My love is reserved for Giridhara Gopal
And for no-one else.
O ye saints and holy men,
I have seen the world and its ways.
I have left brothers and relatives
And all I possessed.
Dispensing with worldly shame,
I came to sit with the holy men.
I felt joy in the company of the devotees,
On beholding the world I wept.
I planted the creeper of love
And watered it with my tears.
I churned the curds
And drew forth the ghee:
The butter-milk I rejected.
Mira’s love has set in deeply,
She accepts whatever comes.
-Mirabai
O my companion, all I can see is Shyam,
All I can think of is Shyam
Wherever my feet tread the earth
I am dancing in his honour
Mira’s Lord is the courtly Giridhara
In His company
She is walking the woods and lanes.
-Mirabai
I knew the Queen had sent me poison
When gold is placed in fire
It emerges shining like the sun
I have thrown away worldly shame
As one throws away dirty water
You observe purdah in your place, my Queen,
But I am just a poor mad girl
An arrow from the quiver of love
Has pierced my heart and driven me crazy
I offer my body and mind
As a sacrifice to all holy men.
And I hug closely those lotus feet
The Lord has taken Mira into his protection.
Knowing her to be His servant.
-Mirabai
Mira has been singing the glories of Govind
And is immersed in joy
The King sent a snake in a basket
They came and placed it m Mira’s hand
I washed and came to look at it,
And behold!
It was the Black Stone of Vishnu
The King sent a cup of poison,
But my Lord converted it into nectar
When I washed my hand and drank,
Behold! It was nectar
The King sent a mattress of thorns,
Saying “Give that to Mira to sleep upon”
When evening came and Mira lay down.
Behold! It was a bed of flowers
Mira’s Lord ever stands as her helper
And preserves her from dangers
She wanders about recklessly.
Drunk in adoration,
Offering herself to Giridhara in total sacrifice.
-Mirabai
The line poems are quoted from A.S. Alston: The Devotional Poems of Mirabai. Delhi etc. 1980.
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