Mirabai
Indian Bhakti poet-saint, princess of Rajasthan, and one of the most beloved female voices in the long history of Hindu devotional literature. Born around 1498 into the royal family of Merta, she renounced her aristocratic life after the death of her husband and devoted herself entirely to her chosen Beloved, the dark-skinned cowherd god Krishna. Her poems — sung in Rajasthani and Hindi by ordinary devotees for over five centuries — are some of the most ecstatic and uncompromising love poetry in any language. Where most Bhakti poets remained within the social structures of their time, Mirabai walked through caste, marriage, and royal expectation as if they were not real, and her verses still carry that scent of freedom.
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Quotes by Mirabai
108 quotes“O my friends, what can you tell me of love? Whose passion never ebbs.”
“I have felt the swaying of the elephant's shoulders, and now you want me to climb on a jackass?”
“The dark one knows my heart. The dark one is my heart.”
“I do not steal money. I do not hit anyone. What will you make of me?”
“Without the energy of the dark one, my body is dust.”
“My eyes are wet with longing. He has not come.”
“I have left my family, my friends, my caste behind.”
“Mira sings: Hari is my lord. The cowherd-prince is my groom.”
“My eyes are bright with the kohl of his loveliness.”
“I will sing of the dark one with my tongue. I will write his name on my body.”
“Without him, the days are dust. With him, every breath is honey.”
“Friend, I cannot live without him.”
“My beloved has come, and the path is bright before me.”
“I have planted the seed of his name in the soil of my heart.”
“In the temple of my body, my beloved sits enshrined.”
“My silver veil and my royal jewels — Mira gives them away.”
“He has stolen my heart. The thief has not returned.”
“I dance for him. The bells on my anklets ring for him.”
“Mira's Lord is the Mountain-Holder, the dark one.”
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