The stories of Krishna and Meera and Radha and Krishna are the greatest love stories of two distinct eras. Their love stories are immortal, and so is their adoration with unconditional allegiance which inspires couples in this age of Kalyug also. Meera is said to be the reincarnation of the Radha, the queen said to be the first love of Lord Krishna. It is being said that after Radha, Meera was the biggest devotee of Krishna who coerced lord Krishna to accept her in the 16th century through her devoutness and love.
Read: Why Krishna name is taken after Radhe
In this blog, we intend to turn the pages of the most popular love story of all ages and experience the love of Lord Krishna and Meera.
About Meera Life
Meera was the daughter of the Rathore Rajput royal family of Kudki which is now called Beawar. Her childhood was witnessed by the Merta which also is a part of Rajasthan. Her initial name was Mihira. She was the daughter of King Ratan Singh and Veer Kumari (Mother). Meera had adoration right from childhood for Lord Krishna which at the age of 4 years turned into love on seeing a wedding ceremony.
She asked her mom where her groom is and how he looks. Veera Kumari chuckled and pointed her finger towards the idol of lord Krishna. A reply out of the light humor given by her mom gave Meera’s life a direction toward love, veneration and sacrifice. Her belief grew stronger with her growing age and even family, friends, and society couldn’t change her mind. Krishna Puja was only left aim of her life and she wasn’t interested in seeing anything beyond it.
Meera Bai was an immensely beautiful and generous girl who grew up dreaming of marrying Krishna. She was married under coercion to Rana Sanga by her family. Her in-laws and her husband couldn’t overpower her feelings for Krishna. She refused to accept Rana Sanga as her husband claiming him to be a stranger. Her in-laws turned furious with her uncompromised devotion towards Kanha who believed in Maa Durga.
Meera declined to worship any other god. Rumors of extramarital affairs declared by her sister-in-law worsen her terms with her in-laws. Meera remained untouched by the furiousness and continued to admire her lord. Meera's declaration of sharing a nuptial knot with the god of flute ruined her life more. Rana Sanga was heartbroken and took stringent action against Meera Bai. With each day passing by, her devotion grew intensely and exorbitantly.
The journey of mistreatment and rejection of Meera started. Her in-laws decided to kill her by sending a cobra snake in the basket said to have a garland for Krishna. Shri Krishna stood behind his devotee and Meera was one of his dearest devotees. Meera after her morning routine, sat for veneration of her idol and opened the basket. To the surprise of her in-laws, the basket had an effigy of Krishna and flowers.
Pissed off from the failure of the first attempts, Mira Bai’s husband sent a cup of nectar which contained poison to kill Meera Bai. Meera offered first it to her deity whose magic turned the poison into nectar. In his next attempt to kill Meera Bai, Rana sent a bed of nails for her. The magic of the charismatic almighty turned nails into a bed of roses.
Meera wrote a letter to Tulsi Das ji as her survival without Krishna was difficult and her in-laws were making her survival difficult. Tulsi Das Ji replied in a letter to Meera that those who are against your deity are not your relatives. Those against you and your devotion are against the lord and don’t deserve you. In a nutshell, he advised her not to abandon relations that don’t let her worship lord Krishna as nothing is true other than Krishna. Meera moved to a temple and left her in-laws forever.
Not just Hindus, but people of other religions too adored Meera which is well evident from the visit of Mughal Emperor Akbar and Tansen. The two in disguise came to her temple and heard her hypnotic devotional poems and songs. Akbar as a token of appreciation gave his emerald necklace to her. Rana on hearing became frantic and asked her to drown in the river stating not to come in front of her. Meera obeyed him and got into the river humming Krishna’s devotional song. Krishna once again came to rescue her. Krishna asked her to move to Brindavan as her married life was over and meet me there and subsequently disappeared.
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Devotional Life of Meera Bai
Meera then moved towards the city of Krishna, Brindaban. She sang the devotional songs in the streets and begged for food. She expressed her desire to meet Jiva Gosain, the head of Vaishnavites. He refused to meet females. Meera responded that there is only one male in Brindavan. He eventually met her and acknowledged her religious fervor towards Krishna. Meera spent her whole life worshipping the lord and roamed from cities to cities singing devotional songs and mystical poems including in the Dwarka, the dynasty of Krishna.
Information about the demise of Meera to a heavenly abode isn’t clear. Few believe that she departed in Dwarka, while few think that she gave up her life in Vrindavan. The tale about her demise is that once she kept on dancing and singing on Krishna Janamashtmi, his birth date. She fell to the ground and the doors of the temple closed on their own. When the doors opened, a cosmic light was witnessed by other devotees in the temple. According to people present in the temple at that time, everyone heard the flute sound and Meera’s sari was found draped around Krishna. It is believed that Meera Bai merged with her lord. She found her idol in 1547. Songs of Meera Bai are still sung during reverence of Lord Krishna.
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