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Poem of the Week - Love Has Stained by Mirabai

in Poetry Discussion

Here we are again with another poem pulled from the Poetry Foundation. Let's get into it:

Love Has Stained

by Mirabai

Love has stained my body

to the color of the One Who Holds Up Mountains.

When I dressed in the world's five fabrics,

I only played hide and seek— For disguised though I was, the Lifting One caught me. And seeing his beauty, I offered him all that I am. Friends, let those whose Beloved is absent write letters— Mine dwells in the heart, and neither enters nor leaves. Mira has given herself to her Lord Giridhara. Day or night, she serves only Him.

There's a lot of religious imagery/language here but on the whole, I'm not entirely certain what's happening. What do you think?

1 comment

Comments (1)

Shen Friebe

Mar 10, 2022

•

An intriguing choice, Rachel. I wonder what is going on too. I'm guessing it has to do with the very specific references made to certain religious figures. Initially, I thought this was going to be a love poem featuring religious metaphors and such. To me, the first line is reminiscent of the Shroud of Turin which allegedly has an imprint of Christ's face on it, like a stain. The next few lines solidified this theory of mine. I personally think it would have been best if the speaker went on to draw comparisons between their lover and a god or cult leader. It really does feel like the speaker is looking upon their lover as they would upon God's face: 'And seeing his beauty, I offered him all that I am.'

I have also been trying to decode this line but failing to get anywhere with it: 'Friends, let those whose Beloved is absent write letters'. Hmm, what do you think?

(post writing the above): A quick Google service confirmed my assumption that this poem is attributed to Hinduism, as are the symbols in the poem. Apparently, the Hindu God Krishna is also referred to as 'Giridhara':

'Why is Krishna called giridhari?

...On approaching the mountain, Sri Krishna lifted it with his little finger and gave refuge to all living beings in Braj under the mount. This holy act earned Sri Krishna the name Giridhar. Indra was humbled and people stopped worshipping Indra from the day.'

I guess that also explains the 'to the color of the One Who Holds Up Mountains.' line. So ultimately, this is a worship poem. Interesting indeed, and I love reading about other beliefs and cultures, although I can't help to think of the potentials of what this could have been.