavana as a
centre of Vaishnavite lore, it can be said that the litera-
ture of the Chaitanya cult was monopolized by that
.place. Of course, the great masters of the new faith,
r/j., Chaitanya, Nity&nanda and Advaita were followed
by six Goswamis of whom Jivu Goswami — connected
with one of the traditions of Mir^bai — is conspicuously
one, and they all lived in Vrindavana during the iGth
Century. The Gosvamis gave expositions of Vaishnava
doctrines in their Sanskrit works in a more of less sec-
tarian manner. In fine, ideas of that faith became
stereotyped ; and it is but fair to quote^here the words
of Mr. Anderson at some length:—" The theism of
Bengal has for the most part found its inspiration in
the mystic theme of the desire of the human soul to
commune with the divine essence, personified in the
divine hero Krishna regarded as an incarnation of

Vishnu. It was thought that the creature might crave-
for union with the Creator in such fashion as Rddha the
favourite of Krishna's joyous youth craved for her lord
lover. Yaishnava mysticism adopted romantic songs of
the loves of the deified pair as the expression of the p^in
and rapture of the soul separated from God and yet ever
conscious of and yearning his infinite perfection and
love. So early as the 12th Century, a Bengali, the
famous Jayadeva composed the Gita Grovinda, the song
of the Divine Cowherd. To the devout Vaishriava, the
whole poem unique for its soft and langrous style in
Sanskrit literature is an allegory of the Soul striving
to escape from the distraction and allurement of the
senses to find peace and rest in mystical union with God.
It is in the 12th Century that the Indian mind deve-
loped a doctrine of passionate personal devotion, i.e.,
Bhakti or faith towards an incarnate deity. It was ap-
parently an evolution from the earlier system of Yoga—
the study of means for the absorption of the soul into
the Divine Essence, a system which was itself a popular
modification of philosophical Pantheism. It was a
doctrine which in so many ways resembles the passion-
nate personal love of the Christian for his Redeemer that
it has been suggested that it wasjan adoptation to Indian
conditions of life, and thought of Christian teaching."

" The mystical imagery of love poems of the most
passionate and romantic type were interpreted too lite-
rally " adds the same learned critic of the .West, " there
were those who strove to rid themselves of the impor»

lunacy of the senses by indulging them to the pitch of
satiety or persuaded themselves that the example set by
scriptures ostensibly erotic might be followed without
blame It was a curious coincidence that just when ro-
mantic depravity among other causes produced the re-
iormation of Martin Luther there was born in Nadyfc in
Bengal the Vaishnava Reformer, Chaitanya."

Mir& flourished in about the same generation in Raj*
putana and Gujarat. Spiritual development brought in
the priest moral character equally in both; but greater
resemblance can be traced between Chaitnya and
Nrisimh'i. Chaitnya and Nisimha as well as
their later day followers hold that morality is only a
necessary result of Bhakti. 4< The old passionate desire
for union with God is still expressed in verses that do
not indeed mention the name of Krishna and R6dh£
but employ the old imagery, sensuous in form but
mystical in meaning." Another critic, Mr. R. W.
Frazer has observed :— "Five hundred years have passed
away since Chaitanya spread a faith in the saving grace
of Krishna throughout the land."

Krishna-Worship had, no doubt, taken a firm hold of
the whole of India during the later centuries as time
ToUed on. A modern writer Brahmanand Swami has
remarked : " India is the ideal land in the whole crea-
tion, and Krishna worship is its ideal religion. If ordi-
nary mortals like Mahmud Gazni or Aurungzeb thought
that they by their zeal could efface the ideal religion
from the face of the Earth, they could not have more

mistaken," Sir Edward Sullivan says : — u He (Shah
Jehan) unsheathed the sword of religious persecution
agaist them (the Hindus) and gave orders for breaking
the graven images and destroying their temples with
fire ; but as ever has been the case in India, persecu-
tion merely augman^ed the evil it was intended to
destroy; fanaticism took the place of credulity; $nd
thousands who had hithert^ sought relief in the harmless
adoration of stocks and stones, sprang to arms, and died i n
defence of their outraged gods," However, in Mir£'s time,
Krishna worship was still begining to assert its ground;
although Mathura and Vrindavana have a history
of their own, enabling us to trace their origin th^'Rajata
ringini, and their antiquity in the writings of Ptolemy,
Arrian and Megasthenos, Radha's birth gave rise to
the fame of Vrindavan'i which was enhanced by sancti-
fying it as the central place of " Rasa-Lila " Mystical
dance of devoted lovers of Godhood. At present, it is a
city of temples 4,0)0 in numbers— in fact, every house
there is a temple and has lovely bowers— Kunja — which,
form the scenes of Krishna's Lila.

CHAPTER X.

India, no doubt is the home and nursery of
religion and religious songs. Sanskrit poets
cannot be traced beyond the fifteenth century.
In the llth century we find thrilling martial
rhapsodies of the immortal Bard — Chand Bdroth. " Ot
the great war poets of the world." says a critic, " who
gave by their fiery poetry inspired great kings and
warriors to wage great battles and thus moulded the
destinies of millions of men, and upreared new and dis-
mantled old sovereignties, Ohand Bardai occupies the
foremost plac^. His poetry has led to thu most
momentous events in the history of India and has once
been the arbiter of its fate. He is the moulder of the War
tomahawk of Mediaeval India.'* His language, too, is not
pure Hindi —it being a strong admixture of, Sanskrit,
Persian, Magadhi, Saurseni, Qundhi, Kanuji, Fanjibi
and Rajput dialects j and Mir&b&i's language is
also on« that bears similarity with Gujarati, and many
Rajput dialects. Hindi poetry, however, shone in the
15th century in holy and genuinely devotional out-
pouring of K*bir, Nanak, Nabhadas, and Mirftbftlwho
were immersed, as it were, in love divine ; Kavi Gang,
Tulsidas, Behari and Koshav wrote in refined and ex-
quisite Hindi about the transcendental glories of God,
in the L6th century ; and it once more soared high in
the hands of Surdas, Haridas and others wh > wrote
divine rhapbodies to sing of spiritual love.

Like Kabir and Nanak, Mir& was <>nly a uevout
woishipper but unlike them, she could not
found a religious sect ; nor was she an avow-
ed propagandist of the faith with which was fervid-
ly burning, as it were. Lala Kannoomal in his
small tract has a small paragraph devoted t<> Vtira which
can be almost wholly cited here: — *' Though a poetess Mi-
rftbai — 1498-1563 — occupies a high place in the domain
of Hindi poetic literature. She is a princess of the
Rathore * royal family, and was married to Kumbha
Karsa, the ruler of Chittor. She was one of the most
beautiful princesses and an excellent poetess who in the
plenitude of her heart's true devotion made the offerings
of her poetic effusions to the i<:lol of Lord Krishna in
her temple in the fort of Chittor. Th« tradition hath it
that the Murti of Lord Krishna was so pleased with
her devotion that he came down from the seat and
expressed his appreciation, hearing which she was so
full of ecstacy and joy that she gave up her mortal coil

and her soul merged into the supreme peremial bliss

Mirabai's Rag Govind is a poetic work

of high merit. Her verses steeped as it were, in the ferver
of her heart's devotion, are frequently quoted with great
delight." So much for this, and the reader is equipped
with materials, at this stage sufficient for the purpose of
weighiog the evidence, and drawing out his own con-
clusions.

* In all quotation, it is a rule to stick faithfully to the original spelling
which has been duly followed cut.

It was allotted, as have been shown above, that the
great Bengali masters should revive the glories of
Vriud£vana, and should awaken a keen sense of devotion
to the worship of Vishnu in the form of Krishna ; to
this Mir&bai contributed her mite, which was not so
conspicuous as that of Nrisimha, in some respects, but
was genuine and deep seated, as it was in the heart of
the holy saint of Junagadh, in Kathiawad. Mr. Growse
the Historian of Mathura states : — ;' The community of
the Bengali Vaishnavas had a more marked inOuence over
Vrind&vana than that of the others (sects of Vaishnavasj
since it was Chaitanya, the founder of the sect, whose
immediate disciples were its first temple builders"
Mathuia and Vrindavana are very near to each other
and many a sojourner of a different faith has enjoyed
with delight the exquisite beauty of the holy places,
during the modern civilized ages when yet the love of na-
ture is not extinct. (Jol. Tod has observed: — "Though the
groves of Vrinda, in which Krishna disported with the
Gopies. no longer, resound to the echoes of his flute ;
though the waters of the Jumna are daily polluted with
the blood of the sacred kine, still it is the holy land of
the pilgrim, the sacred Jordan of his fancy on whose
banks he may sit and weep as did the banished Israelite
of old, for the glories of Mathura, his Jerusalem."
Albeit Puri was the most important centre of Vaish-
nava faith during the days of Chaitanya, still Vrin-
d&vana had not abated a jot out of its sanctified
worship. The present purpose is not concerned with
following Bengali poets or Gospel preachers, at any
greater length.

CHAPTER. XL

MIRABAI'S CAREER AND TRADITIONS.

Nabhaji is a well known Vaishnava Devotee who
distinguished himself as the author of " Bhaktamala."
It is believed to have been written in the year 1612 A.D ,
and another writer named Priyad&sa has written a runn-
ing commentary on it. He has sung of Mirnbai in the
following way :

Sadrisha Gopina prema pragata kalijugahi dikh&yo
Nirankusa ati nidara rasika jasarasana g£yo
Dushtana dosha biehari mrityuko udyama kiyo
Bara na b&oko bhayo garala amrita jyonpiyo
Bhakfci nis^na bajdyake kahu ten nahin laji
Loka laja kula sririkbal£ taji Mir& Girdhara bhaji.

Further on, Nabhaji has pronounced Merat^ as the
birth place of Mira, but has failed to assign any date or
year to her birth. Next was the turn for Colonel Tod to

make certain statements in connection with the great
devotee — but they have undergone a modification on
account of mere modern researches. In his Rajasthan
while writing about Mirabai, Col. Tod has introduced
her in one place as the daughter of Dudaji, and the
Queen of Kumbha Ranei ; whereas, in another place, he
has called her the daughter of Ratnasinh and the Queen
of Kumbha Raua. This itself bespeaks an error of
judgment. Then came the distinguished Poet Dayaram
who wrote that : —

Jernala Rsithod ni Dikari re, suno riiedata enun
nama,

Rupa Guna Samovada nahin, rudun dharyun
Mirabai N&ma.

3°rr

CT 3°r smi^R 5i, s

Dayaram too has failed to assign any date of birth
to her. Writers and critics ever since have followed the
dictum of the last two authorities and have characterised
her as the daughter of Jayamal and the queen of Ra"na
Kumb£. In a recent publication of Mirabai's Biographi-
cal sketch, it has been pointed out that the author of
*'Mahajana Mandate " Mr. Maganlal has placed Mira's
birth in Neret&, in the year 1424 A.D., so also has the
author of ;l Sati Mandala" placed it in the year 1524
A.D.

The legally accurate and otherwise sublime think-
ing of the late learned Govardhanram has marked her

time of worldly career as Iyin<,' between 1403 and 1470
AJ>., but no trace is found of her date of birth. Another
writer guessed it to be 14 19 A.D., and the iadefatigable
worker in the field of Gujarati literature the late scholar
Ichharram Desai, in his Kavya Dohana Part II, has
stated that in A. L). 1403, Mira was born in the House
of Medat& in Marwad, and was the queen of Kumbh£
Ran£ of Udaipur; and that she went the way of all
flesh in Dwarik& in A. D. 1470. Oiher critics have fol-
lowed the dictum of one or another of the two learned
scholars. Mr. Jaysukhlal Joshipura, a close student of
Gujarati literature has considered Mira to have been born
in 1403 A. D. but has at the same time regarded as
synchronous with Nrisimh Meht£; and has placed her
date of departure from the physical world in 1470 In
fact, many competent scholars and well recognized
authorities such as Kavi Narmadashankar, Professor
Anandshankar Dhruva, Rao Bahdur Ramanbhai Nil-
kanth and others of less eminence have regarded Mir&
as the wife of Kumbha

In the meantime it will be worth while to turn our
attention to the critics of upper India, who can be
looked upon assitutted on the vantage ground of fresh
researches, can be here summarised briefly in so far as
the net results of their views are concerned I —

rBabu Kartikprasad has assigned 1419 A D. to
Mire's birth; and Munshi Devi Prasad a resident of
Marwar, as well as the author of Mir&bai's career

4U *fW <*fa ) and also Pandit

* I am indebted to the author of Mirabai's Biographical sketch recently
published in Gujrati under the direction of the Educational Ddpt. Biroia state.

Gaorishankar and Mrs. A. Besant, have all cried
ditto to the dictum of Munshi Devi Prasad; in the same
way Mr. M. Macoliffe, a writer in the pages of the Indian
Antiquary followed suit, and all have in the same breath
placed her birth between A- D. 1499 and 1504.

In the midst of the tangled growth of traditions
moreover woven by time round Mira's life and of the
conflicting opinions of learned critics, it is a hard task
to toil through them, and trace the right year to the
proper place and proper time of her birth as well as
death. It was destined, as if it were for Mr* Tansukhram
Tripathi, the worthy son of his wortheir father to sift
the existing evidence and bring out a provisional but
pronounced conclusion in his Introduction to K&vya
Dohan Part VII and the whole of it deserves a careful
perusal. So also does the Epitome alluded to above
which is published by the Educational Department
of Baroda, although its range is not too high or all
embracing.

CHAPTER XII.

While pouring out from the depth of her heart some
priceless words of sermon addressed to R£naji? who has
been represented by traditon to have persecuted Mira",
she has sung the following as the closing portion of her
hymn : —

R£naji re dudajini bai Mir£ boliy£n re ;
Santono arnarapura vasa, bij£ narakni kh&hn re.

It was and is a custom prevalent among the Hindus
to be designated and recognized by a patronymic and
Dudaji was the grand father of Mira, as will be evident
in the sequel. The materials at the disposal of a re-
search are scanty, beyond traditions that still linger
on; but the historical records of Marwar, as well as
other historical writings of Indian and European fame,
and thirdly some Bardic writings extant that preserve
the meincry of the valiant Rajput races in their rhap-
sodies have been valuable sources of throwing fresh light
on the life and career of

Mandar or Mandovar was the capital of the Rao of
Jodhpur ; and the Moslem ruler subjugated it. Rao
Chundaji alias HaoCh^nda re-conquered it in 1396 A. D. ;

and established the Rathod kingdom there. His only
j,rincess Hans£ was married to I^kh£ji, the J!an& of
Mewa"d ; and this La"kh& Rln3, was the grandfather of
Kumbh^ R&na\ Chund£ji, again, did not bequeath hig
Kingdom to the eldest born, the heir-apparent to the
G£di — Prince Ridmalji alias Ranmal — but to the second
born, prince Kdn&ji, the heir presumptive. Ranmal, there
upon felt his pride wounded to the utmost, and fled
away in a self mortified mood to Mewad, so that there he
was equipped with all resources of a fight by his nephew,
the R£na of Chittore, Raol Mokalji. This came about so
late in time that Ka*na\ji was not alive, but Sattaji was
on the throne of Mandore. He was defeated by Ranmal,
who recovered his own rightful dominion.

In the meantime, the following geneological tables
will point out the father's and father in law's houses of
Mira connecting her with both the kingdoms of Mewar
and Marwar : —

JODHPUR RAJAS OF MARWAR.

Rao Churi da ji
Rao Hidmal alias Ranmalji

(1)

(2)

Rao Joddhaji
I (3)

Rao Sujaji
(Jodhpur)

1
Kumar Bikaji
(Bikaner)

Knmar Dudaji
1

1
Yiramji

Jaymal

1
Hatansir

MiraJt
ied
nalia

56
HOUSE OF CHITOD RANAS OF MEWAD.

Rana Lakhaji

I
Rana Makalji

Kana Kumbhaji (A. D. 1419 1469)

Ram t"idnteinh Prithvi Raj Rai Malji

(A. 1). 1409- L474) (A. D. 1474-1509)

Rana Pangramsinh

Alias Sanga
(1) __ (2) _ (3) j _

I I i " I

Kumar Bhojraj Rana Ratnasinh Rana Vikramft Bana Udaisinh

X (A. D. 1528-153L) ditya (A.D. 1542)

Mirabai (A. D- 1531-1536)

Rana Pratapsinh

Mira has sung about herself :-l«*

Mahiyar Mftrun Medataure, ne Sa?aryun Chitod.
This is alright, but even in the line it is not quite
clear to whom she was married and hence a difference of
views. The old school of critics unite her name as married
to R&na Kumbhaji, and the new school leads us to believe
that she was tied in wedlock with Kumar Bhoja Raj, the
grandson of the same Kumbha Rana. Of course, it need
not be said with any great emphasis that the royal lines of
Me wad and Mar wad were closely inter- woven with each
other, and the history of the one leads us to solve success-
fully the knotty problems arising out of the history and
tradition mixed uptogether in the other.

It is said that Rao Chundaji sent round the cocanut — a

T "ell known symbol ol Betrothal, in fact a. symbol of future

^legroomship — on behalf of his 'only daughter, Princess

^j for Prince Chanda, the heir apparent to the

of Lsikhft lUnA. The latter out of joke remarked that
being too old for the ofier of betrothal, he could not accept
it, hut that he would resign in favour of his Prince ChAndA.
This \VMS sufficient for provoking the anger of ChftndA, who
not only did not go in for his own betrothal, but went
oven to the length of resigning his claim to the g&di in
favour of the issue begotten by his father in Hans&, after
the celeberation of marriage. He plighted his troth in this
way; and Lakha* Rana did marry her. Makalji was the issue
so that he ascended the G&di. and Chandd conducted the
reins of administration during his minority, so ably and
dispassionately that even till this date, the lineage of
this very Chandft at present denominated as Salumbr&ji
are real administrators of the kingdom of Udaipur, so far
so that papers and documents devoid of the seal and
signatures of ^the present representative of his line signify
no official authentication or recognition.

On the other side,- Rao Ridmalji deprived Rao Sataji
of his paternal G&di to which he was rightfully entitled. In
the meantime, owing to internecine bickerings Rana Makalji
was killed by his KhawAs— his orderly, and confident.
Ridmal hastened his course to Chittod, captured the
Khawds, put him to death summarily, and seated his son
Kumbhaji on the throne, in A. D. 1419. Kumbha Ranft
was yet a minor, and the Dowager-Rani, the mother of the
minor prince, prevailed upon Ridmal to administer the
kingdom of Chittod. It is clear at this stage to note that
Ridmal was the Rathod Ravja of Mandovar, and was entitled
to the honour of a Royal Umbrella and other paraphernalia
peculiar to independent kingship.

At this juncture, intrigues began to be hatched in
Chittore. The low class Khawas attendants of the royal
family could not brook the unending superiority of
Ridmalji alias Ranmal ji, who shared the throne and sat on
the same G&di as the minor. Salumbraji evacuted Chittod —
but their departure ever since the advent of Ranmal was
made much of ; and Mewad was full of Marwar rulers.
on the next Dasera day, while the annual procession was
parading through the streets in full pomp, the Kathods
under the Ranmal were humbled down and defeated, who
when he, the valiant leader was killed as a result
of a long woven plot. Jodh£, the young son of Ranmal,
saw his brave father fall under the blows of plotters and
he fled away from the field for life. The flowers of Chan-
d&vat encompassed the defeat and he himself pursued Jodha
and his attendants but their trace could not be recovered.
Eventually however, Chandavat reached Mandor and sub-
jugated it, put to route the brave warriors of Jodha
with the minor prince who all wandered in different places
for twelve long years, and thus relieved Mewad from the
paws of Marwad, in 1444 A. D.

CHAPTER XIII.

It is already known to the average reader of literary
and historical records of Gujarat and Rajputana that
Malmrana Khumba was at once a sovereign, a soldier and a
scholar. A distinguished writer, of more modern date,
Mr. Kara Vilas Sarda has placed at the disposal of the in-
terested public the result of his laborious researches in the
form of Monographs on Kumbh£ and Sanga Rands, which
deserve careful perusal. He has made certain improve-
ments on the monumental work of Col. Tod, which,
no doubt, claims our attention as a tl wonderful work,"
since if not unfailing source, it is all the same the chief
source of enlightenment. Subsequently, epigraphic finds
discovery of manuscripts and other sources of antiquarian
researches have thrown profuse light on what remained
concealed upto now behind the veil of darkness or obs-
curity. And yet, with no degree of certainty can the
student of history pronounce the present sources of in-
formation as exhaustive or final in any way.

The reason too, of this statement is not far to seek.
The knowledge about the history of Rajputana and the
then known politics of Gujarat lies — not confined to any
works or Manuscripts but — scattered in journals, pamphlets,
Manuscripts, books and coin collections. The researcher
and the scholar has to wade through the intricate mazes
and try his utmost to pave out a smooth path ; but that is

capable of being accomplished not by the labour of a few
years but extending over a whole life.

The author of Kumbha Rana, Mr. H. B. Sarda has
remarked : —

u In writing this book, I have made full use of all the
inscriptions of the time of Maharana Kumba and his father
Mokal — many of them unpublished— the Kumbhalgarh, the
Chittorgarh (Tower of Victory), the Ranpur, the Eklingji
Temple and the Mount Abu inscriptions, as well as of the
celebrated work, Eklinga Mahatmya the only known
Manuscript copy of which is in the possession of
Bah hr: P. Gaurishankar Oza.''

Following this authority, it will be worth while to trace
the history of Kumbh& Rana, so as to connect Mir& with
the illustrious heroes of Mewar, who were famous as the
protectors and defenders of " Dharma "-Religious duty or
duty towards God. They claim descent from the Sun, and
it is a patent fact in history that for about 1400 years
Guhilot or Gehlot family of the Solar Dynasty or " Surya
Vamsa '' ruled over Mewar without a break, Mr. H. B.
Sarda has observed : — Their immortal deeds, their chival-
rous character, their high ideals, their elevated and noble
patriotism have placed them at the head of the Hindu
nation and earned for them the richly deserved title of
"the Sun of the Hindus." It is acknowledged on all hands
that the fame of Jaitra Sinha, Hamir, Kumbhfc, Sanga
Pratap and R£ja Sinh has outlined history and survived
the shocks and wrecks of time.

The rule of Kumbha extend from the year A.
D. U33 to A. D. 1468; and Col. Tod in a very
pithy and terse manner observes that: — " all that was
wanting to angment Mewar's resources against the
storms which were collecting on the brows of Caucasus and
the shores of Oxus, and were destined to burst on the head
of his grandson, Sangft, was effected by Kumbha, who with
Hamir's energy, Lftkha's taste for arts, and a genius com-
prehensive as either and more fortunate, succeeded in all
his undertakings, and once more raised the crimson banner
of Me war upon the banks of the Caggar, the scene of
Samarsi's defeat."

The story about Lakha's sally of wit has been elo-
quently and impressively recited by Mi1. H. B. Sarda, and
it will not be amiss to cite his words at some length
here: —

"Lakha was advanced in years, and his sons esta-
blished in suitable domains when the cocoanut came from
the Rao of Mandawar (Mandor) to affiance his daughter,
Ran Mai's sister to the heir of Mewar. When the embassy
was announced Chandft, the heir of Mewar was absent, and
the old chief was seated in his chair oi; state surrounded by
his Court. The messenger of Hymen was courteously re-
ceived by Lakha who observed that ChandS, would soon re-
turn and take the gage;, for added he, drawing his fingers
over his moustachios : I don't suppose you send such play
things to an old grey beard like me. This little sally was
applauded and repeated. CMnda offended at delicacy be-
ing sacrificed to wit, declined to accept the symbol which.

his father had even in jest supposed might be intended for
himself. "

It was this Ch&nd£ whose unexampled conduct of true
and well tried fidelity gave him undisputed precedence for
ever in the Council; and that ia still main tained in all the
Grants of the Rana of Mewar. Mokal too ascending the
throne in 1397 A. D. defeated Mahommed Taghlakh in
the field of Raipur and performed many other exploits to
preserve the paternal tradition.

In the meantime, let us for a while pause and ponder
over the Moslem sway in India. The invasion of Taimur
and tin flight of Mahomed Taghlakh in 1398 A. D. des-
troyed the power of the Taghlakh rulers. At this time,
Gujrat along with Malwa and other places declared their
respectvie independence. Gujarat it is with which we are
not the less concerned in the present treatment of the sub-
ject. The Vaghelas belonging to the Chalukya dynasty
ruled over the land of Gujrat till in 1297 A. D. Sultan Alla-
din Khilji conquered it. The Charts who had founded
Anhiiwad were succeeded by Chalukyas ; and the
Siddaraj Jaisinh and Kumar Pal carried Gujerat k> the
zenith of the power and glory when Malwa, Chittor and
Ajmer were all conquered, during the llth and 1 2th
Centuries. But then came the irony of fate so that from
1297 A. D. to 1407 A. D. Gujarat was a tributary of
Delhi. Kumbh^R&n& defeated the viceroy of Gujarat in
A. D. 1454.

The Kingdom of Malwa too, continued to exist till
in 1571 A.D. Akbar made it a province of his empire.

Mahomrued Khilji was imprisoned for six months in
Chittor, and then the Maharana magnanimously set him
free without a ransom.

Rao Jodha with many feats of extraordinary prowess
recovered his patrimony, Me war. He started with the
raid of Manlor; and eventually Maharana Kuiubhd lost
Man dor after seven years of occupation, and Jodha won
it back "by the sword.

In A. D. 1442 The Maharana of Mewar left Chittor and
went to invade Harftvati; but , his own territories were
exposed to the danger caused by Sultan Mahommed
Khilji. The Maharana was one too many for the Sultan
and he defeated the latter. Kumbha Ran£ defeated the
Sultan of Nagor.

The Eklinga Mahatmya composed during Kumbha's
life time states: — " He defeated the King of the Shakas
(Mussalmans) put to flight Mashiti (Mujahid ?)> slew t^e
heroes of Nagpur (N:agor) destroyed the fort, filled up the
moat round the fort, captured elephants, imprisoned Shaka
women arid punishsd countless Mussalmans. He gained a
victory over the King of Gujarat, burnt the city (N"agor)
with all the Mosques therein, liberated twelve lakhs of
cows from the Moslems, made the land a pasture for cows
and gave Nagor for a time to B rah mans."

This Kumbha was murdered by his son Udai Sinh, who
is otherwise known as " Udo Hatiaro." Thus, says vlr. H.
B. Sarda, ''after a reign of 35 years-a reign full of glory
and splendour— Kumbha departed from this world, leaving

behind him a name which is honoured in History and re-
membered to this day as that of one of the greatest
sovereigns who ever ruled in India."

About S&ng& Forbe's R&sa M&1& has the following to
describe : — "The array of Islam was broken by the fury of
Rajputs, several officers of distinction were killed'; Mubariz-
ul-mulk himself was severely wounded ; his elephants were
taken, and the whole force was driven in confusion towards
Ahmedabad. S&nga Rana now plundered the surrounding
country at his leizure ; he spared the Brahman s of
Vadnagar, but finding Visalnagar defended against him, he
took it by assault, slaying the Mahommedan Governor.
Having thus revenged himself for the insult which had
been offered to him, he returned unopposed to Chittore.'*
(p. 295.)

Me war at that time was at the zenith of glory, power
and prosperity. Malwa was conquered and incorporated
with Me war, A jmerev taken and Abu was reduced to sub-
mission, along with Gwalior and many other places. Gujarat
had been plundered and then relinquished. The Maharana
Yasha Prakasa states : —

Ibrahim purava disha na ulatai ;
Pachham Mudafor na de payana ;
Dakhani Mahamad Shah na daude ;
Sango daman trahun Suratana

15s*

On the East of Mevvar Ibrahim Lod i cannot advance;
Mazaftar of Gujarat cannot come towards the West ;
Mahmeed Shah Khilji cannot move towards the South ;
in this way Maharana Sanga has bound the feet of the
three Sultans.

This SaMigaji had 28 queens, seven sons and four
daughters. The eldest son Bhoja Raj was married to the
celebrated Mir&bai, daughter of Ratnasinh, younger
brother of Viramdeva of Merta. Bhoja Raj was in his
princedom, and while yet his father was alive, he .died.

The error in the judgment of Col. Tod lias been
pointed out above at the proper place, when he consider-
ed Alira to be Kumbha Edna's queen. For Kumbha
was killed in A. D. 1467, while Mira's grand-
Father, Duda, became Raja of Merta after that year.
Mira's father, Ratna Sinh was killed in the battle of
Khanua 59 years after Ku mbha's death, and her cousin
Jaymal at-Chittar during Akbar's attack, 99 years after
Kumbha's death. Now, Mir£ was married to prince Bhoja
Eaj in A. D. 1516 — She being born in 1498 A. D., and
died in 1546-7 A. D. at Dwarka situated in Kathiawad.
So far is the historial data furnished by Vira-Vinoda,
Chaturkula Charitra and Mahara"n& Sanga's life.

CHAPTER XIV.

HISTORY AND TRADITION INSEPARABLY
BLENDED.

Mirabaithe daughter of Eatna Sinh was born in a
village called Kudki, and she lost her mother during infancy.
She was brought up by Dudaji in A. D. 1517 and when
she came of age, she was mairied with the oldest born son
of Ran& Sslnga, by name Bhoia Ra], and was sent to
Chittod, where it was her parents' ambition to see her
crowned as the Queen of Mewad after the death of Sang& ;
but by a strange irony of fate, she lost; her youg husband
in the prime of life and was rendered a widow. Now the
date of the death of Prince Bhoja Raj cannot be correctly
traced, but it can be inferred with same degree of precision
that it must have been somewhere between the years 1527
and 1530 A, D.

Although bereaved of tjie youthful consort ol: life and
yet not being of an age when real sense of discrimination
between right and wrong sets in, Mirabai was fully alive
to the pangs to which other ordinary widows are preys,
and she avowed and announced to the inmates of her hus-
band's family by words and also by deeds that she was
made up of a higher mettle. She became firmly attached,
ever since the death of her mundane lord, to the Supreme
Lord. Sri Krishna — and her love was tsansformed into
Love-devotion or Divine Love. Her father and the
whole lineage to the fourth degree remote from herself

observed, it is related on authority, pure Vaishnava form
and faith of religion. Dudaji bad his own well-known
temple of worship, and Sri Krishna is adored with fervour
by all Medatia Rathods ; and Sri Krishna's name graces
the turban on the crest of each one of the line.

Mirabai took with her when she left her parent's home
to go into the fold of her husband's family, her own tubary
deity to whom she owed all genuine love : and worshipped
Him with all the solemnity of customary rites, which were
all enhanced in force and grace after her Widowhood. It
was the form of Shri Krishna that is popularly styled Gird-
harilalji whom Mir£ adored and worshipped ; and this
form is generally represented in a picture as standing with
the head slightly bent, the left hand balancing the well
known mountain Govardhan, and the right hand playing
Divine notes of celestial symphony on the favourite flute.

The widowhood of Mihrabai was a harbinger of adver-
sity in Chittod ; and the ill-omen brought many unhappy
events in its train — the principal among them being the
signal defeat of sustained by Rana Sanga at the hands of
Babar in 1526-7 A. D. Her father and uncle did yeomen
services in helping the Rana — -coming as they did under
the Jodhpur forces. The next year the Rana died on his
way to the battlefield in the desperate attempt of defeating
Babar afte arraying a vast host of picked warriors. Sub-
sequently, Akbar, during his own time, conquered and
subjugated Chittod.

The three younger brothers of her husband Ratnasinh,
Vikramajit and Udeysinh were not so brave in exploits

as other representatives of the line were ; and they fell
unhappy victims to internecine quarrels, Vikramajit, while
he was yet under twenty years of age, was seated on the
throne, but his childish and peevish nature exasperated the
nobles and other chiefs. It was he who put Mir&bai to
affliction and repeated harassment^, only because she used
to be in the constant company of saints, and anchorites,
her youth notwithstanding, and because the practice was
censured all round so much so that it was converted into
a standing scandal on the royal line. Strict vigilance was
kept over her to ward off and prevent the scandalised
company, and a standing sentinel was kept for providing
against vice and safeguarding her virtuous actions. This
displeasure is manifest from some of the songs of the
martyred poetess.

Hereto Giradhai Gopal dusara n£ koi. ;

Diisara na koi ho natha dusara na koi,

SMhana sanga baith baitha loka l&ja khoi ;,

Yahato b&ta futa gai Janata saba koi,

Ansuana jala sincha sincha prema vela boi ;

Yahato bela faila gai imrita fala hoi ;

Aithi men bhakta jana jagta dekha roi;

Loga kutama bhai banda sanga nahin koi.

•v C

My sole faith and repose of heart is in no other than
the Shepherd-God who poised the mountain on the tip
of the last finger. None else, forsooth, none else, Oh
Lord. Keeping constant company with saints and
oadhus, I have shaken off the false sense of worldly
modesty ; and the matter being noised abroad, all
know about it. The grief -laden heart shed frequent
teais that were sprinkled fruitfully and the love-
creeper throve; which Was fructified into nectareous
flow. Born with an inspiration of Love-Devotion I
shed bitter tears on seeing this miserable worldly life.

This was the pligt that bespeaks not sackcloth and
ashes, but of firm faith and devotion. The Rana-
Vikramajit Was keen in his hatred of Vaishnavite form of
worship, and sent baskets of flowers with snakes andfscor-
pions concealed in them. Saved by Eternal Grace from the
mortal fttes of these venomous insects, Mira had yet to
fall a prey to the cup of bitter poison which was sent to
her through the leading Shroffs of the place by the Ran a
— her brother-in-law, under the false pretext of the grace-
Water of the divine ablution of Sri Krishna — Char£nam-
rita — ^<f F*Jfl. The nectar of Krishna's feet after
ablution. On this incident, the tradition goes in the
form of the verse that runs thus: —

Ranaji bikha mokalyo dijo roedatainke hdtha.
Charanamrita kara pigayi, tuma jano Raghunatha.

The Rana sent poison, which was to be handed over
to the descendant of Medata Rathod. She swallowed
it down her throat with a firm faith of its being
nectareous ablution -water — the miracle is known
to you God, the Lord of the Haghu dynasty.

There is another spurious verse which does not appear to
belong to Mira, and yet some saints attribute it to her : —

Pwi $5 rf*f?

This verse regarded as spurious by many— chiefly in as
much as her brother-in-law could not under any circum-^
stances reinstate her as his queen that sort of levitude
being disallowed among the Kshatriyas, and being
regarded as a positive breach of religious injunctions.

Moreover, tradition is hydra headed. Another version
says that Mira died under the effect of poison, and while
she was breathing her last and giving up her ghost, she
uttered a curse upon the guardian Shroff of the Rana who
ventured to hold and hand over the cup to her — that in the
whole line of dynasty, there will be dearth of wealth or
issues or both.

That heartfelt imprecation has, they say, told effectively
on the " Bija Vargi Bania " — community ; and it is said
these Banias themselves avow so much as traditional truth

applied to them— and which the following couplet
corroborates : —

Bijavargi b&nio, dujo gujara gauda.
Tijo mile jo dahamo, kare taparo chawda.

If Bijavargi Bania, Gujara ganda and Bahama
Brahmana — if these three were to join together, the
home is ruined.

In fact, when Mirabai*went to Medata leaving Chittod
to its lot, there followed all sorts of disaster. Another
tradition, moreover, runs that the poison sent to her by
- the Eana had no effect on her, and that it became
converted, by an inexplicaple miracle, into a thick'
and glowing halo of light in the throat of the image of
Kanchhodji in Dw&rka; and Mir& repaired forthwith to
Medata under her uncle's protection. Her exit from
Chittod, on all accounts, foreboded dire calamity befalling
the famous Fort. In 1532 A. D. the ruler of Gujarat —
Sultan Bahdur prepared a large army and hevy ammuni-
tion trained under the lead of a Europeon general for two
years, and invaded the place. Bundi, Jodhpur, Medat£
and such other places joined together, and performed
many valoious deeds, so far so that their swords alone
achieved success for a time while the guns and cannons of
the Moslem enemy under Europeon discipline paled fire.
At that juncture the Dawager — Queen Mother of Vikram-
ajit — Hadiji Karametiji — whose name has been recorded

with leverence to be Padmavati by the Mogal Emperor,
Babar in his well known work "Tajuka Babari— ^^ ^*V
saw that her son was under age and not yet quite worthy
of the steel of the enemy, so that she hurried up the
course of a short truce by paying a heavy ransom. Udeysinh
was also captured and carried away, but by a strange
device he was recovered and taken back to his own place.
This exasperated the Sultan, who, with a redoubled force,
once- more invaded the Fort of Chittod. At this time,
Queen Karmeti sought the help of Humayu's army, but
by a strange irony of fate Humayu was dissuaded from the
purpose by his counsellors and other iollowers, so that the
Queen stood totally disheartened at the time of that
emergency. However, her sprit being undaunted and she,
not losing her presence of mind, sent away her two sons
Vikamajit and Udeysinh —The younger brothers-in-law of-
of Miiabai to Bundi,and she herself became fully equipped
with armour and fighting missiles and set out for the
defence. And yet she was doomed to sustain defeat The
Fort of Chittod, impregnable as it was, was won ; and it is
said that 13,000 women became self-immolated, and no
less than 30,000 brave Rajput warriors fought with the
result that they all were killed. The enemy plundered
away precious booties and polluted many holy temples.

When a few days had elapsed, Humayun went to
Mausor, defeated Sultan Bahadur Khan, and once more
entrusted the reins of Government to Yikramajit. Still
intrigues of a bad type prevailed, and a low class man
turned traitor, killed the heir and took possession of the
throne of Chittod in 1542 A.D.

CHAPTER XlV.~-(Continu*d.)

It is quite clear at this stage to notice that
a pitiable martyr to her own faith that was opposed to the
faith of her husband's kinsmen, became a household
name in Mewar and Marwar, though not quite so effective-
ly in Gujarat. Her name was a shibboleth for meek and
miln fealty and steadfast devotion to the divine Krishna
with whom her heart and soul became inseparably wedded.
The following geneological trea js repeated here in as mucli
as it is borrowed from a Hindi booklet called : " Mir&bai ka
Jivan Charitra " :—

Rao

Rathod

>J
1)

Ridmalji

Joddhaji
1

Rao Sujaji

Vaghaji

1
Gangaji

Maladevji

Dudaji
(Medata)
1

Viramji

i
Jaiinalji

Ratna Sinh
Mirabai

Ran a Lakl -iji

Eaua Moka.ji
I

Kuinbhaji

Vlda Uai Malji

Maharauu bangaji

Bhoja Raj
X

Mirabai

RatnasiDh

I
Vikrama Jit

UdaieiDh

CHPTAER XV.

Now let us trace Mira's retirement to Medata. Viram-
deva and prince Jayamal took great pains to entertain
her under their roof with careful hospitality. All the
same scandal was attached to her name for her
strange mode of behaviour in forming congregations
and religious conclaves with saints anchorites and mendi-
cants. She must be presumed to have suffered from mental
and physical torture, as a consequence ; so that her troubled
breast is believed to have pronounced imprecations on
Medat^, too ; and the place of her birth was not saved from
the calamity that visited Chittod — the place of her husband's
birth.

The Jodhpur rulers saw the independence of Medat£
with jealousy and rancour and the place was a regular
eye sore to them. The cause of the quarrel was no other
than inherent disunion prevailing among the Rajputs of
the time, but the immediate cause of fight arose frona an
elephant belonging to Ajmere and captured by the Rathods
of Medata ; and the ultimate result of this disunion came
to be no other than death and distruction of power.

Prince Jaymal was Mira's pet and his name shines as
written in golden letters in the religious history of Rajput-
tana, as well as in the Bhakta-M&la, the celebrated work
on well known devotees of India. His heart was softened
with firm religious zeal perhaps generated by Mira in

whose company he was trained up from childhood. It is
said she blessed him in the following terms : —

Bahut badhe tero parivara,
Nahin hoya Kajiy& men hara.

Your line of dynasty will greatly multiply and you
will never have a defeat in the battle.

But the time of her death was fast approaching.
Leaving Medata, the tradition narrates, she went to
Dwarika — where she absorbed herself into the Image of
Eanchhodji after a short time. It is believed that while
being absorbed, she sang the same famous verse that can
be cited here below : —

prabhu Giradhara N&gar, mila bichhudan
nahin kije,

It is also believed that the same Image has been trans-
ferred to the temple of Dakore in Gujarat, where in the
armpit of the Image lies the holy silken upper garment of
Mira that is at times exhibited to the view of devotees at
the present time. In the Hindi booklet, it is said that
a bard named Bhuradan, .a resident of Lunva, under
Maroth Paragana, and under Marwad District, stated as
one wh® had preserved the chronology of many celebrated
persons, that she died in 1547 A. D.

She had performed many pilgrimages during her life
time— Mathura, Vrindavana and other places were

visited by her. An amusing incident is preserved by
tradition as having taken place during her pilgrimage.
An abstemious anchorite, advanced in spiritual lore and
observing the vow of life-long celibacy happened to have
met her in a common place of holy resort ; but he refused
to grant an interview to a female devotee since he would
not see the face of a female, Mir^bai only remonstrated
with him by a queer but sound argument. She argued :—
" Well, how shall we interpret the well-known line of

BMgwat that runs thus :-*!§!*: S^P^: $ft*T IW 53^11
Vasudevah pumanekah, stri mayamitaraj jagat-In
Vrija-f .0., the Universe, V£sudeva alone is the male,
and the rest of the world is made up of
females i.e., they are all qualified by Love devo-
tion as the Gopis, and thns maintaining that male
and female are but apparent distinctions and signify
nothing to & genuine faithful devotee of the Almighty
Lord. The Brahmch&ri was pleased and then did not
decline to hear her songs of devout Love for God.

Again, on another occassion, it so happened that a
learned man wrote a verse that had some ellipses to be
filled up which the Rana Sang& to whom it was addressed
was not able to do even with the help of his statesmen and
other learned Pandits. It is believed that Mira' duly
supplied the ellipses and in one place " S& " was
interpreted as ^signif ying the sense of " Lalas£," desire to
get or obtain something or meet only, and in other places,
too, she is said to have brought out the sense harmon-
iously.

77
HER SONGS.

The verse and songs of Mirabai have some interpola-
tions, and some are attributed to her that do not belong
to her, but are composed by other minor alms begging
Sadhus and itinerant anchorites. Pandit Gaurishankar
writes that she had composed a work called " R£ga Govind>J
and many stray verses that reflect the Love- Devotion oi
Jayadeva's Gita Govind.

Some Specimens of her verses can be cited with
advantage here, below : —

Darad na jane koi eri me to darada div&ni mer&,

Ghayalki gati ghayal jane, aur- na jane koy ;

Suli upar seja hamari, podhana kisa vidha hoy.

Sukha sampati me saba koi £vai,

Dukh vipata nahin koy.

Mir& kahe prabhu Girdhar N&gar, bed s&variyo hoy.

Of course, the mere insertion of the oft-repeated phrase
kahe &c. — " need not mislead us to believe that the
verse was Mira's, since rhythm, harmony and the sense
of devotion of a purely devotional character, above
other things, have to be properly examined
^befor deciding any way with due certainty. The

present chapter is not however, concerned with this
matter, so that it will be sufficient to dismiss it
with so much of suggestion. Or, it may turn out to be
her first attempt at devotional songs; or, it may result in.
some other conclusion not warranted by the data in hand ;.
hence it is better to discuss the subject in its proper place.
Again, the following one seems to be her girlish attempt:
and so its citation will not be out of place : —

Liyo hai s^mvariyene mol mal men to liyohe,

Koi kahe sungo, koi kahe mungo,

Maito liyo hai hir& sun tol;

Koi kahe halko koi kahe bhari,

Maito liyo hai takadiyetol,

Koi kahe chhane koi kahe chode,

Maito liyo hai bdgte dhol ;

Koi kahe ghatato koi kahe badhto

Maito liyo hai barabara tol ;

Koi kahe kalo koi kahe goro

Maito dekhyo he ghunghata patakhol ;

Mira kahe prabhu Giradhara N^gara

Mhare purva janama rohe koi ;

Mai maito sapnamen parani Gopal;

Hathi bhi layo ghodabhi layo

Aur layo sukha pala; etc.

I afofft* to ml * ft fr«fi % \

? q cfr «^r^ qtft

CHAPTER XVI.

RECAPITULATION- TOPOGRAPHICAL AND

CHRONOLOGICAL.

We have already seen that the paternal home of
Mir&bai — Medata — is nearly 35 kos, on the line of
Ajmere, on the East of- Jodhpur. It belongs to Marwad,
under Jodhpur and curtains, cups-saucers, soaps,
carpets, clay toys and such other things are produced there.
In ancient inscriptions it is said to have been designated
as Medantaka — the pure Sanskrit form, and to have
been founded by King M &ndh&t& of Parmar Dynasty;
so far so that originally it was named Mandhatripura,
which is believed to have been corrupted into Medata.

In M ewad moreover there is a mountain called Chitra-
kuta at the bottom of which is the village Chittod and
above it i. e. at the top is the celebrated Fort of Chittod.
During Mir&'s time, Udeypur had nbt come into existence.
It was the butt of all onslaughts at various times and
Akbar finally conquered the fort in A. D. 1568, after which
it was abandoned as the capital of Mewad.

Having examined certain details relating to the places
of Mira's birth, marriage and death, it will be but proper
to see how she was circumstanced with regard to other
details. It is alleged that Rohidas was Mira's guru or spiri-
tual guide — so have certain songs attributed to her sung

in crying ditto to what Jivana Bhakta has expressed ia the
couplet:

Jhanz pakhaj venu v^jiyan jhalara no jhanakar;
Kashi nagarnS, chokman mane gurn malya Kohidas.

But this Pada having a reflection of Kabila's sentiment,
it is quite possible that some one anonymous might have
thrust the couplet in, with an object of adding so much to
the glory of Kabira.

Whatever that may be, this much is certain that as
narrated above, Kan a Sanga was defeated by Babar in
A.D. J 517- 1527 and in the same battle Ratnasingh,
her father, and Bay Malji her uncle were both killed, as
fighting under the leadership of Sanga in 1528, Rana
Ratnasinh occupied Sanga's throne3 but Vikramaditya
obtained Ranthambhor by right. Again internal feuds
arose. In the meantime, it was Vikramaditya that
harassed Mirabai for her faith owing to his boyish boastful
nature. In the beginning she was removed from the palace
and made to reside in a lonely place with a meagre retinue
at her disposal. Champa and Chameli — as the names of her
only handmaids go — were under her and also were asked to
watch as sentinels over her; but they began to be tinged
with her devout sentiment of unshaken faith in Vishnu,
and served her as handmaids to worship. Sadhus and
mendicants too flocked to her door and holy songs and pious
prayers weie poured out in company. Scandal began to
dog her at her heels and Vikramajit sent the notorious cup

of poison as well as venomous snakes and scorpions to put
a sudden end to her life. Nothing daunted, but redoubled
in force on the contrary, her heart felt keen yearnings for
a devout faith in Sri Krishna and she has preserved the
infamous incidents in her songs such as : Ranaji-jahar diyo
ham jani— }l^ur> w&\ €UU 6*t **uO — and others.

Jayamala alone espoused Mira's cause and proved a
sort of solace to her as an oasis in a desert. When Medata
and Chittod all lost their former glory and splendour, Jaya-
mala Avas asked or allowed to secure shelter in Chittod. Sub-
sequently in A. D. 1568 when Akbar the Great Mogul be-
sieged the celebrated Fort, Jayamal lost his life by a bullet
suddenly shot by Akbar. The next day on his funeral
pyre the self-immolation of many Rajput ladies took place,
in order to commemorate the sad event of his death. It was
a hard contested battle and the exploits of heroic Rajputs
beggar all description ; so far so that even Akbar kept the
memory fresh of the hero Jayamala and Falta Sisodiy& by
erecting their statues in front of the Fort of Agra. It is also
said and believed that there is a temple in the village
named Bh&t Gr&m or Bhakta Gr&m under Nepal, where
on the steps of the stairs leading to the temple are two
images that represent the game two heroes. They were said,
more over, to be equal each to ten average warriors in physi-
cal strength; and Jayamal is known by the current
phrase : — chittodke joddhar aur Akb^rke garva g&lanhar —
( fate* sftenT sfa *t^& % W WT?R ) the hero of
Chittod, and the humiliator of Akbar's pride. So much
for the object and recipient of Mira's favour.

With regard to traditions hanging round Mira's name,
some have been cited ii-i brief ; and the one relating to
her fanciful interview with Prince Akbar calls for a sepa-
rate remark. It is believed that hearing much in
praise of Mira's good name, Akbar called at her place in
the company of Tansen the celebrated musician-both
incognito. The great Mogul, during the interview,
represented to have discussed with her the subject of
philosophy, and his favourite musician, that of Music.
The discussion and subsequent conversation greatly delight-
ed them, so far so that she appeared to them in the
form of Sri Krishna when especially she sang out Mftyri
main samvariya janyo Nath ( *Wfi ^ mMf *11«fr fW
?9N?t. ) However, it need not be repeated that,
this is all a fib and fiction of the fertile fancy of her
favourites and followers.

The tradition has it that being greatly pleased Akbar
presented her with a Diamond Necklace he being himself
disguised in the dress' of a Sany^si — Recluse. Mir& inquir-
ed softly but pertly of him as to how he with strict self'
abnegation as his avowed principle, got at the valuable
necklace; to which he rejoined by saying that while engross-
ed in meditation after performing his holy ablution in the
Yamuna", he got it, but no body knew wherefrom; and
hence, mayhap as a divine present, the necklace must go
to decorate the staunch devotee, Mir£. Now Akbar was,
born in 1543 A. D. and Mira* departed from this world of
woes in 1547 A. D. which fact alone is sufficient to render,
the tradition impossible ; and it is but meet to dismiss it
at this stage.

About Tulsidas too, there is an incredible tradition
which can be as well relegated to anachronism. It is said
that when fiana Vikramftjit began to torment her unceas-
ingly, she consulted him as her spiritual guide, by address-
ing a letter to him, which is known to have opened thus : —

to which the following was the reply of Tulsidas : —

Jinke priya na Rama Vaidehi

Tin tyagiye koti bairi sama yadyapi parama sanehi,

Pita tyajyo Prahlada bibhishana bandhu Bharata
Matahari,

Bali guru tyajiyo k&nta brijabanitana bhe jaga mangal
kari etc.,

ftfff &*

He or she whom the deity. — Alimghty Power — in the
form of Rama — is not dear, must be abandoned, howso-
ever closest in relation he or she may be ; for, Pralha"da
left off the tie of felial love to his father ; Bibhishana
that of fraternal love ; Bharata that of maternal love ;
and Bali preceptorial love ; etc.

Again, Tulsidas added by arguing that : —

To all this Mira's heart was entirely agreed ; hence, she

85 .

is said to have relinquished all her chums to worldliness and
left her husband's as well as lather's homes — and in fact this
worldly life of petty broils and turmoils. Now in 1575 A.D.
Tulsidas commenced his great work — Ramayana, and died
in 1624 A D. This fact shows conclusively that the corr-
espondence is a fabrication of a later age.

Next it is belived in many quarters that after marriage,
when Mira repaired to her father-in-law's house, the old
matrons of the family asked her to adore the doorway — the
gate before entrance was effected and then soon after she
was made to worship Durg&devi — the female Power — the
presiding Deity of the family. She could not be persuaded to
do so, since, she added — no other god, minor or major, was
recognized by her than Girdhara. When it was argued that
her married life would be long and happy, she rejoined by a
repartee that there existed many widows in the same town
and that they were not blessed by the tutelary deity to
enjoy married life till they ceased to live. Eventually, when
she did not turn round, other queens of the harem, com-
plained about her impertinence to the Rana ; so that he
was greatly irritated, and he lodged her in a separate place
— known as Bhftta-Mah&laya — the Residence of ghosts and
hobgoblins, in fact the Rana is said to have married an-
other Princess. This incident is explained by a well
known scholar — Mr. T. M. Tripathi — by arguing that even
according to the Vaishnanva faith, the Gopis had worship-
ed K&tyayani, and Rukhmini herself had worshipped with
full faith the tutelary Female Deity — in fact, Krishna
himself is believed as having incarnated as Devi.

There is another amusing legend relating to
which deserves a brief mention here. Some low class
attendants of Rana Vikram poisoned his ears by alleging
that depravit}T of character in Mir& could be detected and
traced at once, for, she was known, they added, to be talk-
ing with some person with closed doors. It may be
that she was pouring out fully the sentiments
of her whole heart before the favourite God Girdhar ad-
dressing all her bewildered mind based on firm faith to
Him with half mute inarticulate but half audible speech.
The Rana hastened in person to go to the spot when his
chamberlain brought him the news, with unsheathed sword
in hand ; and inquired, after reaching there, who it was
that Mirjl used to talk with. Mira retorted by saying : —
Look inside ; he is all devoid of fear and shame. But
when the R£nft searched all nooks and corners and found
nobody, he was crest fallen ; and with a brazen face, asked
his own sister to persuade Mir 4 to give up low class com-
. pany so as to shake off all scandal. Another version makes
the R&n£ go and rip open the doors but to his utter dis-
may he found no male, but many more Mir&s, so that his
unscabarded sword could not be aimed at the right person.
He was confused and was at his wits' end, so far that he
had to return to his own palace.

A strange version of another tradition states that
Mira who used to sing and dance before the divine idol of
Girdhar in a small temple near the Kumbha Sya?na temple
of Chittod, pleased her God who descended from his estab-
lished seat, and took Mira in his lap — so as to let her be

absorbed in Him, entirely .and absolutely. Of course, Mira
saw her God eye-to-eye many a time, and she h:i> sung
about the same in the following verses : —
Aj ham dekhyo Girdhari etc.

To-day 1 witnessed Girdhari — my (rod.

Tabten mohi nanda nandana drishti padyo m&vi etc.

Since I have caught sight of the Rejoicer of the
Nanda family —Sri Krishna, I have been infatuated
by His Divine Love.

To these legends, might be added another funny and
amusing story. Once a S£dhu with a sinful heart wanted
to court Mir& in solitude. She with a cool heart welcomed
him with warm food, and then prepared a bed which was
placed in the midst of the assembly of other Ssklhus, and
when the sinful sojourner took his seat thereon, she in-
quired of him if there was any lonely place in the Universe,
with no sun, no moon and none of the well sung eight
witnesses to evidence sinful as well as meritorious deeds.
The face of the Sadhu lost all colour and pallor was spread
over it, and he fell prostrate at the feet of Mir&, with peni-
tential breath.

There is a childish story that narrates an incident by
the offer of many valuables made by the Rana, her brother-
in-law, as an earnest for his marriage with her. Mir&
declined to accept either, but preserved the incident in the
song that runs thus : —

Amo abala ne moti mirafit Bai Sy&mlo Gharenun
mare s&chun re!

HUicl

After her exit from ]VJewad and Marwad and her
advent to the holy land of Vrind&vana, her devotional
songs became highly popular and her name became a house-
hold word for all, sadhus and saints, sinners and spoilers
alike. This fact aroused the anger of the Rana but was soon
converted into admiration and adoration of her name, so
that he went after her to Vrindavan to meet and worship
her. He was disguised as a Sadhu, and begged alms of her
— but Mira offered to him nothing but the bare name arid
fame — song in adoration of her God. After a good deal
of remonstrance as the tradition has it, she was persuaded
to repair to Chittod and she did so and passed her life
with the Italia — This is the version of " Bhakti — Prakasa."

CHAPTER XVII.

OTHER MISLEADING NARRATIONS.
The delusion in previous writers and critics starts from
the story by which Mira is imagined to be the wife of
Kumbh4 R£n£. In this connection it is believed that he
was deadly against the Vaishnava faith ; but strange to say
he has been pointed out as a commentator on Gita-Govinda.
Chronologically too it is a mere delusion to consider her to
be wedded to Kumbha for, he lived from A- D. 1419 to
A. D. 1469. It was first removed by the author of a work
named 'Chittor and the Mewad Family, Dr. Straiton.'

Shivasinh Saroj is another work in which the delusion
is kept up, and it is believed that the small temple in
Chittod referred to above, as well built the temple of Eka
Lingji Mahadeo in Udeypnr were both built by Mirabai.
These conjectures are now dismissed as unreliable.

There is another noteworthy point that invites atten-
tion. " Mirake Prabhu " instead of this correct closing
line of almost all of Mira's songs, there are two alternative
one vi/, "Mir& kahe Prabhu etc/1 and "Mira kahe Prabhu
Giridhara na guna " instead of " Giridhara n&gara." Pro-
ceeding with the first part it is easy to note that "Mir& ke
Prabhu" must be a correct form, on the analogy of :
" Dhirajke Prabhu," ".Sevakake Prabhu, " "Suradaske
Prabhu" and such other poets who have closed their lines.

similarly. Taking the second part, it is but meet to inter-
pret the sense in a rational way : —

The Deity is the object of Worship. The subject-ego-
identifies itself , or rather tries to identify itself with the object
of adoration. The mind, in the meantime, with full intelligence
gives utterance to words, mutters prayears, recites Mantras,
performs certain rites withal and the idoltries to manifest
itself before the mind's eyes of the adorer and the audience
alike, by the sheer force of the sense attached to the words
so uttered, in strict conformity with the attitude of: the in-
dividual mind. This is a well known prominent Ved£ntic
doctrine amenable to reason so nicely and exquisitely that it
is true all over the East as well as the West. The One
form Absolute of the Omnipresent God, even in the Dualism
of Vaishnava faith, represents itself innumerable aspects
according to the countless glories in which he is tried to be
pictured by the adorer in consonance with their description
sung by holy writings. The active but ever fickle mind is
supported by the form best suited to its requirements for
reaching the summum bonum of Life — the Highest Goal —
the absolute absorption in Bhagw&n.

This is symbolic Idolatry as some say : but it is the
sole secret, the true essence of Idolatry hence the poetry of
Mira had its birth in her devotion ; and hence have the lake
poets of the West been known to worship Nature and
Eternal Laws, Mira has accordinly, the burden of her song
" Prabhu Giridhar Nagara " Lord God of the Highest
Refinement who poised the Mountain on the tip of his little
finger. Giridhar Nagar does not or rather cannot signify a

man of the Nagar community named Giridhar and "Mirage
Prabhu" cannot, as a consequence, be construed as meaning
•the Lord or husband of Mini. Tt is, no doubt, a ridiculous
sense and yet arguments are advanced by saying that in
'Chittod there were many Chitroda Nagars inhabiting there.
In support of this interpretation many funny arguments are
put forth, but the theory if adopted for a moment would
upset the whole ground work that is based on sound his-
torical truths as detailed above. So, it is worth while to
barely note it here.

The pet idol of Mir A, was given to her while yet she
was a mere child at her father's house. A Bavu— wandering
mendicant — happened to reach her fathers'* root' and begged
alms. The predominant AT ays of Hindu charity and every
day hospitality made it incumbent on the pater familias to
revere and adore the saint while he himself was engaged in
worshipping his own pet Deity — which caught the eye and
fascinated the vision of childlike Mint. She made a pressing
demand and the Ba*v£- Saint— complied with it after some
hesitation. This is how the story of the Deity viz. the
Idol of Giridhar — can be traced to its root; and Mira carried
her wherever she went up to the end of her life— so far so
that the auspicious turning round the holy sacrificial fire
during the marriage ceremony was done with this very Idol
In right front. After her death, how the idol was treated
is what is not easy to determine in the midst of incoherent
evidences. One version places it in Amer, after Chittod
was conquered by Mdnsinh of Jaypur in 1577 A. D. •
another belief is that it is situated in Siva R&japur, under
Fattehpur District.

Mira, rightly speaking, seems to have abandoned the-
sordid pursuit of the fleeting world only with a view to
drown the pangs oh' widowhood even while yet she was a
mere child. Her excessive delight in company of God
brought on her the ecstatic devotion and she disregarded
the jibes and taunts, slut's and scandals thac came to be
heaped upon her by worldly wise people of her own gener-
ation while ail along keeping her vow of chastity laudably
immaculate. Holy devotion was a hereditary virtue of
which she was legitimately proud ; and the impressions of
past lives asserted themselves with redoubled force, when
she became absorbed in the various rites with which the
worship of the God was ever celebrated without a brea
and even at the neglect of meal as well as sleep.

If what is gathered already from legends and traditions,
lurking behind Mini's name be true, and if the opinion tha
Rana Yikram gave unduly greater importance to
popular scandal be his own defence then, too, the hard and!
rigorous ordeals through which she was made to pass
brought out the genuine gold as untarnished, unvarnished
and ungarnished. Her stiffness and obduracy in not bow-
ing her head in reverence to the female family Deity after
marriage is compared by the critical devotees of Mira with
the same frankness that characterised the want of reverent
piety of Tulsidas, in a later age when he too refused to
bend his head to the Idol of Krishna, in so far as he regar-
ded Rama as his favourite God — and he is represented to
have uttered the following couplet to substantiate th£ truth
of hi* principle : —

Mora miftkuta kara bansri bhale bane ho Nathu
Tulsi mastak tab name dhanusheya bana lyo hathu.

It is said that owing to the force of fervent piety a
strange miracle occurred and the Idol of Krishna appeared
as Kama.

However, this sense of distinction without a difference
must be attributed to the unnecessary dole of compliment
paid to great persons possesssed of Spiritual Power by
their followers. It is based on a weak reasoning, and
breaks down under a child's touch. To a really advanced
Initiate, whose development has reached an extraordinary
high pitch, there can be no distinction of God and God,
when at every stage, spirituality comes to be gaining
strength with the identification of the subject and the
object, or humanity and divinity at least, till finally the
celestial quality of life is set like an aureole about her head
and felt within hereself

" The deep, enthusiastic joy,

The rapture of the hallelujah sent

From all that breathes and is."

But this is by the way ; for the present purpose is not
much concerned with the higher land mark of philosophical
truths.

Mira considered ^all M/s"— meaning to say the world—
^'Sarvamidam"— fl^ftf^(— as nothing more nor less than
/her own God ; and like the heavenly bodies, in the words of

M. Arnold, she behaved in a very dispassionate manner ;— -

"Unaffrighted by the silence round them,
Undistracted by the sights they see,
These demand not that the things without them,.
Yield them love, amusement, sympathy.
Bounded by themselves, and unobservant,
In what state God's other works may be,
In their own tasks all their powers pouring
These attain the mighty life they see."

Of course, as every reader will admit that in MiraV
case, "the Vale discovered the Hill," and she carried out
truth of the observation made by Aubrey de Vere : —

4 Grief should be like joy majestic equable, sedate,
Confirming, cleansing, raising, making free,
Strong to consume small troubles, to commend
Great thoughts, grave thoughts, lasting to the end."

Mira's grief made her majestic, equable and sedate-
and gave her great and grave thoughts about her God to-
last to the end of her life ; in as much as :

"So Providence for us High Infinite
Makes our necessities its watchful task,
Hearkens to all our prayers, helps all our wants/7

A devotee to the core of her heart, Mira felt a sort
o£ pious thrill and the effusions of songs are as good poetry
as it could be. Reared up in true piety, her heart grew
callous to the ephemeral joys of worldly life, and she loved
her God till she virtually lived in Him, by Him and for
Him.

And — "just as a mother with sweet pious face,
Yearns towards her little children from her seat,
Gives one a kiss, another an embrace
Takes this upon her knees, that on her feet,
And while from actions, looks, complaints, pretences.
She le;\rns their feelings, and their various will
To this a look to that a word, dispenses, and whether
Stern or smiling, loves them still,
So Providence helps all our wants,"'

This was her Motto of life, as it were ; and she closely
lived up to it. Her song was, as a consequence, more
delightful, and supremely sonorous. If her poetry is
argued as riot a literary masterpiece in the modern refined
sense of the term, the only argument to dislodge the
arguer from his ground would be that, as Shelley would
have it, her poetry is a ''fountain for ever overflowing
with the waters of wisdom and delight'* ; and she, "like a
poet hidden in the light of thought, singing hymns un-
bidden till the world is wrought," spontaneously burst
out into songs of adoration and worship, and cried with
Blake-the great English poet of mysticism, t4 Holy, holy
i« the Lord God Almighty/7

CHAPTER XVIII.

MYSTICISM OR MIRACLES.

"All the world is secretly maddened by the mystery of
love and continually seeks its Evolution everywhere but
where it is to be found" — Coventry Patmore.

" Mysticism has been the ferment of the faiths, the fore-
runner of Spiritual liberty, the inaccessible refuge of no-
bler heretics ; the inspirer, through poetry, of countless
youths who know no metaphysics ; the teacher through
devotional books, of the despairing ; the comforter of those
who are weary of finitude" — Josiah Royce.

" Love is the goal of World's history — the cement of
the Universe*'. — Novalis.

In describing the mysticism of human life, it has been
observed that : —

fc Made of chance and all a labouring strife,
We go charged with a strong flame
For as a language Love hath seized on life
His burning heart to story " —

St. Agustine has said: "Interrogate thyself, 0 man, and
make of thyself a step to the things that be above thee" — it
is a direct invitation to approach theological problems along
psychological lines.

Mirabai's life can as well he studied .and her religious
attitude correctly determined along psychological lines; and
the life and religious experience of Mdm. Guy on
might be pointed out as deserving of some comparison with
the same of Mirabai — of course, Guyon was born in 1648
and there were certain phases of life that are quite dissi-
milar to those in the life of our Indian type and standard of
comparison.

The world round both, moreover, was equally severe
in exacting its own claims in the case of both. About
Guyon, the biographer has said in one place: — "Under a form
that was outwardly beautiful and veiled i>y manners that
had received the most correct ;md advantageous culture it
was not easy for man to perceive the elements and workings
of a heart which harboured moral and religious rebellion.
In the eye of the world therefore, which is but imperfectly
capable of penetrating beyond the exterior and which de-
lights in elegance of form and perfection of manners, there
was but little to blame, and much to praise; but which sees
and estimates the inmost motive, it was not possible

for outward deformity Estimating

her by the world's standard, she had her good qualities, as
well as those of an opposite characters her excellences as
well as defects. Nevertheless, there was that wanting which
constitutes the Soul's true light, without which all other
beauty fades and all other excellence is but excellence in
name — the love of God in the heart."

Mirabai's case was different from Guyon's; there
is, hovrever, a striking similarity between the two in this

respect first that none was happy in arid by her marri-
age. The treatment that Guyon experienced at her husband's-
house was very harsh, and the mother-in-law was unkind
and rudely cruel to her — as it was the case with Mirabai.
The trials of Guyon resulted in a renewed disposition to^
seek God, and Mire's trials redoubled the force of her
divine faith. Mir& unlike Guyon had no children and
was a child widow, and passed her life in quiet religious
pursuits. The experience of both, again, was characterised
by the subjection of the will ; and the ultimate union of
the human with the divine will, by an immersion of the-
soul into God and contemplation of ail things in Him, and
prayed that " Thou, 0 Lord, Shalt reign within my heart1*
In brief, howsoever many would be the points of resem-
blance between the two, the chief point worth noticing
as producing a wide gulf between the two, is that Guyon's
faith was flickering, whereas Mira's was ?.s firms as a rock.

Mirabai's devotion was holy even at the sacrifice o£
physical life — and one is inevitably led to agree with the'
critic who calls it Para-Bhakti — Highest devotion — or
devotion par excellence — God being understood to be the
favourite God of the heart. It was superior to all ordinary
forms of devotion, and only a few steps lower than and
remote from the highest rung of the ladder on which the-
true Ved&ntist stands. The sole object of Love-Devotion
was Krishna — no doubt with only a few anthropomorphic
attributes and with most divine ones including His infallible
Grace. It was in fact, Bhakti- Yoga— union with the God
through unflinchingly firm Devotion that Mira sought and

secured the emancipation of the Soul. She exclaimed, like
Tukaram,

<4Now bring I thee a faith complete
And lay my life before thy feet.

Do thou, 0 God, what seemeth best

In thee, in thee alone is rest.'1

As remarked above in its proper place Chaitanya
doctrines were propagated in their full force in Bengal ;
and the chief centre of Vallabha doctrines was situated in
Mewad from where it was but a few steps for the propa-
ganda to reach and become spread all over, Gujarat. The
main part of the Vallabha faith lies in taking Bh^gavata
as the sole source of enlightenment in which Krishna is
enjoined as the only Idol of Worship ; so that He is
adored as God, with various ceremonies. The form or
Idol of Krishna is one ; but the rites of worship are many
and the modes of adoration are regarded, nay enjoined,
to be nine — Navadha-Bhakti — nine fold manifestations of
Devotion. The real light in Mira's heart was kindled by
the torches of Jayadeva and R&m£nand; but she was not a
religious preacher, nor was her faith capable of being strictly
classified or categorised. For, she does not seem to have-
advanced higher in the study of original Sanskrit texts; her
religion was of the heart, singly and singularly. Besides, she
was more than an average religious enthusiast, and became
a martyr to her own creed; at the same time, be it noted that
her creed consisted in a staunch and fearless devotion to
Krishna, the manifestations of whose amorous sports are
well described in the Bh&gavata.

100

Radha is an entit}7 laterly brought out but she never
had even a corner assigned to her in the well known scrip-
tural authority of the Vaishnavas viz. Bh&gavata — although
the name occurs in the Brahma Vaivarta Purana. so Mira's
creed was greatly indebted to the highly musical songs of
Jayadeva. Of course, Mr. T. M. Tripathi has traced Radha's
amorous sports with Sri Krishna as far back as 78 A. D.
i. <?., the very first century of the Christian Era, since, they
are noticed at some length in the Gathd-Saptasati of King
Salivfthana; but all the same even the bare name of Radha
is not mentioned in this connection in the Bh£gavata Mr.
Tripathi's verses can be cited with advantage : —

This means that: — O! Krishna, you who are removing
the dust trom Radha's body, by means of the wind of your
mouth — z.0., by blowing it off with your mouth — are as well
snatching away the greatness of these other Gopis — cow-
herdesses.

Again, in the well-known work — ''Gandavaho" —
which is regarded to have flourished in 719 A. D. it is stated
that:—

May the marks of scratches made by the nails of Radha
on the chest of Krishna which shine like the rays issuing
out of the Eaustubha-Diamond, remove your sorrow.
And thirdly,

101

'TIT

Now, it has been observed in its own place in one of the-
foregoing pages that during the 12th century of the Chris-
tian era, Jayadeva in his immortal musical ditties celebrated
the lovely and loving play of Radha and Krishna; and that
liana Kumbha wrote an elucidating commentary on it, in
1440 A. D, This conclusively proves that prior to Mir&'s
time, all this subject matter of her devoted song .had its
existence in the very hart of Me wad. It is, moreover, foreign
to the present purpose to enter into any controversial matter
in regard to Mini's devotion ; but it will be deemed consis-
tent with the main treatment to say a few words on her
Bhakti as it is found in her works, In doing so, it is need-
less to say that Prof. A. B. Dhruva and Mr. T. M.
Tripathi have put forth certain conclusions, which will do
grace to any treatment if they are borrowed, by them
selves.

Love of money is the root of all evil-this popular
proverb starts the greedy activity of mundane life.
On the contrary, excessive love of God ending
in devotional ecstasy is the root of dissolution of
worldly ties and lead eventually to emancipation of life —
that is to say, to eternal absolution. Love rests by ending
in devotion for without love there is no possibility of
devotion and the consequence of unflinching devotion is
the recognition of self and at the same time, it leads to
self sacrifice. The recognition connotes oneness and
absolute absorbtion or identification. It is this sort of

162

sacrifice of her soul that Mira had made and not the
union by means of Yogic practice — which means the
union with the Highest self as the last result of mental
development. And it was by her internal piety and self-
abnegation that Mira worked her salvation of singing the
glory of God and worshipping Him.

CHAPTER. XIX

Nearly ten writers of verses among women have been
noted by earlier critics, and all these may not deserve
1ihe name of poetess., but pre-eminent among them stands
the name of Mirabai, There are many verses assigned to
her; among which the following have been noticed here
as well as elsewhere by other reviwers of Mira's works: —

1 " Nrisimhji k& Mayard (''Nrisimh Mehta's

Mamerun" which is sung in different musical
metres— in the midst of which it is said by
her: — Nrisimh ko Mahero mangal Gave Mir£
Dasi" — showing how she looked upon him as
her Spiritual guide and preceptor.)

2 Commentary on "Gita-Govind"— which is rightly

fatherd upon Kumbha Ran&, and with which
she had nothing to do.

3 "Rama Govinda"— This work Pandit Gaori-Sankar

declares to be full of verses; but it is not extant.

4 Stray songs of devotion — These have properly

collated by some learned Pandit in Jodhpur state.
These are sung by itinerant mendicant and
religious saints; and are traced in many man-
uscript forms; some of these can also be found
printed in work like Bhajana Sagara and others.
The songs of Mira are traced, moreover, in the
collections of Kabira and Na"naka.

There are, again, some songs which have been attri-
buted to her, but these cannot do credit to her name, uor do

104

they possess those characteristics that go to qualify genuine
songs of this pious singer of the glory of God. These seem
evidently to have been laterly interpolated by sadhus who-
inclnlged in attributing to Mira what naturally leads to belittle
her in the estimate of the reader. This matter was once
mooted in one of the royal assemblies in Jodhpur State, where
it was clearly pointed by a poet astrologer of the court named
Sharubhu Dattaji that these interpolations put her name to
shame and that later Sadhus have done so much injustice to her.

The original work of Mira in which under authen-
tication her genuine songs are collected is found, in a least
mistaken form in Pandit Ishwarprasad's work published in
1900 A.D. Such interpolations are, in fact, not a novel
feature in India, so that Kabir, Nanak, Nrisimh Bhalana
and such other poets of note have suffered a similar fate at
the hands of later-day-interpoilators. In Kabir's songs,
in one place, Mira's song has been thrust— which must be
regarded as an unjust manipulation.

Mira's poetry is easy and smooth, soft and delicate,
rhythmical and highly symphonious. It is full of sentiment,
but measured by the criterion of earlier Sanskrit
poetry, Mira's verses would pale fire. Lover craze and the
excessive zeal of devotion arising from religious fervour are
the leading characteristics of her songs, some of which can
be quoted here by way suggestion and easy reference : —

'• Ky& Karun main ban men gai ghar hoti to Sy^makun.
raanai leti" &c —

SHI *| ^* "M M" TO H* ilcfl ell -%HRjf H^iiW 3cfl-vJc<uK.
" A.ja anari legayo sari baitho kadam ki dari dari
he may " &c —

»11<Y

1C5

" A vat mori galian men Giridhaii main to chhupi him

laj ki man" &c—

aHWt Hrfl 'lUmH* faHrfl A Hi V^fl J C-tlovj/l Mrfl-WcHlQ.
" Jo turn todo plya men nahin todun tori prita todi

Krishna kona sang jodun-&c.—

Bansi fera bajavore ma hi vale ho " &c—

" Bhahi ho bavari sunake bansari " &c —
•ilbl & «wtfl ^»ft '-ni^Cl-^cHlR.

<; Suraja Sw^mi paniya bharan kese jaun meri mendi-
yoko rang uda ja}e " &c —

<f Eri main to darda div^nimera darda na jane koi"

Critics of Hindi poetry regard Mira to be on the
same high level with Suradas, among all the poets and
songsters of the 16th century ; and in a similar manner,
Mira's poetry in Gujarati takes a high rank. Not of the
highest or superfine type, her poetry in Gujarati can rank
next to Nrisimha Mehta's, talking, of course, of poets who
flourished in the first age of Gujarati literature. As hinted
above, it would be totally ridiculous to compare her songs
with the highly fanciful and gloriously elevated poetry of
Jayadeva. It cannot be, in the meantime, denied that her
verses have an easy, soft, tender, sweet and musical form
of language and sense ; and it is a natural flow of her whole
heart, so that there is pathos of a peculiar type that pleases.
the heart and at the same time elevates it to the portals of

106

divinity. Her birth being in Marwad, her husband having
his birth place in Me wad, her residence for the later part
of her life being in Vrind&vana, and lastly, her last resort-
ing place being Dwarka, she composed songs in all the four
dialects : — Marwadi, Mewadi, Vrija and Gujarati, separately
as well as in a mixture of all the four; but her Ma r-
wari dialect being a peculiar mixture of Hindi and Gujarati,
the same four can be conveniently regarded to be classified
into two only viz., Hindi and Gujarati.

She was ve*ily educated and well cultured — perhaps
better than ladies of her time ; and if interpolations have
deluded some critics to take an uncharitable view of her
character from her writings, it should be only deemed as no
fault of hers. It is a patent fact, again, that the running
and predominent sentiment of her verses is Devotion— nay
love- devotion ; and hence it is Santa — Rasa or the senti-
ment of loving Peace or rather Peaceful Love. Her whole
heart inundated with God's adoration ; and her mind
repelled from the sordid pursuits of worldly life and it was
concentrated upon nothing but the sole worship of the
Almighty Power as she recognized Him. Her style was, as
a consequence clear and transparent, but at the same time,
sharp and penetrating. The songs composed by her, as a
whole, follow the close make of Jayadeva's immortal song
in Sanskrit, of Thakkur Vidyapati in Bengali, and of
Nrisimh Mehta in Gujarati. Her songs came into existence not
for the attainment of higher post or dignity or emolument,
nor for fame or any other ephemeral object or attribute of
worldly gain and honour; but her heart \ was full of the
thrill of God's love and God's adoration, and of that her

107

songs were but a natural consequence. The speech in fact
translated the heart ; and the heart slept over the tongue
to sing the glory of God. Mints songs can be classified
into Love-Devotion to a large extent ; and Knowledge-
Devotion in a very small measure. The .spiritual, nay,
divine love of Rtldlia and Krishna represents symbolically
that devotion of the heart, that inborn habitus of
her soul, which leads eventually to Final Absolu-
tion— it is, therefore, a higher religious Ideal,
Vaishnavism in its full-fledged form is reflected in it
when it is understood to convey to the mind the sure
impression arising from the firm faith that the love
which a Parakiya — the heroine wedded to another
than the Beloved Person-bears to the Beloved hero,
must be the love to be shown to the Divine Object of
Worship ; this the Vaishnavites consider as Love-Devo-
tion and tjiis it is that constitutes the tasting of the necta-
reous flow of Love. Every individual ought to bear the
same sort of high and holy love towards his own wedded
wife It is needless to enter here into uhe pros and cons of
this argument; but it will be sufficient for this purpose if
it is observed that a Parakiya generally willingly exposes
herself to trials and unbearable ordeals of miser}7' and dis-
tress only with a view to have a flying glance of her lo ver-
so that all these ultimately lead to absorption — and it is on
that account far more dignifying in the spiritual advance-
ment than mere divine service, divine association and others

CHAPTER. XX

"Perfect her notes in the perfect harmonies ;
With tears wiped away, no conscience of sin.
Loss forgotten and sorrowful memories;
Align with Cherubim, afire with Seraphim,
Lily for pureness, rose for charities,
With joy won, and with joy eTermore to win,
The King's Daughter is."

Christiana Rossettv.

It is necessary at this stage to review Mirabhai's song in
due details. They are remarkable for their combination of
soft natural sentiment and lofty spiritual adoration.
In her poetry we seem to hear the voices of Lady
Julian and Blessed Angela de Foligno. As we read them
we feel that we are in touch with a wonderful devo-
tee of God who loses in the course of her estatic ascents-
holy to God, hold on the actualities of human life.
Sometimes she allows the reader to trace her in the
regions of Vrindavana where her heart has strayed away
from the choking and suffocating pangs of actual worldly
life, till at last the pulse of nature beats womanward.
It may be that the miseries to which human flesh is
heir being heaped upon her, her followers might have
given great importance to that fact, and the succeeding
generations might have woven a web of traditions round
her name; or her miseries might have been real as well
as unexaggerated; but we have at present no safe data
to go upon, and decide anything in the matter.

109

With regard to her marriage, worldly and divine or
mundane and supramundane the reader can be delighted
by a short comparison with a book entitled " The
adornment of the Spiritual Marriage" edited by the
learned pen of Evelyn Underbill. In it the author John
Van Ruysbroeck traces "the gradual development of dhe
Soul "through the active life of Christian virtue,
the interior life of Contemplation, and the Suparessen-
tial life of Union with God." Christianity too was, in
earlier times, bold enough to deal with the highest and
most mysterious experiences of the human spirit. It
was in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries of the Christian
Europe that there came into existence some false
mystics and heretical sect? who have been duly condemn-
ed in the book named above; but a closer similarity
can be drawn between the contents of the same book
and Mirabai's songs when it is bocne in mind that both
the authors have traced the experiences of the early
stages of the mysterious growth of the Soul — "the hard
self-discipline, the enlightenment, raptures and derelic-
tions " of the really active interior life.

About the Christian devotee it has been remarked
that " a beautiful tradition tells us that he would go
out alone into the woods when he felt that the inspira-
tion of God was upon him; and there, sitting under
his favourite tree would writs as the Holy Ghost dictat-
ed. The brethren used to declare that once having
been absent many hours from the priory, he was at
last found in this place, rapt in eastacy and surrounded

by a brilliant aura of divine light— a legend which closely
resembles similar stories in the lives of the Saints. "

At any rate, the main point of striking resemblance
between Ruysbroeck and Mirabai lies in the fact that
they were equally happy in walking in the way of
Love; for, it is said: —

"Those who follow the way of Love

Are the richest of all men living;

They are bold, frank and fearless,

They have neither travail nor care. &c. — "

Both had the Image of God before their eyes and
both saw equally Unitj in Diversity, in a sense. To
them both, the ultimate Truth was the Godhead which
is the Divine Unity of Religion. Both equally so fully
represented what ordinary mortal eyes fail to notice — the
world of spiritual reality which is beyond all attributes
and conditions — the Absolute wherein all ways and modes
of life are swallowed up, and all our finite perceptions
die into ignorance and darkness:-^-

The splendour of that which is in no wise is as
a fair mirror

Wherein shines the everlasting light of God :

It has no attributes
And in it all the activities of reason fail.

It is not God, but it is the light whereby we see Him

Ill

Those who walk in the divine light thereof

Discover in themselves the Unwalled "

The Christian idea has a telling effect upon the mind,

and it is necessary to cite the words of the able Editor

who says: —

a Seen from the synthetic and spiritual point of view
this supernal world of experience, is the essential unity
wherein the richness of Eternal Life consists, and where
the surrendered soul enjoys the peaceful fruition of God.
But seen from the analytic and intellectual point of
view it is essential Nudity, the Nought or Divine Dark
of Dionysius the Areopagite : for it has been stripped
of every character of which we can think. Here the
mystic feels himself, as regards his essential being to be
poured out into God, melted and merged in Him as a
river in the sea ; and, as regards his own separate
consciousness, apprehends Him in one simple act of
absorbed attention; seeing and staring with wide open
eyes. It is in this one act, sometimes felt by us as a

*With this, the beautiful idea splendidly described in the following
Sansk rit verse might be compared : —

sfi

Vishvam darpana drisyamana nagari tulyam nijantargatam
Pasyannatmani mayayfi bahirivod bhutam yatha nidraya.
Yah Sakshi kurute prabodha samaye swatma name vadvayam-
Tasmai Sri Guru Mtirtye nama edam Sri Dakshina Murtaye, etc.

112

passing beyond ourselves, sometimes as a fixed ecstatic
vision, beholding that which we are and becoming
that which we behold, that the self at last knows
itself to be one life and one spirit with God."

The final state of the Christian mystic squares in
exactly with the same as described so delicately by the
Vaishnava Mira of Hindusthan. It is, in tact, annihila-
tion in the Absolute, which is to be, understood as a
condition in which we wholly dwell in God, one life and
truth with Him , yet still, feel God in ourselves, as the
lover feels his beloved, in a perfect union, which depends
for its joy on an invincible otherness.

The Christian critic named above has observed: —
" The soul transfused and transfigured by the Divine
Love as molten iron by the fire, becomes, it is true, one
simple blessedness with God, yet ever retains its indi-
viduality ; one with G)d beyond itself, yet other than
God within itself. The deified man is fully human still,
but spiritualised through and through ; not by the
destruction of his personality, but by the taking up of
his manhood into God. There he finds not a static
beatitude, but a height, a depth, a breadth of which he
is made part, yet to which he can never attain : for the
creatures even at its highest, remains finite, and is
conscious that infinity perpetually eludes its grasp and
leads it on. So heaven itself is discovered to be no mere
passive fulfilment, but rather a forward moving life, an
ever new loving and lasting! new exploring and enjoying
of the Infinite Fulness of God, that inexhaustible object

113

of our knowledge and delight. It is the eternal voyage
of the adventurous soul on the vast and stormy sea of
the Divine."

It would be no doubt, a highly interesting matter
into which the mind of the reader could be beguiled only
if the effort were not construed ag an uncalled for
digression. Suffice it, therefore, to note that the Chris-
tian doctrine stands on the vantage ground of a very
happy comparison in certain points of striking resem-
blance, with the Vaishnava doctrine as propounded in
her songs by Mirabai. At the same time, it is worth
while to throw a mere cursory glance at another valua-
ble work called ; "Vision and Vesture — A study of
William Blake in Modern Thought" by Charles Gardner
— which too, suggests how religion and art are
passionately fused in the soul that sings holy songs —
be they of Christian or of Vaishnavite faith.

CHAPTER XXI.

MIRA'S POETRY CRITICISED

" To think well is to serve,

God in the interior court"

Traherne.

The verses that can be cited as containing a figura-
tive sense will be a few only ; but in some verses, on
the other hand, plain and simple, self-evident sense is
grasped— and the following is an instance in point: —

' 5T

' ell illctH

It is not a part of the present purpose to create any
controversy, but all the same it may not be deemed
amiss to point out that the drift of the stanza is
contained in the fact that marriage in a worldly
sense is short lived, but the tie of divine marriage
or wedding eternally with God Krishna is abiding

115

for ever, so as to ward off all inauspicious bereave-
ments and the consequent pangs of widowhood.
In a simple enunciation of a merely sound proposition,
it is strange that critics may have jumped to the con-
clusion that Mirabai was rendered a widow soon after
her marri age, as confirmed by the traditional story to
the same effect. In fact, if this be the only stanza to
go upon as affording any data to demonstrate her
widowhood, can it not be asked with impunity, whether
the tradition was based upon it or the stanza was inter-
polated as derived from the tradition. Any how it is
not a natural or necessary conclusion as derived from
this one single stanza to believe that Mira was a girl-
widow. Again, there is another line to show something
in the same misleading direction viz : —

ii^li *t <M^ Hifl Hid, «Hiy ^ «HW 5'lRi \-

This is Vaishnava phraseology; and not to be applied
to Mira's case Verbatim et literatim.

can be taken up the dialogue between Mira
and her husband's sister, as pointing out the soundness
of Mira's avowal of her Vaishnavite creed; this took
place almost at the threshold of her marriage: — The
sister's name was Ud&-

vtifvrv'

sr^Nr «»rftwt nrd ^^ qT^I- far

116

3>?f ^^ rc in?

ire

Of coarse, the long dialogue is sufficient to shew
that Mira was a staunch Yaishnava, stepping on the
threshold of a strictly jealous conservative Shaiva — the
father-in-law and his family; so that, howsoever ex-
aggerated the account in every case may happen to be
yet the main factor is constant ; and the daily routine
of her life eventually made a martyr of her. The Vaish.
navite propoganda had not yet become quite popular
among higher classes particularly who regarded
it as an eye sore; and consequently, they tried to cry
it down as violently as they could. The main part of the
Vaishnava faith is concerned with the love dalliance of
Sri Krishna during the century —rather, the generation
— in which Mira lived and moved and had her being.

117

The following stanza, for instance, sings about her praise
of the spiritiral part of the Divine-Lute: —

It is sufficient to indicate that the celestial sym-
phony astounded all, and the very rapturous delight
spread the Universe over, so far so that worldly activities
could not exist for the time being, and there was Eter-
nal Bliss pervading all parts of the visible world. This
sort of ecstatic delight could not be generated by or-
dinary worldly music; so, it is the spiritual force of the
celestial music transcends all mundane happiness and
approaches the Eternal Bliss of "Om."— The Holy
mystical monosyllable of the Hindu spirituality.

Let us follow the next verse cited here in the same
strain: —

€11

Only a part is cited here and so much will suffice for
the present purpose. What Mira means to point out

118

here is the extreme point of Devotion— the top of
spirituality which Godhood is always to be supposed
to be gracing, and which can be attained by discarding
as well as snapping as under the bonds of worldly inter-
course. In the midst of water of the holy Jumna, stands
Radha with other Gopies, exposed to worldly evils and
torments, but the eyes of all are equally upturned to
Kadamba Tree with devout prayer, praying to Lord
Krishna, to cover up transitorily worldly shame. It is
not, however, shame or ignominy of any kind, but it is
only after casting into oblivion and training the mind to
be dispassionate that the soul can endeavour to approach
God's Grace. Hence were they urged upon to go out of
water — in the midst of which there are storms and tu-
mults of all sorts, as a natural accompaniment of
births.

Even the verse No. Ill as marked in Kavya
Dohana Part VII, quoted below indicates not only do-
tage but ecstacy in love-devotion: —

H—

This shows that the spiritual devotion h «s reached
its climax. It is the internal burning, ardent appetite
to be united, not carnalty, but psychically, with the

119

presiding God of the heart-setting at naught the false
sense of modesty or even the sense of shame arising out
of conventional bounds of decency and decorum. Herein
we see that for sheer splendour of spiritual passion and
austerity Mira's poetry stands unrivalled in the history
of Gujrati literature and it can be well described in words
of a modern critic that her poemsform "a transcendental
treatise in Divine desire seen through the veil of human
desire." The same is confirmed by the following stanza:—

TT^fl, ^

mn n

Of course, many more verses can be cited here ; but
it will be deemed sufficient for the present purpose to be
content with a few only. The,re is one point, however
that deserves special attention:— The words and expres-
sions used for the purpose of conveying spiritual devo-
tion of the best and the highest order, are and probably
cannot be different from or dissimilar to the same that

120

can be perhaps used for conveying physical passion ;
and as a consequence misconstruction is likley to
ensue ; so as ultimately to do injustice to Mira's
career but deeper and more careful study of
her verse will not fail to acquaint the critical
reader with the correct interpretation. It is, therfore,
deemed essential to treat of this subject in a brief but
terse manner, so as to discriminate good from evil, in
all possible ways. For instance, verses headed by the
following burdens will be open to such meanings and yet
superficial sense is surely misleading here: —

' ii 3?i$? amreft ^fe m*\ nq^r ^si^r f u

again, WT fltf ajKfl SHU ft II

and, * f ft far ?4t fasfi m*i n

also, fa?3fl *fe ant Wfl flcT, f^ fiw ^f Wft"

and such others.

CHAPTER XXII

THE TEACHINGS OF THE VAISHNAVITE

FAITH.

With regard to Bhaktas or life-long devotees it is a
peculiar pleasure to hear or read their saintly career
well described ; but Nrisimh Mehta in Kathiawad, Pagal
Harnath in Bengal have pre-eminently left their
names to be recited by posterity with the sense
of holiness in the earliest part of the era of cultivation
of vernaculars in the respective provinces. Chaitanya
and Dayaram are also names belonging to the same cate-
gory ; but Mira was a martyr to her own faith, and that
has given her great celebrity, more than anything else.

Vaishnavism can rationally trace its historical origin
to the heart of the Vedanta of Vyasa 8£dar&yana and Sri
Sankar£eharya through the Pur£nas and Tantras and
not directly as does Saivism in its abstruse metaphysi-
cal aspect. It is a peculiar conception of Krishna for-
med by the Vaishnavite creed that combines the Puru-
sha and the Prikriti-the female energy — in Him and
calls him the juggler pf all jugglers. He is the only
creative Power and the rest of the Universe including
other divine and human beings are powerless and
as a consequence they can be regarded as female
forces, wedded to Krishna, It is, however, not proposed

122

to enter at any length into the details of the
system. In the priceless instructions of Thakur Sri
Harnath Bandopadhyaya, it is remarked that "great are
the Parkritis; great are their might and power of infa-
tuation; they are the supreme ruler of the Universe; with
the single exception of Krishna every one is engaged
in their service". Nilakantha sings:— "0 mother of the
Universe, remove the cover once from my eyes so that
I may, by your grace, cross this vast ocean of world-
liness." According to Hindu Scriptures when Vv&sa
having been turned out of K&si by Sivaj wanted to
make a second Kasi, and had therefore to propitiate
Ganga in order that she might wend round it with her
holy waters, Ganga appeared before him and said, " Vy&-
sa, you have fallen into an error. Incurring Parvati's
displeasure you are appealing to me against her. You
should know that not only there is no difference between
Parvati and myself but that all females in the Uni-
verse irrespective of the forms in which they may mani-
fest themselves, are identical with me."

It has been observed by some leading Bengali poet
preachers of Vaishnavite faith that: if you wish to be
rich in the love of Krishna, you must seek the shelter
of females, whether as wives, daughters, mothers or
sisters. It is they who are the dispensers of Krishna's
love. No one, again, is capable of understanding the
Prakritis. If anybody is, it is Sri Krishna. The only
active or male agent Krishna, is incessantly at play
with Prakriti in some way or other. Even Brahma:

123

and Siva have foundered in the ocean of thoughts, in
order to solve the secret of this play. The real object
of this bewildering game is known only to Sri Krishna
and to Radhika. To any other it is a sealed book.

About marriage, moreover, the prevailing doctrine
ofVaishnava faith can be laid down in the words of
Bengali writers who are agreed in noting that matri*
monial alliance is not intended for self gratification in
this world. It is argued as follows: — * "You were single
before; now you are a pair; hope not to multiply further.
You two weld into one and carried by your strong devo-
tion go up to Brajadhama. Unless you two lose your
individvality and merge into one you cannot go there;
and even if you go, you will find no happiness. Of the
different sorts of devotion vis. Santa, Das}Ta, Sakhya,
Vasalya and Madhur, the last is really the s\veetand char-
ming one. Try and wish therefore to have a taste of that
one. The cocoanut and betel nut trees are ever towering
higher up towards the sky, even their leaves point up-
ward. Can you say why? It is because they -have no
branches. Similarly, if we be childless, our heart and
soul will ever run upward and the lotus like feet of Kri-
shna will be our sole aim. " t Again " Your husband should
be regarded as the best of your gods. His parents are

* Vide page 3n Upadesamrita of Paga) Haranatha

f In the face'of this doctrine, it is indeed strange at first sight to note
that the doctrine has not been duly defended as applied to Mini's case; but
where is the need of any defence ? She had renounced all claims to world,
ly relations and secular superiority; what she cared and craved for was ever
lasting spiritual welfare.

124

your parents. The mother who bore you in her womb,
and the father who begot you have given you away in
marriage They have no further right or claim upon
you, having given you away. '

Mirabai, in fact, never forgot the highest bliss the
Summum bonum of life — for all times and all climes.
She was never led or allured away by the false glare and
fascinating influence of worldly pleasures. To her,
Krishna was for ever a fast friend, the husband, the
spiritual ruler of her heart, and the presiding God of her
whole life. He was her only Kinsman, her life of lives
and the essence of all worldly alliance or unions. It is a
truism of Vaishn'avite creed that if love as bestowed
upon any one else than Krishna, pain alternated with
pleasure is the lot ; whereas in loving Krishna alone
und absolutely, there is no pain accruing from the pur-
suit of undone pleasure, Uut there is sure to arise spirit-
ual rise and bliss and ultimate emancipation of the Soul.

Pagal Harnatha has observed : — u To-day the
harrowing idea of the expected less of a dear one is
throwing me into utter despair ; losing him to-morrow,
I am transferring my affections to some other object
equally transitory and forgetting all my pains ! 0 Lord,
great indeed is your sport."

Of course, when Krishna is the Saviour, no sin need
be dreaded for it1 is believed that sin dreads to approach
those who have taken Sri Krishna's name ; " when
Krishna's name is only once taken, the discus of
Vishnu guards him on all sides, and Krishna himself

J25

keeps him from harm. 7> (Vide Pagal Haranatha's Ser-
mons Pago 57). Again, it is remarked that: —
" Krishna's name is dearer by far to distressed sinners
than Krishna himself. Krishna himself could not have
been able to do anything for the great sinner, Ajamila,
but by unconsciously uttering his name, he became
most holy and was saved from all sorts of fears. Regard-
less of heaven and hell, be merged in Hari-Prema-
Love for Sri Krishna, and you will have no fear. The
drunkard is devoid of both weal and woe."

The Vaishnava believes that the name of Krishna
is all in all, greater than the Vedas and the essence of
all the Vedas the monosyllabic mystical Ow(A,u,m) \\<&\\
for it is argued that the Pranava loses its force
from the lips of a Sudra, but the name Krishna sancti-
fies even a chandala- In fact, all mantras, charms, in-
cantations mysteries, miracles — in fact everything
is included in the very name of Krishna. Hence his
worship devoted love for and adoration of Krishna
alone can save the soul.

The predominant idea about a true Vaishnava deserves
a brief notice here. It is laid down as an injunction
that u forbearance " is the whole unbroken import
of the Vcdshnava religion. A man it is held,
loses his caste when ho becomes a Vaishnava ;
since he is selfless. His pride, fear, shame, desire,
malice and such other feelings and emotions are supposed
to be suppressed and controlled properly before the aspirant
is a true Vaishnava. Hence did Mirabai adorn and did

126

grace to the very faith she avowed for her life. Whoknows
if she did not follow the leading doctrines of her faith
in a devoted manner while leaving no gap in taking and
uttering incessantly the sanctifying name of Krishna
and while not allowing as it were that name or the
bearer of it — Sri Krishna-to escape through that gap ?
For, it is maintained that : — " Take the name on and on
(and repeatedly), till you turn hoary ? this is what I
pray for."

Prema-Bhakti or We devotion is regarded by lead-
ing devotees to be the only sure and quick way of get-
ting the Lord's Favour. It is held by Bengali authors
also that : The tears of the Gopis, of mother Jasoda— of
the Bhaktas, are but the knots that make the Love so
sweet and strong. The Bhakta asks of the Lord tears
and nothing else ; for tears are the knots in the string
of Love and they are therefore sweeter, Tears are to
Prema what borax is to gold. May it be our lot, with
Krishna's grace, ever to take his name with tearful eyes!
Tears are the eddies in the current of prema, therefore,
they are so much' deeper/'

It is enjoined moreover that the heart and the entire
soul should be surrendered to Krishna; and by loving
Krishna, the Universe is loved. The distressed and sinners
of the world are dear to Krishna, so no contempt for the
fallen should be entertained. Recites the Bhagavata:—
"The Kaliyuga (Iron age) though an ocean of faults has
one great merit, viz, the recitation of Krishna's name,
by which final liberation is attained."

127

It is also propounded that if you have really acquired
Krishna's Love-prema, you can keep it exposed to
public view. "Just as a lover though busy in diverse
household affairs cannot cast out of his mind his ilear
one's thoughts, so do we never forget beloved Krishna's
name in the bustle of the world."

Again, there is no distinction of caste of Brahmanas
and Sftdras— with Krishna'; so if is actually an injunc-
tion among Vaishnavas to mingle with those that love
Him, without pride, or vanity in the heart. His
Bhaktas, in fine, should be the true and only source of
excessive delight. It is not gross or carnal arid worldly
love — it is deep and refined spiritual love that Mirabai
and other devotees are singing of; hence caste distinctions
are all cast out from the region of spiritual elevation.
It has been remarked by one of the Bengali writers
that :— "In order to taste this Prema, Krishna, the Soul
of the Universe, in the form of Gaur^nga, wandered
from door to door in town after town with tears in His
eyes. Prema makes Krishna dance, and his votaries too;
it dances itself, all three combined in one spot. "#

*This idea of the Vaishnavas is grand enough and it appears to have been
probably borrowed from earlier metaphysical writing*. It may be out of place
perhaps to shew this at any elaborate length, but the following citations will
suitlce for the satisfaction of the Sanskrit reader : —

the well known longest verse of Malati Midhava — \ drama of Rhana-
bhuti — the longest verse in the Sanskrit Literature again.

128

It has been sung by many poets that love evinced
by the Gopis of Vraja is the only pattern pure, holy and
spiritual love-absolutely devoid of self interest; since they
sold their lives for promoting one another's happiness.
Krishna is all Prema, his kingdom is all Prema; and his
spirts of Prema; so Prema is food drink and dress ; it
adorns the body. There is, moreover, no necessity of
prayer or other mystical ceremonies-love alone is all devo-
tion. It yon run mad for Krishna, he will also go mad
for you.

The exposition contained in this chapter can best be
wound up by quoting from Bengali Vaishnava writer : —
The name is the sum total of every scriptural injunction
''No sacrifice, no austerity, no sort of asceticism is higher
than this ; take the Name ever and anon-awake or
asleep. Name is the light in darkness. Chant the Name
with a heart pure and hoiy. Let your tongue ever pro-
claim the Gre^t Name — no matter in what state or place
you may be."

si qftwi

these and other eight following lines of the well known Stotra of
Pushpadanta if interpreted ID a highly metaphysical f-pirit will be found to
satisfy the observation made above.

CHAPTER XXIII.

'' Sir, I oppose not rational to spiritual, for spiritual
is most rational " Whichcote.

The reader is about to roach the end of his journey.
He has been, to all intents and purposes usefully made
to wade through intricate mazes and labyrinths at
times in order to save a smoother path eventually to be
trodden over by him. It is now necessary to brush the
fringe of Mira's literary side and expatiate at some
length on her songs — the so called Padas.

In the very first Pada, as given in Kavya Dohan
Part. VII, it is sung by her that the sordid objects of
the world are all disgusting and the only delicious object
of enjoyment here during human lifetime is nothing
but spiritual food — before which else is trash and trifle so
far so that the poison in the form of worldly calamity
is turned into a nectareous flow, and that worldly objects
are converted into spiritual forces, which bring im-
mortality on the staunch and devout worshipper. The
Pada, if properly interpreted, is apt to unfold a double
entendre^ one simple sense being meant to be applicable
to the Kana his brother-in-law, and the other figurative
being intended to be a natural outcome of the homilies
addressed to the Riina. The Pada runs as follows : —

H--UM

130

ell Hl & oV *UM,

al<Hm ^Hl Sl (HHl

^l^Hi ^ \[

x[[ DIH!
l >-Hl€tl Ml alHi

«nicl—

eiwHl

It is easy to see in the verse that there is a tendency
naturally begotten on the reading of the verse to inter-
pret her poetry in a metaphysical sense ; but it is open
to the reader to call it strained and far fetched or to
follow the sense faithfully to the smooth end of all such
stanzas. In the meantime, the temptation of citing
another verse cannot be resisted for c mfirming the
statement that a second figurative sense always lies
beneath the surface when her verses are exalting the
reader to the dignity of Godhood, and that the same is
not lying far near the bottom to seek and trace. An-
other verse will not tire the reader out of his patience if
it be quoted here : —

MlclP/Ht qgeu Wii^l \, rt*£ PM',
<~* ch

131

, <1 £1
H'<tt *>i*U\l,

, a Cl'ti fidnqi 8

Sf €(

The foregoing verse conclusively denotes that it is
absolute absorption that connotes Eternal Life injGrod,
by means of intense devotion and total denial of worldly
enjoyments. This is the predominant note of her verses;
and the following also confirms it with due emphasis : —

^iftl ^t ^, *[ ^ H* ell W 5llHl«l CHKH

ell clH^l ^"Sft <, rl(6 ^l^' i('>ica

HIH

132

This is sufficient to show that external relations of the
world united by ties of human affection are but epheme-
ral, and the real long abiding relations are those that are
connected with the individual Soul and God. The individu-
al Soul has to adore and worship God who alone is Keal
and True— MH *tfe' *HK cift iiH nf! *i\& M<^ Pm ^ft MH nfe
=^1^1 — is another stanza that nourishes the same main
argument in Mira's song. God alone is gracious and His
grace is essential in emancipating the individual Soul
from the meshes of the practical world which are
all evanescent. This is, in fact, the burden of the song
of Mira's, commonly with many other Guja ti
poets and poetesses— as if it was but a common heritage
derived from the very atmosphere surcharged with
holy religious sentiment as it stood— common -
to almost all the singers of holy Gujarati songs and
poetry in the highest sense of the term.

In Plato's words; *' Music is a moral Law' — and
in Mira, >c it gave a soul to the Universe, wings to the
mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness,
gaiety and life to everything."

It is said very aptly that Poetry lives in the spirit
ian; and Mira's holy songs made her live in the spirit

of God — if the idea were allowed to be stretched to that
length, with impunity. Her very " image of life is ex-
pressed in its eternal truth." The words of Milton
are also applicable to her songs who recites in his poe-
try while appostrophising: —

" Divine Philosophy!

Not harsh and crabbed as dull fools suppose
But musical as is Apollo's lute, feast of neotared

sweets.
Where no crude surfeit reigns."

Mira has best represented God, the Infinite Power, in
her poem?.

FINIS.

id .

PK Mehta, S. S.

2095 A monograph on Mirabai

M5Z72

PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY

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