The devotion of Meerabai like the great Gopis, manifested her love for Krishna in herself and made others see it during this Kaliyuga period. The wicked (Rana) considered this type of devotion inappropriate and after thinking carefully, they planned for his death.She was given poison to drink, she drank it like nectar. By the grace of God, she was saved . Playing the tune of Bhakti, without any public shame or hesitation, she abandoned the shackles of clan dignity and sang the praises of Shri Giridhar Gopal.The birthplace of Meerabai was Merta in jodhpur. She had become a devotee of Krishna since her childhood .
Marriage of Meerabai
Meerabai was married to Bhojraj, son of Rana Sanga of Chittor. When the time came to bid farewell to her in-laws house, at that time she felt faint in the passion of love. Seeing her in such a distressed condition, the father started saying, ‘Daughter! Don’t feel any kind of sadness in your mind. Take the clothes and jewellery that you like, at that time, Meerabai’s eyes were filled with tears, she replied to her father, ‘What use do I have for this wealth? If you want to satisfy me in every way by giving me the desired thing, then please give me the idol of Shri krishna which I worshipped since my childhood. Apart from this, keep all the money and belongings away.
Daughter Meera was very dear to her parents. Therefore, Meerabai’s mother hugged her while crying and said that you take Shri krishna with you and serve and worship him with a lot of love. Meerabai placed Shri Giridharlal in front of her in her palanquin and cried while making eye contact with him. She was extremely happy after finding her beloved husband Shri krishna. In this way she reached the palaces of Rana Bhojraj. The mother-in-law brought them down from the palanquin. The knot of the bride and groom was tied with interest and they were brought to the temple of the goddess.
Behaviour of In-laws
After reaching the goddess’s temple, her mother-in-law made preparations for worshipping the goddess. First Bhojraj worshipped the goddess, after that he said to Meera- ‘Now worship the goddess. Meera said – ‘This head of mine has been sold to Krishna, now it cannot bow to any other deity. I have a desire in my mind to see and pay my obeisance to him. Hearing this, the mother-in-law said – ‘She is the goddess, worshipping her increases the good fortune of women. Therefore, do not be stubborn, bow down. On the stubbornness of her mother-in-law, Meerabai repeatedly said that you should definitely accept this, ‘I have surrendered everything at the feet of Shri Krishna. Now I will not be able to worship or salute others.
Hearing Meerabai’s blunt reply, her mother-in-law was heartbroken. Going to her husband she said – ‘This daughter-in-law is of no use to me. Now, if you disobey me by not obeying me and give the opposite answer, then how will you treat me in the future? Hearing her words, Rana got very angry and decided to kill his daughter-in-law. Now he gave a separate room for Meerabai to live. She was very happy to see a solitary place. There she would pamper Krishna day and night and sing her praises while doing service and worship. Those who have a strong desire to meet Krishna, they like the satsang of saints. Meera also always accompanied the sages.
Hurdles on the path of devotion
One day, seeing Meera interacting with the saints, her sister-in-law, whose name was Udabai, came and said – ‘Sister-in-law! Why don’t you understand. The clan faces a huge stigma for loving sages. Ranaji is the king of the country, he is feeling embarrassed by your free conduct. The tradition of your family is also being destroyed, so please listen to me. Leave the company of sages immediately. Meera replied – ‘My life is always with the saints. That’s why I get immense happiness in their company. Whoever is hurt by my conduct, keep him completely away from me. Hearing this, the king sent a bowl of poison saying it was charanamrit. Meerabai drank it happily. After drinking it, a special kind of glow started appearing in her body.
When Meerabai did not die even after drinking poison and did not leave the company of sages, then Rana deployed his spies. Told them that ‘When a saint comes and sits near Meera, then you should inform me. I will kill him right then and there. Krishna always used to sit in Meera’s room. She used to laugh, talk and play with him. One day the sound of laughing and talking reached the spies’ ears. They immediately informed Rana. He quickly ran with his sword and called out at the door – ‘Open the door.’ Meera opened the door. Rana did not see any saint. She was the only one there.
Rana reprimanded her and asked – Where has that man gone, whose love you are in, tell me quickly? Pointing to Krishna’s idol, Meera said – My Prananath is sitting right in front of you. Rana became stunned as if there was a painting on the wall.Still harmony did not arise in Rana’s mind.
Her Visit to Vrindavan
Once Meerabai came to Vrindavan, at that time a great saint named Sri Jeeva goswami, an intimate companion of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, lived in Vrindavan. When Meera went to see him, he told her that he does not see the face of a woman. On this, Meerabai said that till now I thought that there is only one man in Vrindavan – our Giridhar Gopal who lives in Vrindavan, but today I heard something new.
When Sri jiva Goswami heard her statement, it did not take long for him to understand their high spiritual state. Then he respectfully discussed God with them. Meerabai was very satisfied after meeting Sri Jeeva Goswami and doing satsang with him. She freed him from his vow of not seeing a woman’s face. All the groves of Sri Vrindavan and Govardhan are continuously filled with the pleasures of the beloved Sri Radha-krishna and she established them in her heart and returned to her city.
The Last Days of her Life
Seeing Rana’s evil mind, Meerabai went and settled in Dwarka. While living there, she used to worship Shri Krishna. On the other hand, when Rana came to know about the nature of Meera’s devotion, he felt immense mental remorse. He sent many Brahmins to Dwarka and told them, ‘Bring Meerabai in whatever way you can. May she come and revive me by giving me life. The Brahmins went to Dwarka and told about Rana’s request. But she was not ready to return from Dwarka. Then the Brahmins gave up food and water and staged a protest at the door of Meera. Seeing the stubbornness of the Brahmins, she said – ‘It is better that I bid farewell to Shri Ranchhod.’ Saying this she went to the temple. While praying before God, she entered the idol of krishna and never came back.
