The Bhakti Movements 199Some take on the shape of an aged, wrinkled woman to show the
impossibility of any kind of sexual desire. The oldest known non-
Buddhist woman santis Avvaiyyar of the Sangam age in Tamil
Nadu. She and her brother Thiruvalluvar are both children of
a Brahman man and an untouchable woman; but where
Thiruvalluvar lives a householder’s life, Avvai is transformed into
an old woman to escape family life, and only then can she carry on
the life of a wandering teacher (Uma Chakravarty, in Kishwar
1989: 19–21).
As Parita Mukta tells the story, Mirabai was a Rajput princess
who left her home, rejected her husband and rebelled in the name
of Krishna against the chains and glories of Rajput tradition. She
proclaims ‘Giridhar’, Krishna as the holder of mountains, to be
her beloved, and renounces marriage relations with a high-caste
Rana in his name. But Mira is important for more than this: she
is renowned for accepting Ravidas (Rohidas, as his name is writ-
ten in the western areas) as her guru. This was another rebellion:
a high-caste woman taking a guru from among the Dalits.
Further, as Parita Mukta’s research has shown, Mira did not get
refuge among families of wealth and status after leaving her
princely home, but found a new community among the Dalits,
the weavers and other low-caste communities of Rajasthan and
nearby states. Here, Mukta argues, she forges a new bond
with the toiling people and finds a new life, companionship com-
pensating for poverty (Mukta 1997: 37–45). She makes a great
reversal, in which manual labour, even the kind of manual
labour considered ‘polluting’ by Brahmanic standards, becomes
revalued:Mira found a guru in Rohidas.
She bowed at his feet, and asked his blessings.
Refrain: Mira’s Mohan, come to the Mertni’s desh.
I have nothing to do with caste or other divisions.
Let the world do what it will,
I offer you my body, mind and soul.
Mira’s Mohan, come to the Mertni’s desh.
I skin animals and dye the skins.
My work is to dye.
This dyeing is dear to me, this dyeing is dear to me,
Dye my soul in it.
Mira’s Mohan, come to the Mertni’s desh.The second line, in most texts, is actually, jo niruvai so niravan
(Kabir 1986: 184). Not only does the Buddhist term here survive;
with Kabir, it comes near to surviving with something like its orig-
inal meaning: ‘whoever can settle it is liberated.’
Mirabai: This Dyeing is Dear to Me
My mother, I wed Giridhar in a dream.
Giridhar coloured me in red,
I wed Giridhar in a dream
In the circle of stars were garlands hung up
Within which sat Nandlal.
My mother, I wed Giridhar in a dream.
I wore the beloved’s chunri, the beloved was present.
I circled the fire four times with him.
Mira, who sang the glory of Giridhar, then said,
This dream is a false chimera.
My mother, I wed Giridhar in a dream (Mukta 1997: 121).^4Just as Kabir is linked to Ravidas, so is Mirabai (c. 1498–1546),
the most famous woman santin India. There are special features
about the life and songs of these women, reflecting the patriarchal
hold over the lives of women in India. Women are bound up with
the household in a different way than men, a fact that, as we have
already seen, was the major factor in the Buddha’s negative
response to their demands to join the Sangha. For those who were
not Buddhists or Jains, there was no Sangha to find refuge in. The
devotees of most bhakti movements were expected to carry on their
ordinary lives as householders while undertaking pilgrimages,
taking disciples, singing devotional songs, teaching the people. This
was problematic even for male devotees; for women it proved
almost impossible in the absence of a fully supportive household,
which was usually one of male bhaktas. In the absence of this they
were often forced to reject the household life. Thus we find women
santsrenouncing their families, often using the theme of their love
for the god as an excuse or substitute for the love for a husband.
198 Buddhism in India
(^4) All quotations from bhajansrecorded by Parita Mukta.