Since I have been seen dancing openly.
In the day I have no hunger
At night I am restless and cannot sleep.
Leaving these troubles behind, I go to the other side;
A hidden knowledge has taken hold of me.
My relations surround me like bees.
But Mira is the servant of her beloved Giridhar,
And she cares nothing that people mock her.
English version by F. E. Keay
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The rainy season is abroad
You have gone off to distant lands,And my heart finds it unbearable.I keep sending letters to my BelovedAsking when He will return.Mira’s Lord is the courtly Giridhara:O Krishna, O Brother of Balram,Grant me thy sight.
Sleep has not visited me the whole night,
O my companion,Once I awoke with a start from a dream.Now the remembrance from that visionNever fades.My life is ebbing as I choke and sigh,When will the Lord of the Afflicted comeI have lost my senses and gone mad,But the Lord knows my secret.He who deals out life and deathKnows the secret of Mira’s pain.
Do not leave me alone, a helpless woman.
I am empty of virtues,You, the ocean of them.My heart’s music, you help meIn my world-crossing.You protected the king of the elephants.You dissolve the fear of the terrified.Where can I go? Save my honourFor I have dedicated myself to youAnd now there is no one else for me.
My friend, the stain of the Great Dancer has penetrated my body.
Moreover I stay drunk, no matter what I do to become sober.Rana, who disapproves, gave me one basket with a snake in it.Mira folded the snake around her neck, it was a lover’s necklace, lovely!Rana’s next gift was poison: ‘This is something for you, Mira.’She repeated the Holy Name in her chest, and drank it,…
Listen, my friend, this road is the heart opening,
If we could reach the Lord through immersion in water,I would have asked to be born a fish in this life.If we could reach Him through nothing but berries and wild nutsthen surely the saints would have been monkeys when they came from the womb!If we could reach him by munching lettuce and dry leavesthen…
Friend, the arrow of his glance struck
Its point pierced my heart (and) hissweet image entered my soul.For a long time I have been staying(here) watching the road, standingat my house.My life clings to (my) dark beloved,(he is) a life-giving herb.Mira says I am sold into the hands ofGiridhar, but people say I am loose.