Mira was born around 1499 AD. She was the daughter of Rana Ratan Singh Rathor, a brave Rajput prince and spirited warrior, who died on the battlefield fighting Mughal invaders. At a very young age, Mira went to live with her grandfather, Dudaji, in Merta.
The Ranthors of Merta were devout believers of Lord Vishnu. Thus, Mira grew up in an atmosphere of intense piety and devotion.
Mira’s family did not take her devotion seriously. Following the Rajput tradition, they arranged her marriage when she was still very young. The chosen bridegroom was Rana Bhoj Raj, scion of the Royal family of Chittorhgarh.
Many parts of Rajputana came under attack from the sultans of Delhi. Many brave princes lost their lives, Rana Bhoj among them. Around this time, Mira also lost her parents and several of her family members. Perhaps these tragic events taught the young maiden to turn away from the transient, temporal world of material reality and focus her attention on the Eternal. Filled with the spirit of vairagya (detachment), she began to spend all her time at a little shrine of Sri Krishna. The princess turned into a bairagin, a homeless wanderer.
Alone, Mira leaves Chittor. She walks the way of quest, her heart crying out again and again, “Where, O where art Thou, Beloved?”
Moving along the pilgrim way, she reaches Brindavan. Here, she finds a thousand temples dedicated to her dear Sri Krishna. For it was here that He grew up, here that He tended his cows, and here that He played the flute, capturing the hearts of the gopas and gopis, His playmates and beloved companions. Mira’s heart is filled with ecstasy!
Wherever she goes, she is greeted by the dwellers of Brindavan with love and joy. After a while, Mira leaves Brindavan to seek the Lord at Dwaraka.
It is dusk. Mira enters the temple. She stretches out her arms to embrace the deity. And Mira’s form disappears from the temple. She has merged with the Divine! She has become one with her Lord!
But Mira’s songs live on! And she lives on too, in the hearts of all Indians, like the flute of the Lord!
Dada J P Vaswani was a humanitarian, philosopher, educator, acclaimed writer, powerful orator, messiah of ahimsa, and non-sectarian spiritual leader.
