Wien09 5 Women Saint Poets

8/8/2019 Wien09 5 Women Saint Poets

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Women Saint Poets


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Women Bhakti Saint Poets

They combined their rendition with singing and dancing.

Women writers like Ghosha, Lopamudra, Gargi, Maitreyi,Apala, Romasha Brahmavadini, etc., right from the daysof the Vedas focused on the image of women in

mainstream Sanskrit literature.

Songs of Buddhist nuns (6th century B.C.) like Mutta andUbbiri and Mettika in Pali express the torment of feelingsfor the life left behind.

Other notable women saint poets (8th c AD to 17th c AD):

Akka Mahadevi , Avaiyar, Dasimaya, Andal, Bahinabai,Muktabai, Sati Toral-Jesal, Gangasati, Sahjo Dasi,Meerabai and Lal Ded.


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Mirabai /Meerabai (c.1498-aft.1550)

She was born in Rajasthanto a Rajput noble family, and

was married in about 1516 to

the heir-apparent of the

ruler of Mewar.

Herhusband died before hecould attain the throne,

and he left no heir. She was a great devotee of

Lord Krishna.


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She was a disciple of a low caste Guru, Ravidas

Her in laws did not approve ofher piety and devotion to

Krishna. She held spiritual discussions with all including men: Not

liked by her in laws.

In the face of all trials and tribulations, she remaineddetached from her physical suffering

Afterherhusbands death, she left home and became awandering minstrel, singing and dancing in praise of the

Almighty.

Miras fame spread far and wide. Her devotional verses(bhajans) were sung across northern India.

Disguised as a beggar and accompanied by thelegenedary musician Tansen, Mughul Emperor Akbar,came to hearher music and see her devotional dance.


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Even learned sadhus would come to her for inspiration.

Once one respected spiritual master refused to speak toMirabai because she was a woman.

Mirabai replied there was only one real man inVrindavan, Krishna; everyone else was a gopi ofKrishna.

On hearing this the spiritual teacher accepted thewisdom of Mirabai and agreed to talk to her.

Social restrictions:

Women of royal family disciple of a low caste Guru?

Could she hold discussions with men?

Could she perform in public?


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Andal orAandaal is a 10thcentury Tamil saint and one of thetwelve Alvar (saints) and the onlywoman Alvar of Vaishnavism.

As Aandaal blossomed into afifteen-year-old beautiful young

woman of marriageable age (girlswere married at a much youngerage in those days), her fatherprepared to get her married to asuitable groom.

Aandaal, however, was stubbornand insisted that she would marryonly the Lord at Srirangam.


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Legend says that she merged with the Lord atSrirangam.

Aandaal composed two works in her short life of fifteenyears.

Thiruppavai is a collection of thirty verses in whichAandaal imagines herself to be a Gopi or cowherd girlyearning to serve Him.

The second is the NachiarTirumozhi, a poem with 143verses.

Conservative Vaishnavite institutions do not encouragethe propagation of NachiarTirumozhi because NachiarTirumozhi belongs to the genre of erotic spirituality.


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Avvaiyar orAuvaiyarwas the name of more than onepoet who was active during different periods ofTamilliterature. (Earliest is from 2nd c AD approx).

Abithana Chintamani states that there were three femalepoets in the name of Auvaiyar.

Most popular is AvvaiyarII approx 13th c AD duringthe rule of the Cholas.

She is often imagined as an old but intelligent lady.

She travelled from one part of the country to another andfrom one village to another, sharing the gruel of the poorfarmers and composing songs for their enjoyment.

She wrote most ofher songs on the small time chieftainVallal Athiyamaan Nedumaan Anji and his family.

The rest ofher songs related to the various aspects ofstate governance.


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Akka Mahadevi prominent Vira Shaiva woman saint poetin 12th c AD Karnataka.

Not much is known about her early life, nor did she live long.

She is said to have accepted the god Shiva ('ChennaMallikarjuna') as her mystical husband (similar to howcenturies later Meera, a 16th century saint from Rajasthan,

considered herself married to Krishna). Legends tell ofher wandering naked in search ofher Divine

Lover; her poetry, orvacanas tell ofher frustration withsocietal norms and roles that restricted her.

She is a prominent figure in the field of femaleemancipation.

She took part in many gatherings of learned at theAnubhavamantapa in Kudala Sangama to debate aboutphilosophy and attainment of spiritualism.


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A true ascetic, Mahadevi is said to have refusedto wear any clothing -- a common practiceamong male ascetics, but shocking for a

woman.

Legend has it that due to her true love anddevotion with God her whole body wasprotected by hair.

One ofher famous verses (vachana) has areason for this also which translates as

People - male and female,blush when a cloth covering their shame comes loose

When the lord of lives lives drowned without a face

in the world, how can you be modest?

When all the world is the eye of the lord,looking everywhere, what can you cover and conceal?


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Janabai was born around the 13th century in

Maharashtra in a low-castesudra

family. As a young girl she was sent to work in the

upper-caste family of Namdev, one of the most

revered of the bhakti poet saints.

While within this household, she continued toserve Namdev, both as a servant and as his

devotee.

Janabai wrote over three hundred poems

focusing on domestic chores and the restrictionsfacing her as a low-caste woman.


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Lalleshwari (1320 1392) alsoknown as Lalla orLal Ded:

She married at age twelve, but hermarriage was unhappy.

She left home at twenty-four to takesanyas (renunciation) and becomea disciple of the Shaivite GuruSiddha Srikantha (Sed Bayu).

She continued the Mystic traditionof Shaivism in Kashmir.


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She was a child bride, married at the age of twelve.

After moving into herhusband's family home, she wasabused by her mother-in-law and ignored by herhusband.

After enduring this mistreatment for several years, sheeventually escaped to take sanyas (initiation into theworld of renunciates) in the Shaivite tradition.

Lal Ded became a sadvi, a wandering ascetic, singing ofher bliss and love for the Divine.

Many legends and stories remain about Lalla.


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One in particular tells ofhow Lalla, who ignored thenormal convention of dress, choosing to wander aroundnaked, was teased by several children.

A nearby cloth merchant scolded the children for theirdisrespect.

Lalla asked the merchant for two lengths of cloth, equalin weight.

That day as she walked around naked, she wore a pieceof cloth over each shoulder, and as she met with respector scorn, she tied a knot in one or another.

In the evening, she brought the cloth back to the

merchant, and asked him to weigh them again.

The cloths were equal in weight, no matterhow manyknots were in each.

Respect and scorn have no weight of their own.


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Dasimayya (10th Century)

Suppose you cut a tall bamboo in two;

make the bottom piece a woman, the

headpiece a man;

Rub them together till they kindle

Tell me now, the fire that's born,

is it male or female?


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Bahinabai (1628-1700 AD) orBahina orBahini is a female-saint

from Maharashtra.

She reports being subjected toverbal and physical abuse by her

husband, who despised herspiritual inclination but who finallyaccepted her chosen path ofdevotion (Bhakti).

Unlike most female-saints whonever married or renounced theirmarried life for God, Bahinabairemained married her entire life.


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She, the wife and daughter of priests committedto upholding the ancient rituals, wished to

become a bhakta who chooses pure devotionover ritual.

Bahinabai pronounced Tukaram as her guru.

In her visions, Tukaram initiated her into the pathof Bhakti (devotion) and instructed her to recitethe name of Vithoba.

Although a member of the highest (brahmin)caste, she wished to become a follower ofTukaram, of the lowest (shudra) caste;


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Bahinabai's husband dissuaded her by saying that shebeing of a Brahmin, should not listen to the lower caste

Shudra Tukaram.

Knowledge of the holy scriptures like Vedas and sacredmantras, by the male-dominated brahmin society.Bahinabai sings in her abhanga:

The Vedas cry aloud, the Puranas shout"No good may come to woman."I was born with a woman's bodyHow am I to attain Truth?"They are foolish, seductive and deceptive -

Any connection with a woman is disastrous."

Bahina says, "If a woman's body is so harmful,How in this world will I reachTruth?"


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Summary:

Given their belief in the centrality of personal devotion,

women poet-saints were highly critical of ritual observancesas maintained and fostered by the Brahmin priesthood.

They had to struggle for acceptance within the largely maledominated movement.

Barring a few such as Meerabai and Bahinabai, many poet-saints were themselves of lower caste lineages.

Their critique included the caste system that supported thetraditional religious hierarchy, with Brahmins at the head ofthis hierarchy.

They faced overwhelming challenges through theirrejection of societal norms and values, without having theability to revert back to their normative roles as wives,mothers and in some cases, the privileges of their originalhigh-caste status.

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