topics: |  poetry | india | devotional-physical

Mirabai is an important North Indian figure in the Hindu reformation,
enshrined in the bhakti movement which personalized the figure of god, in
opposition to the ritualistic control held by the Brahmans.  She represents
an important North Indian figure in the movement that spread out from the
Tamil, Telugu and Kannada literature from the 8th century onwards saints
(see ak ramanujan's brilliant   translations of  Nammalvar and 
bAsavaNNa, dAsimayyA, mahAdeviyakka and allAma prabhu.

Meera was born to a Rajput royal family near Ajmer in 1498, and Futehally
suggests that after a Rajput defeat in 1527, she may have left her royal
home and become a wandering mendicant.  She died in 1550 in Dwarka.  Her
songs have survived much better than her biography.  

This is the only real translation of Meera that I know.  For one, I
immediately appreciate the fact that the original poems are given on facing
pages, which to my mind, shows appropriate respect to the original.  The
translations themselves are fluid, and appear to be more faithful than
versions by Andrew Schelling or John Stratton
Hawley.  

1 I saw the swelling clouds p.41

	I saw the swelling clouds
	and Shyam,
	my eyes began to rain. 
	
	Dark and yellow,
	hugely massed, 
	they spilled, they poured
	
	for hours. 
	
	Water lies 
	on every side.  Green
	the thirsty earth. 
	
	       Him, 
	he's far from home. 
	I stand in the dripping door. 
	
	     True one, far 
	one.  Make true your word 
	and come.  
	
	[Original: bAdal dekhnA jharI shyAm ]
	

3 : Your highness p. 47

	Your highness,
	Now you can't close me
	with walls.
	The wise are now dear to me, lost
	is womanly shame, I've left
	my mother's house
	and the taste of dance is on my tongue.

	The lord held a glass
	in front of my heart and I'll dance.

	   	 		Take
	the wedding necklace, you can break
	the golden bracelet
	I don't want a fort or a palace

	and my hair is loose
	says Meera.

[Original: rANAjI! ab na rahungI torI haTkI ]

Links: Biography at http://www.sawnet.org/articles/shama_futehally.html sawnet by Anu Kumar
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blurb:
Mystical, celebratory, and frankly feminine, the songs of Meera embrace and
evoke all of life-the ordinary, lowly, and humble; the natural world and all
creatures; love and longing. They express a passionate faith that liberates
and breaks down barriers, merging the human and the divine and challenging
all notions of rank and hierarchy. Both poetry and prayer, these
extraordinary songs reflect an all-encompassing spirituality and ardent
devotion that remains part of the living folk tradition of India.