"With my tears,
I watered the creeper of love that I planted;
Now the creeper has grown spread all over,
and borne the fruit of bliss.
The churner of the milk churned with great love.
When I took out the butter,
no need to drink any buttermilk.
I came for the sake of love-devotion;
seeing the world, I wept. "

- Mirabai

Do not leave me alone

Do not leave me alone, a helpless woman.
My strength, my crown,
I am empty of virtues,
You, the ocean of them.
My heart's music, you help me
In my world-crossing.
You protected the king of the elephants.
You dissolve the fear of the terrified.

Where can I go? Save my honour
For I have dedicated myself to you
And now there is no one else for me.

- Mirabai

The Saffron

The saffron of virtue and contentment
Is dissolved in the water-gun of love and affection.
Pink and red clouds of emotion are flying about,
Limitless colours raining down.

All the covers of the earthen vessel of my body are wide open;
I have thrown away all shame before the world.
Mira's Lord is the Mountain-Holder, the suave lover.
I sacrifice myself in devotion to His lotus feet.

- Mirabai

O my mind,
Worship the lotus feet of the Indestructible One!
Whatever thou seest twixt earth and sky
Will perish.

Why undertake fasts and pilgrimages?
Why engage in philosophical discussions?
Why commit suicide in Banaras?
Take no pride in the body,
It will soon be mingling with the dust.

This life is like the sporting of sparrows,
It will end with the onset of night.
Why don the ochre robe
And leave home as a sannyasi?

Those who adopt the external garb of a Jogi,
But do not penetrate to the secret,
Are caught again in the net of rebirth.
Mira's Lord is the courtly Giridhara.
Deign to sever, O Master.
All the knots in her heart.

Mirabai

We Do Not

We do not get a human life
Just for the asking.
Birth in a human body
Is the reward for good deeds
In former births.

Life waxes and wanes imperceptibly,
It does not stay long.
The leaf that has once fallen
Does not return to the branch.
Behold the Ocean of Transmigration.

With its swift, irresistible tide.
O Lal Giridhara, O pilot of my soul,
Swiftly conduct my barque to the further shore.
Mira is the slave of Lal Giridhara.
She says: Life lasts but a few days only.

Mirabai

Truly beautiful post dear Inda and all!

quote:

Originally posted by Sue 1:
...Deign to sever, O Master.
All the knots in her heart.

Mirabai

---

from: http://home.infionline.net/~ddisse/mirabai.html

Mirabai / Meerabai (c.1498-aft.1550)

Because of her late date and her social status, more is known about Mirabai than about earlier Indian women poets. She was born in Rajasthan to a Rajput noble family, and was married in about 1516 to the heir-apparent of the ruler of Mewar. Her husband died before he could attain the throne, and he left no heir.

In 1527, the Rajputs opposed a Muslim invasion from Afghanistan. Mirabai's father was killed in battle; her father-in-law was wounded in the same battle and died the next year. Mewar got a new child-ruler, who with his mother, made life at the court difficult for Mirabai.

Tradition says that Mirabai left the court in her 30s and became a wandering mendicant, and that she was rejected by traditional gurus because she was a woman. Her poems show her a devotee of Vishnu in his incarnation as Krishna (whom she calls Giridhara or Girdhar --- literally, "lifter of mountains").

Modern scholars accept over 200 poems (bhajans) as hers, but more than 1300 have been attributed. She may have written in Gujarati, but her poems were almost immediately translated into Hindi and other languages, and sung at first over the north, later in the south. She has remained immensely popular throughout India, and many English translations of her poems have been made.

Thank you for this post.

I love Mirabai. Thank you administrator for the background of the poetess.

Sincerely,
Gisele

Thank you for the biography administrator.


Your Look Of Light


On a sudden,
the sight.
Your look of light
stills all,


stills
all, The curd-pot
falls to the ground.


Parents and
brothers
all call a halt.


Prise out, they say,
this thing from your heart.
You've lost your path.


Says Meera:
Who but you
can see in the dark
of a heart?

Mirabai

Come Back

The love that binds me to you, O Lord,
is unbreakable.
Like a diamond that smashes the hammer
when it is struck.

Like polish seeping into gold
my heart has seeped into you,
Like the lotus rising from the water
my life rises from you.
Like the night bird gazing at the passing moon
I am lost dwelling on you.

O my beloved-come back!

Mirabai

Beautiful.

I used to write poetry.
I really like Mirabai's poems.

Sincerely,
Gisele

Thank you for the Mirabai poems,
and the biography.

I did not know too much about her;
I quite like her writing.

Love,
yoko

Where Love is First

Take me to the place where no one can go
Where death is afraid
And swans alight to play
On the overflowing lake of love.
There the faithful gather
ever true to their Lord.
Refining their love in the fire of the mind-
Arrayed in goodness, adorned with ankle bells,
They dance the dance of contentment,
They crown themselves with a crown of gold
There where love of the Lord is first
And all else is last.

Mirabai

Thank you again for the Mirabai.
I love her poetry.

Sincerely,
Gisele