Meera, also known as Meera Bai or Mirabai was a Hindu mystic poet of the Bhakti movement. She referred to the Lord, whom she saw as her husband, with different names like Satguru, Prabhu Ji, Girdhar Nagar, Krishna. She even called him the husband of her soul. Due to her mother, her in-laws disapproved of her public singing and dancing as she belonged to a Royal Family of Mewar and was a princess. But she had too much love for her god and sacrificed everything, even her family, for god and attained Moksha through Bhakti Yoga. She is a celebrated Bhakti saint, particularly in the North Indian Hindu tradition.Meera Bai was born into family of Merta, Rajasthan, India. She is mentioned in Bhaktamal, confirming that she was widely known and a cherished figure in the Bhakti movement culture by about 1600 CE. Most legends about Meera mention her fearless disregard for social and family conventions, her devotion to Lord
Krishna, her treating Krishna as her husband, and she being persecuted by her in-laws for her religious devotion. She has been the subject of numerous folk tales and hagiographic legends, which are inconsistent or widely different in details.
Thousands of devotional poems in passionate praise of Lord Krishna are attributed to Meera in the Indian tradition, but just a few hundred are believed to be authentic by scholars, and the earliest written records suggest that except for two poems, most were written down only in the 18th century. Many poems attributed to Meera were likely composed later by others who admired Meera. These poems are commonly known as bhajans, and are popular across India. Hindu temples, such as in Chittorgarh fort, are dedicated to Mira Bai's memory. Legends about Meera's life, of contested authenticity, have been the subject of movies, comic strips and other popular literature in modern times.
“Don't forget love;
it will bring all the madness you need
to unfurl yourself across the universe.”
Mīrābāī, in ” Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West”, p. 251
V.K.Subramanian in "Mystic Songs of Meera", p. 23
Mīrābāī, in For love of the Dark One: songs of Mirabai http://books.google.co.in/books?id=oLFjAAAAMAAJ, p. 55
Swarup, Ram (2000). Meditations: Yogas, gods, religions. p. 196
Mīrābāī, in “Christian Mysticism East and West: What the Masters Teach Us “, p. 122
“The Great Dancer is my husband," Mira says, "rain washes off all the other colors.””
Mīrābā, in Christian Mysticism East and West: What the Masters Teach Us http://books.google.co.in/books?id=u2EBULLB-uQC&pg=PA121, p. 121
V.K.Subramanian in Mystic Songs of Meera http://books.google.co.in/books?id=dP-oekmHwWQC&pg=PA81#v=onepage&q&f=false, p. 21
Mira Bai, Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West http://books.google.co.in/books?id=ENaRTjQRMaIC&pg=PT329
Mīrābāī, in Indian Religions: A Historical Reader of Spiritual Expression and Experience http://books.google.co.in/books?id=HTepAfJv_6YC&pg=PA351, p. 351
Variant: O my companion, worldly comfort is illusion,
As soon you get it, it goes.
I have chosen the indestructible for my refuge,
Him whom the snake of death will not devour.
My beloved dwells in my heart all day,
I have actually seen that abode of joy.
Meera's lord is Hari, the indestructible.
My lord, I have taken refuge with you, your maidservant.
Meera Bai, in [ http://books.google.co.in/books?id=fpcvv5pGKWMC&pg=PA250 Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West], p. 250
Swami Yatishwaranandji in “Others on Mirabai”
