Mira Bai

Mirabai (1498-1547) Mirabai or Meera is perhaps the most famous North Indian singer and saint. She left her life as a Rajasthani princess, having renounced her royal life for one devoted to Lord Krishna, her beloved aspect of the Divine.

http://www.poetseers.org/the_poetseers/mirabai

http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/Religions/gurus/Mirabai.html

LONGING FOR THE LORD

I am struck with longing to meet the Lord,
To meet that dear One, and reach
      my true Home.
Worldly entanglements and fear of slander,
I'll give up in pursuit of true Knowledge.

The door is unlocked, my soul
      shines bright,
And longs for the mansion within the sky.
A dazzling flame appears before me,
Like a flash of lightening in days of rain.

Mira yearns now to behold her dear Lord
And sing His glory in blissful ecstasy.

                                                       MB1 - 01

             BE STEADFAST

        Engage in the Lord's devotion;
        Persist in your meditation;
        Be steadfast.

        Far is the abode of the Lord,
        Like the fruit of the date-palm tree.
        He who climbs and reaches the top
        Tastes the sweet fruit of love;
        They come to ruin
        Who slip and fall.

        Why don the armor?
        Why seek the safety of a shield?
        He is the true warrior who,
        Unarmed, charges with all his might;
        For the Master is his armor and his shield.

        With the poniard of Knowledge,
        With the Master's grace as the scimitar,
        And with the lance of detachment,
        Take to the field, wage the war;
        Never will you face defeat.

        Remember, your body is but fragile,
        Composed of flesh, bones and nerves,
        And endowed with ten senses.
        Mira's Lord alone is everlasting;
        To Him she is firmly tied
        By the delicate twine of love.

           MB1-02

THE WEALTH OF NAM

The jewel of Nam I have found,
A precious wealth have I obtained.
A rare gift did my Master bestow;
In his mercy he has made me his own.

My original treasure I have regained,
And I am rid of all I had in the world.
It can neither be stolen nor squandered,
It keeps on increasing from day to day.

The boat of Truth I occupied,
With the true Master at the helm.
With ease I was ferried across
The deadly ocean of the world.

Mira in her joyful ecstasy
Sings the glory of her benign Lord.

                                                MB1-03

  THE LORD AND HIS NAME

I am attached to the Lord's Name;
His Name alone I now love and cherish.

My loving Friend has entered my heart,
As the string runs through a necklace.

He is within all, yet ever apart,
Not near, not far, is the Mighty One.

Mira now abides in the Lord's shelter;
The fear of birth and death is set aside.

                                    MB1 - 04

THE NECTAR OF NAM

Drink the nectar of the Lord's Name;
My mind, drink the nectar
    of Name divine.
Forsake the company of the evil;
Sit at the feet of the Saints,
Listen to their accounts of the Lord.
Lust, anger, ego, greed, attachment,
Purge them all, and dye yourself deep
In the hue of Mira's dear Lord.

                                             MB1 - 05

THE WAY OF THE TREE

O mind, adopt the ways of the tree
And from the cares of the world become free.

Those who come to cut it, it does not hate,
Nor adores them who come to irrigate.
Even to those who hurl stones with force
It yields fruits, with no touch of remorse.

Gales and storms and the fury of rain,
It suffers all, yet does not complain.
It bears winter's frost and summer's heat
To provide wayworn birds a snug retreat.

Likewise attain an unconcerned state
And on the Lord lovingly meditate.
If for redemption you truly pine,
Repeat continually His Name divine.
As chatrik's* thoughts are in the rain,
Let His feet in your heart remain.
Thus you would devotion's nectar find
And meet Mira's Lord, merciful and kind.

* - The rainbird; in Indian folklore the
      rainbird is always longing for the rain.

          MB1 - 06

THE DIVINE WASHERMAN

If Master, the washerman, washes your mind,
It will never be soiled again.

Break the chains of attachment, O fool.
And transcend the bondage of your body.
Annihilate the five and the twenty five; *
Kindle the lamp of your temple within.

With remembrance as the soap,
With love as the water,
Your mind, cleansed of all blemish,
With virtue will shine.

So deftly will the washerman scrub it clean,
Even a speck of dirt it'll not gather again.

In the body's cage your mind is a parrot,
Let it repeat the glory of the Lord's Name.

Mira is lost in thoughts of her Lord,
For life in this world is a fleeting dream.

                                                 MB1-07
* - The 'five' refers to the five passions (lust,

anger, greed, attachment, ego). The 'twenty five'

refers to the essential nature of mind and matter

(in forms of emotions and actions).

MB1 - Mira - The Divine Lover
       V. K. Sethi   
      Radha Soami Satsang Beas
      Punjab, India
    - 01  p. 117

    - 02  p. 73

    - 03  p. 133

    - 04  p. 145

    - 05  p. 160

- 06 p. 184

- 07 p. 94