As the lotus dies without water,
As the night is blind without the moon,
So is my heart without you, Beloved.
I wander alone at night,
Driven by my longing for you.
I hunger for you all the day,
I thirst for you all the night.
My grief is beyond words
My mind is beyond rest.
Come and end my grief, Beloved.
Come and bring joy to my heart.
You know my inmost secret;
Then look at me with eyes of love,
Your slave for countless lives
since the dawn of time.
So says Meera at your feet.
Meera was a Rajput princess in the sixteenth century. After her husband’s death his family so persecuted her for her devotional practices that she left the palace and wandered on pilgrimage. Wherever she went she joined other devotees in singing and dancing in praise of the Lord. Her songs have been passed down by wandering minstrels who altered them to suit their native dialects. It is a testimony to their beauty and to the current of devotion in Indian life that they are still widely known and sung today. These are free renderings into English by Eknath Easwaran.
