Bhakthirathnakara- The ocean of Devotion- 1.1. Meera - her childhood.

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Bhaktha rathnakara-

Meerabai – Her childhood

 

Meera was the most precious gem in the ocean of bhakthi.

She was the heera, diamond of the central pendant of the Lord Girdhara Gopala.

Born of the royal clan, restrained my many constraints her life was a bed of

thorns but it was turned into a bed of roses by her Giridhara Gopala, to whom

she dedicated her whole life , body and soul. Living amongst people of worldly

attitudes it was indeed a penance she had to undergo. He bajans are still

reverberated in the plains of Rajasthan and in the gurgling waters of Ganga

and Yamuna. Her songs are sung by devotees and musicians all over the country

and the depth of devotion and feeling in Meeran bajans is wonderful and moving,

which melts the heart of whoever sings them and whoever hears them.

 

The father of Meera was a king of Udaypur, who was a great

devotee of Lord Krishna. He had no child for long and by the grace of the Lord

he had a female child whom he named Meera. Thus Meera was practically cradled

in krishnabhakthi. She was given a Krishna

idol by a great devotee Roopagoswami who came to the palace and she enjoyed dressing

and decorating the idol whom she called Giridhara Gopal. Legend says that she

once saw a marriage procession and asked her mother who was to be her

bridegroom and by the will of the Lord

her mother pointed to the Krishna idol and

said that he was going to be her bridegroom. This made a deep impression in her

young mind and thereafter she started worshipping Krishna as her beloved by way

of madhurabhakthi, like that of Gopis and Radha. There is a view that Meera was

the Incarnation of Radha herself, taken with the purpose of spreading devotion

towards Krishna.

 

As was the custom of the royal families Meera had a good education

in arts and literature especially bhakthi literature and listened to the

saintly visitors to the palace and acquired a good knowledge of the bhakthi literature and stories

of the Lord. She also had a great skill

in music and composing songs and from childhood she used to compose bajans on

her Giridhaari. Of all the leelas of the Lord she perhaps considered His

uplifting the Govardhan for the protection of the gopas to be the best which made

her always think of Him as

GiridharaGopala, little

knowing that He was going to shield her from the shower of

opposition later.

 

When Meera reached marriageable age her parents and her

grandfather Rao Dhoodha who was a well known chief of Rathore clan of Rajputs planned

to marry her off to some prince of royal

family but Meera was against it saying that she would marry only Giridhara

Gopala and not any mortal. But she was not as fortunate as Andal who said maanidarkkena

pEcchuppadil vaazhakillEn kandai, meaning, "if I were to marry a mortal

I will not live," and whose father , Periazhvar, a great devotee of the Lord respected her wishes , his

only worry being how would the Lord come and marry his daughter. She was lucky

that she was the daughter of devout Brahmin and not a king of royal dynasty.

Meera however could not transgress the cod eof conduct for the princesses of a

rouyakll family and had to marry against her wish thinking that it was her

svadharma only to know later that her svadharma was entirely different.