Meera Bai
Meerabai (1498-1557) was a princess Hindu mystical and a devotee of Lord Krishna from Rajasthan. She was one of the most significant figures of the Vaishnava bhakti movement. Some 1,300 pads (poems) commonly known as bhajans (sacred songs) are attributed to her. These are popular throughout India and have been published in several translations worldwide. In the bhakti tradition, they are in passionate praise of Lord Krishna. In most of her poems she has described her unconditional love for her Lord. She has tried to give the message that Krishna bhakti is the best way to live life as it helps us forget our desires and this in turn helps us attain moksha (liberation).
Meera was a princess. Her father, Ratan Singh, was the youngest son of Rao Duda ruler of Merta and belonged to the Rathore clan. Rao Duda was son of Rao Jodha, ruler and founder of Jodhpur. Meera’s songs are in a simple form called a ch’ (verse), a term used for a small spiritual song, usually com- posed in simple rhythms with a repeating refrain, collected in her Padavali. The extant versions are in a Rajasthani and Braj, a dialect of Hindi spoken in and around Vrindavan (the childhood home of Krishna), sometimes mixed with Rajasthani.
Meera’s love for Krishna was at first a private thing but at some moment it overflowed into an ecstasy that led her to sing and dance in public and other religious folk. She would quietly leave the Chittor fort at night and join Satsangs (religious get-togethers) in the town below. Her brother-in-law, the new ruler of Chittorgarh, Vikram Singh, was a cruel youth who strongly objected to Meera’s devotion, her mixing with commoners and her lack of feminine modesty. Vikramaditya made several attempts to kill Meera. Her sister-in-law Uda bai is said to have spread defamatory gossip. Udai Singh who had succeeded Vikram Singh sent a delegation of Brahamans to bring her back to Mewar. Next morning, she was found to have disappeared. According to some popular beliefs, she merged with Krishna.
