94 MANUSHI

Mirabai in Rajasthanby Parita Mukta

“Only that historian will have the gift of fanning the spark of hope in the past who isfirmly convinced that even the dead will not be safe from the enemy if he wins. And the

enemy has not ceased to be victorious.

Walter Benjamin, “Illuminations”

Mirabai temple at Chittor

NUMBER 50-51-52 (January-June 1989)

THE legend of Mira, the sixteenthcentury Rathori princess who took to thelife of an itinerant singer, has it that onmore than one occasion, she survivedattempts on her life by the ruling Sisodiyafamily of Mewar into which she wasmarried. That Mira, who rejected marriageto the Sisodiya prince and declared herlove for Krishna, was able to withstandthese threats to her life within her ownlifetime is remarkable enough. What is evenmore remarkable is that the memory of Mirahas been kept safe and has continued tobe evoked through the centuries ofSisodiya rule, in the midst of repressionby the Rajput rulers. There has been asystematic attempt by the Rajput princelyfamily, and more generally the Rajputcommunity in Rajasthan, to blot out thename of Mira within its own social fabricand within the society over which it heldpower. This was demonstrated to me timeand again by the various people I spoketo and questioned in my attempt toreconstruct a social history of Mira.

Bhattnagarji belongs to a family ofkilledars who have been fortkeepers ofChittorgarh from the thirteenth century.Bhattnagarji continues living within thefortress of Chittor, and his experience isan important indicator of the way Mira’sname was socially obliterated within thestate of Mewar. He now works in thefinance department of the collector’skacheri in the town of Chittor.

He began by laughing about the ironyof discussing the history of Mira withinthe state office where he was working. Hewas emphatic that it would not have beenpermissible to do so while working for theprincely state. He stated that no one withany link to the princely state would havedared utter the name of Mira. “No, we werenot told not to. We knew not to. Thepeople who gave us jagirs, who paid me,remained silent on the history of Mira. Iknow that if anyone had dared to talkabout her, he would have been thrown outof state service. Sing Mira’s bhajans? Howcan one sing or hear the bhajans ofsomeone whose name is not to be uttered?In earlier times, I myself would not havetalked freely about Mira as I am doing to

you now.”Similar to the experience of Bhattnagarji

is the experience of Chothuji Bhat, whocomes from a family of travellingpuppetteers, and who for many yearsearned his living by travelling andperforming. About 15 years ago, he wastravelling through Rajasthan, and called ahalt at Sisodiya Ka Kheda, a village nearChittorgarh. Chothuji did not then knowthe social make-up of the area, and, aswas his custom, he began singing aboutMira, in order to rally a crowd round himto encourage them to gather and view hispuppet show. “People round about startedshouting that if this is what you want tosing, you’d better leave the village. I wasconfused till an old man came to me andsaid, ‘You’re a poor man, come here to earnyour keep. This is a Sisodiya village.Wherever there are Sisodiyas, you mustnot sing about Mira. They still think thatMira blemished their name.’ All this time,some people kept on shouting, that bysinging what I had (it was about Mira, Iremember, I don’t remember, the exactbhajan) I had humiliated them. (Yah hameniche jhukane ki baat hai.) From thattime on, I stopped singing Mira bhajansin that region.’’

It is clear from these two, and other

experiences recounted, that those whowere tied in a dependency, in differentways, to the dominant Rajput community,had to tread warily and not evoke thememory of Mira, for fear of losing theirlivelihood. That men from the dominantRajput community exercised this power toattempt to suppress the memory of Mira issignificant enough. It is also the case thatwomen from within the Rajput communitieshave expressed a hostility to what Mirastood for.

In a village called Dagla Ka Kheda nearChittorgarh, a group of Bhatti women wereincensed when I asked whether one oftheir daughters was called Mira andwhether a girl child would ever be namedMira. The negative answer was given inan outraged tone. Embedded in the nameof Mira for the majority of Rajputs eventoday (though not for the middle classBrahman and Bania communities of todayamongst whom the name of Mira is popularin the same way that the name Puja or Artiis) is a woman who was a widow, but whorefused the norms governing widowhood,a woman who laid aside the kul maryada,and who brought shame on her kul. Thekul (and those with loyalties to that kul)have responded by attempting to obliterateher existence.

Women bhajniks in village Chandravads, district Jamnagar, Saurashtra

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Mira leaving Chittor, by Kanu Desai, astudent at Gujarat Vidyapith, founded byGandhi. How then has Mira’s memory beenkept safe and alive in Mewar? And why?It has been retained in a sphere of life overwhich the rulers could not wield directpower — the sphere of religiousexpression, of bhakti and bhajan singing,into which the rulers did not intrude.

These bhajan gatherings arecomposed of women and men fromcommunities with similar socialbackgrounds. They congregate of anevening, after the day’s labour, toparticipate in a collective bhajan sharingunder one roof. These gatherings takeplace on particular occasions — atEkadashi, regularly in the months ofSravan, Kartik, at the birth of a child, duringa period of mourning.

Within these bhajan gatherings, it isnot only Mira bhajans which are sung, ofcourse. But the singing of Mira becomes apolitical act when it is sung, as it is inMewar, by the subordinate sections, ofpeasant and artisan origin, whounderstand that to sing Mira is to floutruling Rajput authority. The bhajniks ofMewar are aware of the fact that they, andonly they, have retained Mira.

Huki Kodra Patel, a 60 year old widowwho lived on her own, tilling nine bighasof unirrigated land in the village of Paharanear Kherwara, said at a bhajan gatheringheld in her house: “They sing only of theirwarriors and battles”, pointing in thegeneral direction of Udaipur, “We singMira.” “On the bus to Deolia, a group ofOd women, brick kiln workers in Udaipurwho were on their way to Pratapgarh tofetch someone recently widowed to hermarital home, on being told my work, sanga number of Mira bhajans with greatintensity. One of them, Partapi Modhu Od,said: “Mirabai made Raidas, a Chamar, herguru. Obviously the Rajputs could nottolerate this.”

Again and again, the bhajniksreiterated that the “Thakurs” would neversing Mira. “They tried to kill her for havingbrought shame on their name. Why shouldthey sing of her?” Both women and menfrom the subordinate sections of Mewar

— weavers, leather workers, Dangis, Patel,Jats, Dhakars, have collectively, in thesinging of Mira bhajans, kept her memoryalive.

Who will take the leading role in abhajan session, depends on a variety offactors; at the home of Huki Kodra Patel,there were more women then men gathered,with the women very much in the forefront,interjecting comments and discussing thethemes of the bkajans in the lull between.

Usually, it is older married women orwidows who participate with zest. Rarelyhave I seen unmarried women do so.Sometimes the women are very visible,forming half the gathering, but not takingpart in the public singing or in the playingof instruments — manjira, ektara. The oldermen would do so.

In a society which does not give muchworth to the life of any individual woman,the upholding of Mira over more than 400years gives us a tradition of hope andchallenge in which a woman is rememberedto have survived for her own truth in theface of a virulent opposition.

There are four elements to the bhajanssung by the peasants and artisans ofMewar, which I can only briefly delineatehere, but which I hope to pursue moresystematically in a forthcoming work.Firstly, Mira’s rejection of the Rana ashusband, and her rejection of a life of

riches and her thereafter taking to a life ofpoverty. This has led to an alignment withher by the poor, who have seen in heraction an alignment with their ownconditions. Secondly, the ostracism andharsh suffering Mira suffered at the handsof the Rana — the cup of poison and snakesent to destroy her, symbolishing therepression she faced — have enabledthose who were at the receiving end of therule by the Ranas of Mewar to identifywith her, and articulate through the Mirabhajans the immorality (as they see it) ofthe Ranas’ rule. Thirdly, Mira’s acceptanceof Rohidas as guru, her breaking of casteand class boundaries, has made for analliance between her and the Dalitcommunities. Fourthly, Mira’s choice of arelationship with Krishna, in sharpopposition to the marriage to the Rana,Mira’s refusal of the status of widowhood,are all articulated through bhajans, whichcontain strong statements on personalliberties for women. The bhajniks ofMewar perceive the Rana of Mira’s songsas her husband. They sing some bhajanswhich are not Mira compositions but arecast in a dialogic rnode between Mira andother bhaktas. One such bhajan whichupholds the assertion of Mira runs like this:

There is dust rising up in the distance,Mirabai, there is dust rising up in thedistance. You are bound to the name of

Mira leaving Chittor, by Kanu Desai, a student at Gujarat Vidyapith, founded byGandhi

NUMBER 50-51-52 (January-June 1989)

Hari.

It is a procession of jogis, Mirabai, itis a procession of jogis. There is a lamp litto Hari in every home.

It is not a procession of jogis, Mirabai,it is not a procession of jogis. There is alamp lit to Hari in every home.

It is a marriage party fromChittorgarh which is arriving, Mirabai,it is a marriage party from Chittorgarharriving. You are bound to the name ofHari.

Lay aside these tattered rags, Mirabai,lay aside these tattered rags. Drapeyourself in the garment sent by the Rana.

Drape the garment round yourslavegirl, Rana, drape the garment roundyour slavegirl. These tattered rags are inthe name of Hari.

Lay aside your garland of tulsi,Mirabai, lay aside the tulsi garland. Tieon the necklace sent by the Rana.

Tie the necklace round your slavegirl,Ranaji, tie the necklace round yourslavegirl. This tulsi garland is in the nameof Hari.

Join your left hand with me, Ranaji,join your left hand with me. My right handis for Hari.

The lord of Dwarka has married me,Ranaji, the lord of Dwarka has marriedme. I have taken to saffron because of him.

I have found a guru in Rohidas, I havefound a guru in Rohidas. I am bound tothe name of Hari.

The bhajan seems to reconstruct theaccepted version of Mira’s life, by makingher a single woman who rejects marriagealtogether, rather than a wife leaving herhusband’s home, or a widow. Her tauntingadvice to the Rana to give his gifts to hisslavegirl suggests that to accept them

would be to accept servitude to him. Hermocking of the wedding ritual by offeringhim her left hand (one can scarcely imaginea greater insult in a society which deemsthe left hand dirty and inauspicious) is theultimate rejection of the Rana as groom,and the ultimate flouting of his authority.

The two oppositional spheres — thetotal rejection of Mira by the rulingSisodiya family and the people’supholding of Mira in the midst of Sisodiyarule — began, slowly, to come together inthe nineteenth century. It was acontradictory process though, andremains riven with conflict even today.

Colonel James Tod, the British PoliticalAgent of Mewar from March 1818 to June1822, began the process of theromanticisation of Mira’s history. He wrotethe Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthanin which he glorified dominant Rajputmartial values such as honour andchivalry. In the Annals, Tod lauds Mira asthe “most celebrated princess of her timefor beauty and romantic piety.” Todreduced Mira’s history to a “romance” andthis paved the way for the idealisation ofMira solely as a mystical, romantic bhakta,

immersed in a spiritual unity with Krishna,and the dilution of the tensions inherentin her history.

It was due to Tod too, that interest inthe fortress of Chittor arose. It wasrenovated, so that what we see today is anineteenth century renovation andreconstruction. Within this century arosethe myth that the temple in Chittorgarh nearthe Kumbha Shyama temple, was built forMira by Rana Kumbha, deemed to be herhusband. In this mythification, the Rana,Mira’s husband, is supportive of herchoice of a relationship with Krishna. Thischoice is not seen as involving a negationof marriage to the Rana, but as coexistingharmoniously side by side with it.

Thus, Mira, so long reviled by theSisodiyas, began to be incorporated intheir official history, with the challengecontained in her message smoothed out.It was not, however, until 1955 that acardboard cutout figure of Mira wasinstalled within the temple designated“Mirabai mandir.” This was done withthe official patronage of LalsinhaShaktawat, a Sisodiya Rajput from villageJagat at a stage of his political career, whenhe was an MLA, from 1952 to 1956. ThusMira was reinstated in the bland cardboardshape of a smiling devotee in the veryfortress that she had sworn never to setfoot in again.

This reinstatement of Mira took placeafter Mira had become a national symbol,mainly through the importance placed onher by Gandhi through his politicalspeeches and writings during theanticolonial struggle, in which he depictedMira as a “paramount satyagrahi.” ThoseRajputs rapidly losing their power, andshowing a willingness to changeaccording to the political climate, could illafford to (neither did they have the powerto) deny Mira as strongly as they had doneearlier. The history of Mewar becamelinked to two very different symbols—Rana Pratap, and Bai Mira. Despite thisofficial recognition granted to Mira, as Ihave shown earlier, the Raj-puts at thevillage level to this day continue to feelthreatened by what Mira stood for.

Within the religious expression of the

The cardboard cut-out of Mira in theinner sanctuary of the Mira temple at

Chittor

98 MANUSHI

upper caste middle class, Mira is a recentphenomenon, of a depth of no more than60 years or so. Gandhi, particularly inGujarat, but more widely in the culturalrevivalism that accompanied the politicalStruggle for independence, was crucial inelevating the image of Mira as the chastelover and ideal wife who quietly bore thetorture inflicted on her by her husband andwho at last won him over to her truth byher acts of “satyagraha”:“...Mirabai...forsook her husband ...andlived a life of absolute love. Her husbandat last became her devotee.” (Collectedworks of Mahatma Gandhi, NavajivanTrust, Ahmedabad, 1966, Vol. 13, p. 442)

the Ashram Bhajnavali containing anumber of Mira bhajans. In thisBhajnavali, one of the most popular andcritical of the Mira bhajans, still sungthroughout Gujarat and Saurashtra, hasbeen edited in such a way as to removethe challenge it poses to the institutionsof marriage and of widowhood. The stillpopular and extant original bhajan is asfollows:

“I have become attached to your face,beloved Mohan, I have become attachedto your face.

I saw your face and the whole worldappeared sour to me. My mind, though,was illuminated. I have become attachedto your face.

The householder’s happiness is anephemeral one. ONE weds and becomes awidow. Why should I go to his house,

beloved Mohan? I have become attachedto your face.

I married my loved one and achievedan indestructible relationship. Iannihilated the fear of widowhood,beloved Mohan. I have become attachedto your face,

Mirabai is blessed. My one hope restsin you. Oh, I am fortunate beloved Mohan.I have become attached to your face.”

In Gujarati, the bhajan is extremelypowerful: “parni ne randavu pachhu...”and “randavano bhay taadiyo re, Mohanpyara...” hit at the very raw nerve ofwidowhood. The expurgated version in the

‘’Mirabai is said to have offended herhusband by following her own conscience,was content to live in separation from himand bore with quiet dignity andresignation all the injuries that are said tohave been done to her in order to bend herto her husband’s will. Both Prahlad andMirabai practised satyagraha...neither...had any ill will towards theirpersecutors...Mirabai [is regarded as] amodel wife.” (Ibid, Vol. 17, 152-153)

In the sphere of music, VishnuDigambar Paluskar did much to integratethe singing of bhajans within the classicaltradition and gave to the Mira bhakti anew form and a new social base. Paluskar’spupil, Narayan Moreshvar Khare, went toreside at Gandhi’s ashram and he edited

Ashram Bhajnawali sounds nothing likethis, and it is possible that it was soexpurgated because the term used forwidowhood is the same as the term forprostitution (“randavu”) Be that as it may,the edited version involves not merelydeletion of words, but obliteration of thecritique of the institution of widowhood. Igive below the translation contained in the“Ashram Bhajnaval”, (Collected Worksof Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 44, pp. 449-450.):“O dear Lord, I love Thy face, as soon as Isaw Thy face, the world became uselessto me and my mind became detached fromit. The happiness that the world gives islike a mirage, one should move aboutdeeming it of no account. Mirabai says:Blessed Lord, my only hope is in Thee andI consider my-self fortunate (in that I haveseen Thee face to face.) 11-11-1930.”

Painting by Ravishankar Rawalshows a Mira in white. The rela-tionship Mira lived out and brokeaway from her family for, is herereduced to the household worshipof an image.

“Ecstasy” (left) and “Dedication”(right) by Kanu Desai. Both in-sidiously feed into the notion ofwoman as seductive in her chas-tity.

NUMBER 50-51-52 (January-June 1989)

Gandhi, who “read a profound meaningin widowhood”, and whose message towidows was: “Look upon your widowhoodas sacred and live a life worthy of it,”(Collected Works, Vol. 16, 1919-1920Navajivan, pages 233 and 234) could nothave accepted a total rejection of the stateof widowhood.

In the sphere of the visual arts, therehas been a similar attempt made to portrayMira in a way which appeals to theaspirations and the morality of the risingmiddle classes. Ravishankar Rawal andKami Desai were two artists who did thismost prominently in Gujarat. RavishankarRawal’s philosophy was to inculcatethrough art an appreciation of hisinterpretation of the moral valuesembodied in Gandhian ethics. Rawal’sphilosophy, translated into paintings,depicted woman as seductive through herchastity, appealing through her purity.Within this hypocritical portrayal, he alsoblended the image of Mira. Kanu Desaipainted a folio on Gandhi — and,separately, on Mira. Kanu Desai gives usan image of Mira which feeds into

distorted conceptions of woman assupplicant, woman as dancer, woman aspliable lover.

The expression given to Mira by thewomen and men of the subordinatesections of society against the forces ofupper class and caste slander andrepression is now under a new threat. It isbeing eroded in the face of the onslaughtof a technologically orchestratedreligiosity, in the ubiquitous sale ofprerecorded cassettes, and in the steadyimposition of a monolithic religiousideology propagated by television and thestate. The looser, less hierarchical, lesscentralised and more egalitarianexpression within which Mira has survivedall these centuries needs to be activelysupported and nurtured if we are to retainan integral part of our past which canenable us to shape and evolve a futureencompassing the experiences of all thosewho continue to suffer degradation, andto whom Mira holds a particular meaning.It is incumbent upon us all to fan the sparkof hope in the past—and to keep the deadsafe from the enemy.

Cover of an LP record showsMira in widows’ white, denying

her the saffron. She is sub-sumed into a Bhakti conducted

by widows in the family.