RADIO RUHANIYAT. 11-01-2014: Episode 370

Meera Bai!                                                                                    _________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hello everyone and welcome to yet another spiritual insight on Radio Ruhaniyat!

November 1^st is marked as ‘All Saints Day’: a day dedicated to Saints! Although this tradition is popular in the Christian world, but here on Radio Ruhaniyat, on this very special Day, the one saint who we are paying respect to,

is Meera Bai.

Meera Bai was a very devoted and pious saint from the 16^th century and lived in the state of Rajasthan in India. Not only did she set an example for devotion in the spiritual world but she was also a symbol of Woman Empowerment. Centuries later, to this day, she is remembered as one of the most pious saints born on the Indian soil.

Meera Bai actually belonged to Rajput aristocracy. Even though she had the worldly pleasures of living in royal palaces, she still gave up everything because she was more inclined towards spirituality.

She believed in Lord Krishna and her faith was very strong. She was only 3-years-old when a sage came to their house and presented a doll of Lord Krishna. Since the very beginning, Meera Bai was deeply intrigued by the gift and kept it with her all the time.

She developed deep faith and devotion towards Lord Krishna. There was an instance when a wedding procession passed by her house and Meera Bai found it very fascinating. In pure innocence, she asked her mother; “Who would be my husband?” Her mother: almost in zest replied: “You already have a husband: Sri Krishna”

Since that day, Meera Bai literally claimed that Sri Krishna was her beloved.

After she got married, her family never did support her faith, despite the degree of her devotion. She received a lot of retaliation from her in-laws especially because she would mingle with the poor and treat everyone as equal and a reflection of God. Her family felt that she belonged to the royal clan and that she should act like one. But Meera Bai belonged to a totally different world.

There was an instance when poison was mixed in amrit and she was made to drink it. But by God's grace, the poison changed to holy water.She went through a lot just to keep her faith. Iron nails were pinned in Meera's bed, but, again by God's grace they turned into rose petals. As she explains in one of her couplets:

'शूल सेज राणा नै भेजी, दीज्यो मीरां सुलाय/सांझ भई मिरां सोवन लागी, मानों फूल बिछाय'

There were several attempts made to kill Meera, but you know what they say:

“Jako rakhey saiiyaan, maar na sake koi”

It means: Whomever is protected by God, no one can kill them.

It’s ironic how we humans can manipulate to the extent that we don’t even fear God and those who love God, have no fear because they trust God.

Being a woman, it was a struggle for Meera, to have to face an entire royal clan and to have to stand up to them.

Meera Bai was one of the very few women, who stood strong to her faith and had no fear of facing the entire world: especially in a country like India. It is only when one has complete surrender in God, that one develops the confidence to face the world; no matter what.

She believed in Lord Krishna and totally trusted Him to be the link between her and God.

It was even harder for her since her mother had passed away when she was very little. She was raised by her grandfather; who played a significant role in her spiritual life. He was a disciple of Guru Ravidass ji and Meera got many opportunities to learn from Him. As a matter of fact, Guru Ravidass ji had even blessed her and her husband on their wedding day.

One main significance, why Meera is remembered to this day, is because she was an enlightened soul whose devotion set her apart. She received God-Knowledge from Guru Ravidass ji. When she received the knowledge, she sang praises of her Guru:

“Guru milya Ravidass ji, dini gyan ki gutki

Chot lagi nijnam hari ki, mharey hivrey khatki”

Meera is talking about how Guru Ravidass ji blessed her with Gyan: which is God-Knowledge and how the realization really made an impact in her heart.

It was the God knowledge that really helped Meera know God and that’s when she also understood the role of Lord Krishna in her life. She was so enthralled by devotion that the worldly pleasures did not mean anything to her.

You know the world is so geared towards worldly pleasures and people will go to any extreme to make money. Little do we realize that the ultimate treasure lies in God and His blessings. No amount of money or material pleasures can even come close to spiritual blessings.

We admire her for her strength and she sure taught the whole world to see the real picture between materialism and Spiritualism. We might have all the material pleasures in the world but without God’s grace, it’s all a waste. On the other hand no matter how much money we have, we are the poorest of the poor if we are not connected with God. There are very few who really understand the significance of divinity. Meera was one such saint.

What made her stand apart from the rest of the world was the fact that she realized God with complete understanding and then she devoted her entire self to the Almighty Lord. We must know God, whom we worship and this comes from God-Realization. Unless and until we really know God, we will not be able to understand our own identity. Hence the term; Self-Realization through God-Realization. Our identity is from our soul and our soul is part-and-parcel of the super-soul. Without this understanding, we will never be able to surrender ourselves to the Formless God.

And this; is really the foundation of spirituality.

Meera Bai was complete in every sense. She was an enlightened soul who expressed her devotion by writing poems and songs. She used to sing and dance in ecstasy of deep divine devotion. One of her very popular songs have been: “Payo ji maine Ram-Ratan Dhan Payo” In this song Meera is singing in esctasy that she has received the eternal treasure of formless God. Ram in this verse, means “Rama-hua”: the one who is omnipresent: and hence it refers to the formless God.

It is only after we realize God; that we can actually have faith in Him.

And with Faith, comes Devotion!