Bhakthirathnakara- The ocean of Devotion-1.2. Meera-Marriage proposal

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Marriage proposals

 

Meera considered only Grirdhari as her husband and she did

not want to marry anyone else. Her parents passed away long before her marriage

and she was brought up by her grandfather Rao Dhoodha, who knew of her deep

devotion but thought that she would become normal like any other girl in course

of time. But the love for Krishna which started as a childhood adoration became deep

rooted in her heart and grew into a big ocean that engulfed her whole life even

before she attained marriageable age. Her days were spent in decorating

Giridhari, talking to Him, singing and dancing to Him and she was immersed in

premasagara, ocean of love. But there were sharks in the ocean which she did

not know about in the form of tradition and worldly mindedness of the people

around her.

 

The innocent girl deeply in love with her Giridhari and

enjoyed dancing in front of Him singing 'giridhar aage naachoongi' "I dance in front

of my Giridhari" and who said `loka loja

kula kaa mariyaadhaa , yaa main eka na raakhoongi,' " I do not care for the tradition

of the society and the family," was not left alone. Her grandfather and others

reminded her that she had to get married one day and could not continue playing

with her idol, because , for them Giridhari was only an idol like a doll to a

child. Meera was shocked to hear this and said that she was already married and

her husband is Giridhari who was always with her. But her grandfather firmly

told her that she had to get married one day and that too soon enough when she

gets a suitable bride groom.

 

Meera

was heartbroken and cried her heart out. She pleaded to Giridhari saying, `thum bin meri koun kabarale, bharee sabhaa meim draupadee

taḍhee

raakho laaj hamaaree,' "who else but you can help me? You protected

Droupadi when she was disrobed in the sabha. Protect me also now." To Meera,

marrying some one else when she was wedded to Giridhari already was equivalent

to the dishonour of Droupadi.

Rao

Dhoodha was pained to see the grief of Meera whom he loved dearly but he was afraid of the censure of the world to

keep her unmarried. In the meanwhile her fame as the most beautiful princess. who

is talented and devoted to Krishna , spread far

and wide. Kumbha Rana, the ruler of Mewar heard about her and admired her

devout nature and wanted to marry her. Mewar was a strong empire that served as

a deterrent of the Mogul invasion and

Rana Kumbha wanted the alliance with the granddaughter of Rao Dhoodha to

amalgamate Mewar and Rathor kings. When Rao Dhoodha got the message from Rana

Kumbha he was overjoyed that his granddaughter was going to be a queen in the most

powerful Rajput king. He started doing the preparations for the marriage and no

one asked the opinion of poor Meera.