Ek Radha, Ek Meera - The Eternal Valentines

(Pic credit - Pinterest/Nidhi Rathore's pin)

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone – and love, always!

In my second novel, The Tainted Communion, Rudraaksh engraves a wooden plaque for Meera with a couplet from Sant Kabir:

 Akath Kahani Prem Ki, Kuch Kahi Na Jaye 

Goonge Keri Sarkara, Baithe Muskaaye

For eons, poets and musicians have indulged in myriad expressions of love. Yet, Sant Kabir chose ‘a mute man eating sweets’ to represent this intangible feeling that cannot really be put into words. It’s the metaphor that appealed to me the most too. Because, as they say - Maano to Bhagwaan, na Maano to Pashaan – so, is love. Its only definition and comparison is to itself, that applies to and is felt by the one who experiences it. So as people differ, the definition and comparison differ and the experience differs too. 

Ravindra Jain’s masterpiece - Ek Radha, Ek Meera – from Raj Kapoor’s last directorial venture, Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985), captures this subjectivity beautifully. Much like the juxtaposition of a myth with present-day realities in the film’s theme, the song pits Radha (Krishna’s mythical consort) against Meera (the 16^th-century mystical poet-saint-devotee of Krishna from Rajasthan). Leaving that dichotomy aside, let’s focus on the symbolism, on this Valentine’s Day, to understand love a little differently.

एक राधा एक मीरा, दोनों ने श्याम को चाहा

अंतर क्या दोनों की चाह में बोलो

एक प्रेम दीवानी एक दरस दीवानी

 There is a Radha, and there is a Meera; both desired Krishna

Can you differentiate between their desires?

One longs for His love, one longs for the sight of Him

To each his own. Radha is emblematic of love (prem) and Meera of devotion (bhakti). In a restricted context, the former symbolises an equal relationship between two entities; the latter, the aspiring of an inferior towards something superior. One passion, the other surrender. Will it then be fair to say that Radha’s love was devoid of devotion and Meera’s devotion devoid of love? No, because love and devotion are different stages of the same emotion. At best, one paves way for the other and both lead to the same goal – Krishna. This is the jivatma aspiring for the paramatma – in its own unique way.

राधा ने मधुबन में ढूँढा, मीरा ने मन में पाया

राधा जिसे खो बैठी वो गोविन्द मीरा हाथ बिक आया

एक मुरली एक पायल, एक पगली एक घायल

अंतर क्या दोनों की प्रीत में बोलो

एक सूरत लुभानी एक मूरत लुभानी

एक प्रेम दीवानी एक दरस दीवानी

Radha searched for Him in Madhuban, Meera discovered Him in her heart

The one Radha loses, loses Himself to Meera

One is the flute on his lips, the other his anklet

One has lost her mind in love, the other is wounded

Can you differentiate between their affection?

One is smitten by the beauty of his face, one is smitten by the beauty of his idol

One longs for His love, one longs for the sight of Him

Radha, Krishna’s childhood sweetheart, was His companion in rasa lila in the groves and bowers of Madhuban. Every time He played His flute, she lost sense of time, space, and self, and ran to Him. Quite like Shiv (Supreme Consciousness) and Shakti (Power) or Purush-Prakriti, Radha (Lakshmi) is inseparable and indistinguishable from Krishna (Vishnu) and vice-versa. Yet, she lets him go to Mathura, never to see him again, and lives out her human avatar as someone else’s wife. She loses her beloved, as the world perceives it, but only she knows the ultimate truth. This is her source of strength that keeps her devoted to and one with Krishna spiritually despite the physical separation - Atma Tu Radhika Tasya (Radha, you are His soul).

Meera is married to a Rajput crown prince, but considers Krishna as her husband. She practices severe austerities, flouts all social conventions, writes and sings passionate songs of devotion, but remains steadfast on her path until the very end. To the world, she gains nothing tangible, rather loses everything. But so strong is her knowledge of the truth that nothing can veer her off course.

Both Radha and Meera are tormented by viraha or pangs of separation but it’s a pain they rejoice in equally. They are equally constant in their attachment that cannot be defined or understood in worldly or material terms. Ultimately, Krishna is equally accessible to both.

(Pic credit: Pinterest/Pin by Amita, saved to Krishna paintings)

मीरा के प्रभु गिरिधर नागर, राधा के मनमोहन

राधा नित श्रृंगार करे, और मीरा बन गयी जोगन

एक रानी एक दासी, दोनों हरि प्रेम की प्यासी

अंतर क्या दोनों की तृप्ति में बोलो

एक जीत न मानी एक हार न मानी

एक प्रेम दीवानी एक दरस दीवानी

He is Meera’s Giridhar Nagar, and Radha’s Manmohan

Radha adorns herself with ornaments while Meera relinquishes all and becomes a hermitess

One is His queen, the other His minion; both thirst for Hari’s love

Can you differentiate between their satiation?

One does not accept victory; the other does not accept defeat

One longs for His love, one longs for the sight of Him

This is my favourite part of the song! Despite the stark differentiation, here, Meera and Radha exchange places. If one looks deep, one realises that this verse applies to both the women.

Meera worships Krishna as Giridhar Nagar – the one who lifted the mountain (symbolising steadfastness of truth/faith against challenges). To Radha, He is Manmohan – the one who pleases or enchants the heart. Challenge and enchantment are interwoven in the myth of Radha as well as the history of Meera.

Radha is a milkmaid, but being the source of Krishna’s rasa (his pleasure potency), she does everything that pleases Him and becomes the queen of His heart. She is not only devoted to Him but is also the object of His devotion. Despite this, she does not accept her victory. She lets him go. According to a legend, years later, when Krishna falls sick and the only prescribed cure is the smearing of the dust of somebody's feet on His forehead, it is Radha who comes forth, thereby sacrificing years of tapasya and her chance of attaining moksha and trapping herself in the karmic cycle. It is not an easy choice, but to the true lover, it comes easily. By losing, she wins.

Meera is factually a queen, but she surrenders everything, including her self, to please Krishna. She gives up her royal privileges and luxuries, defies social norms, challenges Rajput patriarchy, escapes assassination attempts, and asserts her right to worship and live for Krishna. Despite all the challenges, she does not accept defeat. Her choices are no less difficult but she makes them easily. In her striving to win Krishna, she loses all.

Hence, the lover and the devotee are equally enamoured of the beloved but they attain Him in their own different ways. One’s adornment is as appealing to God as the other’s asceticism because He does not distinguish between the paths, only the sanctity and intensity of feeling – and there is no distinction there between Radha and Meera – prem and bhakti.

(Pic credit: Pinterest/Pin by ModAine SPIRITisTree)

Devotion is the principal way to love God (or anything else); and without true love, true devotion is not possible. When Meera (according to legends) merges with Krishna’s idol she dissolves into Radha too who is already a part of Krishna. Bhakti and prem become interchangeable.

Krishna, Radha and Meera – the worshipped/loved and the worshipper/lover, and the act of worshipping/loving itself - are therefore one and the same. It’s an example we can all learn from today. As Sant Kabir says in another couplet,

योगी जंगम जीवड़ा  सनियासी दरवेश |

बिना प्रेम  पहुँचे नहीं दुरलभ सतिगुरु देश |

No yogi, living being, ascetic, or mendicant (sufi) has ever reached God’s unattainable abode without love. And such love demands complete surrender of body, mind, and self (ego) – in other words, it demands true devotion. This is the path of Radha, and the path of Meera.

In our lives too, whatever it is that we aspire for – a person, an ideal, a thing, a goal, and even God – this is the only path to attain it.

So, which do you think is greater, love or devotion or an indefinable mix of both? Do let us know in the comments section. And as always, do like, share, follow and subscribe to leftrightthodasacenter.blogspot.com