Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Yoga / Hindu : Vaishnava (Krishna/Rama) 16th Century	About Mirabai Timeline (1498 - 1565?)
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English version by Robert Bly	O I saw witchcraft tonight
Commentary by Ivan M. Granger Themes   Fire   Heart         Recommended Books The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry, by Stephen Mitchell For Love of the Dark One: Songs of Mirabai, Translated by Andrew Schelling Holy Fire: Nine Visionary Poets and the Quest for Enlightenment, Edited by Daniel Halpern Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West, Translated by Daniel Ladinsky Mirabai: Ecstatic Poems, Translated by Robert Bly More >>	O I saw witchcraft tonight in the region of Braj. A milking girl going her rounds, a pot on her head, came face to face with the Dark One. My friend, she is babbling, can no longer say “buttermilk.” -- Come get the Dark One, the Dark One! A pot full of Shyam! -- In the overgrown lanes of Vrindavan forest the Enchanter of Hearts fixed his eye on this girl, then departed. Mira's lord is hot, lovely and raven -- tonight she saw witchcraft at Braj.
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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

The "Dark One" referred to in Mirabai's poetry is Krishna, whose name can be loosely translated as the dark one.

In this poem, milk is the ambrosial drink, the sweet subtle liquid-like substance often perceived during states of sacred ecstasy.

For a woman mystic who worships a masculine form of the Divine, to refer to milk also has a connotation of heavenly semen -- the result of ecstatic union between lover and Beloved.

Mirabai herself is the "milking girl going her rounds." She is the mystic gathering the blissful substance of divine union, traveling town to town as a mendicant sadvi (female ascetic), with her awareness making the pilgrimage through the psycho-spiritual centers of the spiritual body.

The milk pot is "on her head" -- a reference to the skull as the bowl that catches the fountain of the rising Kundalini Shakti and the descending heavenly liquid.

When the ecstasy of spiritual union is strong, it is sometimes associated with an outpouring of words -- one more reason so many mystics become "babbling" poets.

Her skull, the "pot," is full of Shyam -- Krishna, God -- and from this overflowing cup of divine milk, she is eager to share with all.

Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2008 by Ivan M. Granger.
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