Talk:Madhura Bhāva: Bhagavān as a Beloved

By Vishal Agarwal

In this form of Rāgānugā Bhakti, the Bhakta treats the Bhagavān as a beloved, dearly loved one, attributes all happiness and success to one’s beloved, and takes personal blame for any downfalls on one’s life. Madhura Bhāva is a very sweet emotion, full of inner happiness and joy, totally unselfish, and meant for the Bhagavān’s pleasure alone. The cowherd ladies (Gopī-s) of Vrindāvan in the Purāṇa-s are regarded as exemplars of Madhura Bhāva Bhakti. Some allege that their love with Krishna had undertones of physical love. But this allegation is baseless. The objection is not new, because it is referred to and refuted in the classical texts of Bhakti as well. In the Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, there is a brief discussion on whether the love of the Gopī-s for Krishna was based on baser instincts or whether it was the unselfish love of a devotee for the Bhagavān. Nārada asserts very firmly the following-

Examples do exist of perfect expression of Bhakti. Such indeed was the Bhakti of the Gopīs of Vraja. Even in their case, the allegation that they did not recognize the greatness of the Bhagavān does not hold good. Had they lacked the knowledge of the Divinity of Krishna, their love would have been similar to the base passion of a mistress for her paramour. In that case, the happiness of the mistress is not unselfish and her love is not motivated by considerations of the happiness of her paramour (whereas the love of the Gopī-s was selfless). Nārada Bhakti Sūtra 20-24

Stories elsewhere in this book give examples of their selfless, perfect love for Krishna. Looking at the textual descriptions of the dalliance of the Gopī-s with Krishna in the sacred texts, a modern scholar too concludes-

“It is abundantly clear to anyone who reads the full description of the Rāsa Dance with attention to context, that notwithstanding its erotic undertones, it was not intended to evoke carnal associations. It is intended, rather, as a protracted metaphor of the blissful and passionate love that ought to exist, as life’s goal, between the Supreme Being, named as Krishna, and described in intensely personal terms, and the ardent devotee…..As for the gopīs, whenever they are in danger of misconstruing their relationship with Krishna, of becoming selfishly possessive – and this happens on two occasions – he disappears from their midst. Krishna reappears when selfless yearning once again dominates their emotions. This cathartic disappearance of the selfless yearning once again dominates their emotions. The cathartic disappearance of the Beloved re-emphasizes the non-carnal nature of the mutual love that is intended.”

Madhura Bhāva can manifest in another way – seeing the Bhagavān as a beloved, endearing, sweet person, not necessarily a beloved. An example of this is the famous Madhurāshtakaṃ Stotra in which Sant Vallabhāchārya describes everything about Krishna as sweet like honey

A famous more recent example of a Bhakta who practiced this Bhāva is Sant Mīrābāī whose biography is summarized below.

Mīrābāī, the Andal of North India

Mīrābāī was born in the family of a political chief in the Indian state of Rajasthan. When she was a little girl, a saint named Ravidās is said to have given her a mūrti of Krishna which she adored and worshipped with her whole heart. One day, she was watching a marriage procession pass by her home, and asked her mother, “Who is my husband?” Her mother replied, “Your husband will be Krishna.” Mīrābāī took her mother’s words to heart.

When she grew older, she was married to Bhojarāja, the crown prince of the famous Hindu kingdom of Chittor. But, her in-laws were all worshippers of Devi whereas Mīrābāī spent her time worshipping Krishna. They did not like the fact that she would go out of the palace to worship in a Krishna Mandir and mingle with Sadhus and common people. However, her husband was understanding, and he got a small Krishna mandir constructed right within the palace. Mīrābāī now started inviting Bhaktas and Sadhus to her temple in the palace. Unfortunately for her, Bhojarāja died young, and his younger brother became the King of Chittor.

Mīrābāī’s problems now increased. She accepted Ravidās, a saint (who was a cobbler) as her Guru. This infuriated her royal in-laws, who thought that it was insulting to them that a Princess had a cobbler as a Guru. But Mīrābāī judged others not by how rich or what caste they were, but whether they had devotion for Bhagavān in their heart or not. She started spending her entire days in the Krishna Mandir, singing her Bhagavān beautiful bhajans to Krishna, and serving other Bhaktas of Krishna. Her fame spread far and wide, and it is believed that even Emperor Akbar (an enemy of the Ruler of Chittor) came in disguise to listen to her and pay his respects. Her brother-in-law was not amused at this turn of events.

He tried to kill her in numerous ways. First, he sent her a glass of milk in which some poison had been added, with the false information that it was the prasāda from Krishna Mandir. Miraculously, Mīrābāī was not affected by the poison as she drank the glass with faith in Krishna. Then, he had a cobra sent to her in a basket with the message that it was a garland for Krishna’s mūrti. And when she did open the basket, the snake had turned into a garland. Her in-laws tried many other ways to hurt her.

Finally, tired of their harassment, she left Chittor and went to the Braj region (encompassing Mathura and Vrindāvan towns) where Krishna had spent his childhood at the advice of Sant Tulsidas.

After spending some time there, she traveled to Dwaraka, where Krishna spent his adulthood, and spent most of her time at the Dwarakadheesh Mandir (at the site of Krishna’s old palace). Meanwhile, Chittor faced one problem after the other. Everyone blamed the royal family for inviting trouble by harassing a saint like Mīrābāī. Udaysingh had now become the new king of Chittor. He sent a group of respectable people to Dwaraka to persuade her to return to Chittor. But Mīrābāī had devoted her entire life to Krishna. When she met with the group, she asked them to wait outside the temple. As she entered the Mandir, she converted into a pillar of light that merged with the mūrti of Krishna, as everyone watched in wonder!

Mīrābāī wrote several beautiful bhajans in the languages of northern India. About 400 of them survive today and are sung with great devotion by Hindus to this day.