Mira Bai : Her Life And Times

by Hermann Goetz

Mira Bai, or Mirabai or Meerabai, was a 16th century princess, Hindu mystical and a devotee of Lord Krishna from North India. She was one of the most significant Saints of the Vaishnava bhakti movement. In her poems she has described her unconditional love for Lord Krishna. She believed that Krishna bhakti is the best way to live life as it helps us to forget our desires and this in turn helps us to attain moksha or liberation. The Bhagavad Gita has acknowledged a number of approaches to God. All such approaches insisted on the primary need of selfless love to God and to all life emanating from Him. The role of all great saints is to set a pattern, to all, for shaping our own lives within the limits of our own individuality. For this we have to understand their personalities and may be forced to extricate the real greatness of their effort from the cheap sentimentalities of popular hagiography. In this book, Mira Her Life and Times, the author took such an approach to highlight her greatness. In this effort, indirectly, this biography has become an important study in a little explored chapter of Rajput history also. This is of secondary importance. What counts, is the struggle of a wonderful personality on her way to the beloved Lord of her heart. And this recreated personality has, in its turn, helped the author immensely in his own life. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan first published this book in 1966 and it is out of print now. But as we get a lot of requests for this book even now , we have decided to make it available as an e-book.

Genres: Mira

50 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 19, 2013

Reviews

[Savita Ramsumair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good

Good retelling of her life although the focus should have been more on her bhakti rather than on the politics.

[antony · Rating 3 out of 5]

if you are interested in the historical context of the life of Mirabai then this is the book for you. Crammed with detail about her family, her situation and the political situation the author fully describes the socio-politico web she lived in.

The author also delves into the pros and cons of true many claims made about her. Mirabai is said to have met a variety of important people, som of who, the author shows, died before she was born or were born after she passed away.

What became of Mirabai, said to have disappeared inside a temple never to be seen again. The author has something to say about that too. This is a scholarly work, replete with many references. It is not for the casual reader.

Mirabai: Her life and times, the book title, is probably a misnomer in the sense that if you are looking for a biography, that has the story of Mirabai this book is not for you. This book is for someone who knows the story and the myth and wants to go deeper and look at what we actually know about her situation rather than the stories told about her life

What I liked about this book is it is straight to the point on the subject. What I didn't like was the way the author tells us what PROBABLY happened rather than what we as told by history. It's fine to have an opinion about things but I would prefer to know that it is your opinion rather than it be hidden behind probablys.

Anyway if you are looking for historical detail this book has it all