"Mirabai": a Haiku and a Brief History of the Hindu Bhakti Poet Lover of Lord Krishna
Erotic sway of her hips
Saves her from man's love.
Commentary
The "Blue Lord" in the haiku is Hindu deity, Lord Krishna, playing his flute on the river banks. The poet Mirabai believed that she was, in a previous life, one of the early lovers of Krishna, who listened to him play.
A Brief History
Hindu poet, saint, and lover of Lord Krishna, Mirabai lived a remarkably nontraditional life for a woman of the early 1500s. When she was young, her family arranged for her to marry a prince, boosting her social standing and her standard of living greatly. However, unlike the majority of women from her time, Mirabai did not look forward to such a fortunate arrangement. She was entirely devoted to Lord Krishna, the Dark One, a primary Hindu deity known for his loving bond with humans and his power to vanquish evil. Her love and devotion to her god outweighed her need for marriage and family. Mirabai refused to love the prince and suffered hardships for the rest of her life because of her nontraditional behavior.
Mirabai saw Krishna as her lover and her god. Her poetry is both erotic and spiritual and her language that of a devotee who is aware of both the reality of her own world as well as the depth of her love for her chosen deity. Mirabai's poetry was written in the Bhakti tradition, which was a popular poetic movement that produced verse in devotion to a marriage between devotee and deity.
Many of her poems discuss the choice she made to turn away from marriage to a human and to marry herself, instead, to her god:
"I have chosen the Indestructible for my refuge,
Him whom the snake of death
Will not devour."
Sources
http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Mirabai/id/524231
http://chnm.gmu.edu/wwh/modules/lesson1/lesson1.php?s=0
http://www.hindunet.org/god/Gods/krishna/index.htm
Shop for Mirabai's Poetry
For Love of the Dark One: Songs of Mirabai
http://www.amazon.com/Love-Dark-One-Songs-Mirabai/dp/093425284X/ref=pd_cp_b_1
Sweet on My Lips: The Love Poems of Mirabai
http://www.amazon.com/Sweet-My-Lips-Poems-Mirabai/dp/1887276041/ref=pd_cp_b_3
Published by ADSpencer
AD Spencer is a working writer living in Alabama. Her speculative short fiction is due to appear in anthologies by Pill Hill Press, Horror Bound Magazine, Whortleberry Press, The Library of the Living Dead... View profile
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23 Comments
Post a CommentI appreciate the history :)
Nicely Written :)
Interesting info!
Very enjoyable reading. :-)
I"m always glad to learn of a new poet and I like a wide variety of poetry. Thanks!
This is interesting! :)
great article. I also really enjoyed the background information
This is very good. I enjoyed the combination of poetry and background information. Nice.
Excellent work!
Interesting introduction to this topic, thanks for sharing!