Poet Saints
Teachings of the Poet-SaintsMira generally speaks of "the importance of the name of God and praises theTrue Guru in her poetry" (Hawley, 1977). Her poems are not complex innature, and very fluid. The emotions explored in her work are thoserelated to women; typically Mira explores the same type of issues,especially those related to a "young brides, marriage and woman'srelationship to Krishna" (Mirabai, 1977). Mira often portrays herself asmarried to Krishna or Krishna as yogi in her work. Her poems somewhat defydifferent ideas in Hinduism however. Mira imagines her marriage to Krishnaas a "liaison between two Yogis'" which goes against standard Hindi belief,because a yogi must leave behind his/her family and former life, thereforetwo would not be married to one another (Hawley, 1977).Many of these ideas are expressed in poem no. 177 by Mirabai. The poembegins with Mirabai exalting the Yogi, to be interpreted as Krishna, andshe refers to him as "my friend, the clever one/ whose mind is on Siva andthe Snake." Mirabai portrays herself in this poem as a yogini to the yogi. She talks of coming home, which can be interpreted as going with God, an
" Love is expressed very powerfully inthis poem, as the poet explains that her love for God has "left me pale/ myyouth grown yellow as with age. She uses these images to define her image of self in thepoem, comparing the image of herself to the image of yogi. Images used in this poem include visions of prayer beads, jewelry, yogicloth and rain. Basavanna chooses his god as The Lord of the Meeting Rivers (Ramanujan,1973). Every one of his poems exalts this god, as most of Mirabai's poemssimilarly exalt in Krishna. " Later he comes back, "Will my heart reach you/ O lordof the meeting rivers/ before the sensual bitches/ touch and overtake. Basavanna was very adamant about eliminatingany type of caste system and presenting all men as equals before his god(Ramanujan, 1973). I chose Mirabai's poem to compare ittoo, because her work interestingly takes on a different spin, exalting thesensations of love and encouraging a union between man and god, in her casethe female lead as yogini to the yogi. In line 8, the poet states "takeme, guard me with your guardian mercy/ please. Much like the work ofMirabai, his devotion is very clear. He seems to express the idea of confinement and suffering in hispoems. He exalts God and talks of his trials trying toreach him, but also discusses the many obstacles he must encounter, usingimages of hounds unleashed on an innocent hare. He cries out in stanza two, "Let go! Let go/ Cry thelusts/ of the mind. Basavanna too is a poet like Mirabai very devoted to his higher power,Siva. " This poem very clearly depicts the themeof one giving themselves up to God and offering all of their body and mind.
Common topics in this essay:
Krishna Basavanna,
Snake Mirabai,
Earrings Begging-bowl,
God Basavanna,
Hinduism Mira,
True Guru,
Rivers Ramanujan,
Krishna Krishna,
Poet-Saints Mira,
Krishna Mirabai,
ramanujan 1973,
trying reach,
trying reach lord,
exalts god,
hawley 1977,
lord meeting,
prayer beads,
yogi poems,
reach lord,
images hounds,
yogini yogi,
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Acceptance Essays
