Saint Meerabai

This article gives a brief biography of the great saint Meerabai, who despite of being born in a royal family was an ardent Krushna devotee and happily endured tremendous torture to ultimately become one with Shrikrushna.

Birth and childhood

Meera was the daughter of the Rajput King Ratansingh of Udaipur. She was born in the year 1499. Her parents died when she was very young. So, she grew up under the care of her grandfather, who was a great devotee of Shrikrushna. One day, a Saint gave young Meera a statue of Shrikrushna. Thereafter, Meera spent most of her time playing with the idol and eventually, developed tremendous devotion for Shrikrushna.

Following a life of asceticism after her husband’s death

In due course of time, she was married to prince Bhoj, the elder son of Ranasingh, the King of Chitod. Later, King Bhoj was killed in a battle. Since then Meerabai followed an ascetic life. She used to be immersed in Srikrushna’s thoughts day and night.

The King disliked Meera’s devotion towards Shrikrushna

After King Bhoj’s death, his younger brother took over the throne. The society at that time did not approve of their former queen’s behaviour. Her intense devotion for Shrikrushna also upset her in-laws. So, one day, with the help of his sister, Udabai, the king placed a snake among the flowers she used for her daily worship offering. During the worship, Meera was so lost in her devotion to Shrikrushna that she failed to notice the poisonous snake. But, when Meera put her hand in the flower basket the snake instantly turned into a garland. Thus, Shrikrushna protected His devotee. The miracle perplexed Meera's in-laws but did not stop them from continuing in their efforts to upset her devotion.

Shrikrushna's idol turning green due to the poison sent by the king

Along with the King, even the people of the kingdom immensely tortured Meerabai. Once again, the King through Udabai, sent a cup of poison to Meera. Before drinking it, Meerabai offered the cup of poison to Srikrushna’s idol. Due to Meerabai's bhav (spiritual emotion) towards Srikrushna, the poison tasted as sweet as nectar. However, because of the influence of the poison, Krushna's idol turned green. Meerabai got very upset on seeing this. She prayed to Shrikrushna, "O Krushna, the destroyer of Kali, why did your colour change after I drank the poison ? I am extremely unhappy to see the effect of the poison upon you. Kindly return to your original state and relieve me of this misery." At that very instant Krushna's idol was restored back to its original state.

Becoming one with Shrikrushna

Thus, the king tried many different ways to kill Meerabai, but would always be unsuccessful in doing so because of the grace of the Almighty Shrikrushna on her. Meerabai’s mind could not be absorbed in anything but Shrikrushna. She could not stay without Shrikrushna.

Later on, in Vrindavan, Meerabai wrote many devotional verses, which inspired many people to become devotees of Shrikrushna. There, she was blessed with the company of several holy men.

In the year 1546, this eminent saint, who was known as, 'The daughter of Rajasthan', went to Shrikrushna’s Dwaraka. There, she renounced her body and ultimately became one with Shrikrushna.

Bal Sanskar