SOURCE: Nilsson, Usha S. “Mira Bai's Poems.” In Mira Bai, pp. 29-36. New Delhi, India: Sahitya Akademi, 1969.

In the following chapter from a treatise on Mirabai's life, legend, and poetry, the author categorizes Mirabai's padas (sung poetry) into poems of entreaty and salutation and poems of love. The author provides a close reading of several padas.

The poems of Mira Bai do not cover a wide range of subjects. They are strictly a form of self-expression, completely dedicated to Krishna. It is difficult to gauge from her poetry that she had lived in a time of political upheavals, and internal intrigues. She did not use her poetry to criticize religious rituals like Kabir, nor did she present a highly idealized portrait of her deity like Tulsi Das. She regarded herself first and foremost a devotee completely absorbed in Krishna. That is why she sang of him, not of...