Gender Space in Bhakti Movement With Special Reference To Mirābāi

Pindus Journal of Culture, Literature, and ELT
ISSN: 2792 – 1883 | Volume 3 No. 10

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Gender Space in Bhakti Movement with Special Reference to Mirābāi
Alka Saharan
Ph.D, Assistant Professor, Miranda House University of Delhi, Delhi, India
MAIN ARTICLE
In the past decade analysis of social issues philosophically on the basis of aesthetics, medical
ethics, bio-ethics, values, arts, culture etc. have arisen tremendously. Diverse, analysis of these
pluralistic aspects have appeared. As a result movements and specially women movements arose
and developed as powerful tools of social change. Gender analysis of all issues of social, economic,
political and cultural relations are continuously emerging.
Dating back theses gender movements and tracing their roots, we find that certain social ills were
the cause of these movements. Practices that were established related to the female members of the
society are child marriage, sati practices, widows not allowed to marry, denying education and
other customary practices of society. The society was reformed by introducing certain acts with
regard to these practices such as abolishment of Sati, widow remarriage and education to females.
One of these movements is Bhakti Movement during the medieval era. Discussing the traditional
and historical issues of Bhakti movement is an important aspect of our social reforms since
medieval era. Bhakti tradition not only gave an impetus to faith and religion but also revitalized
this tradition of faith and religion. This faith and religion was not bound with rituals and practices
but with serving society with respect to god. Bhakti tradition did not confine itself faith in any one
god, religion or mode of expression. It includes faith in any god as the supreme entity, any
language as a medium of expression, any form of art like music etc. It set an example of religious
harmony uniting north to south and east to west, encompassing whole of India and the other parts
of the world. It questioned the ill practices prevalent at that time through their unique
representation.
Inspite of such liberal outlook, the Bhakti movement is said to be gender specific. “Patriarchal
structures and religious belief are not inert but subject to constant remaking- it appears that they
may even be interdependent and mutually generative” 1The journey of gendered space related to
women in Bhakti movement needs to be considered since beginning with the 8th century Tamil poet
Karraikal Ammaiyar, to whom the very first lyrics of the Nayanar movement is popularly
attributed. Bhakti movement occupied space from the palaces to the fields, temples and among the
common people. The women propounders of Bhakti movement spread through Alvars, and the
Nayanaras in Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Kashmir, Punjab and the Virasivas in Karnataka,
the Vrakars and the Manubhavas in Maharashtra.
Gender and space can be said to related in terms of „role determination.‟ The roles which are
particular and are gender biased. Men can do this…. Women can do only this and strictly cannot do
this, in everyday practices. While the male enjoyed the space, property resources, movement from
one place to another, the space of the females were reduced to physical - their houses and issues
related to it. They did not have access to land or other sources. The women had to maintain the
family norms and the societal norms. (Purdah Pratha, Veil, early marriage etc.) Which were
imposed by the society and family. Women needed permission of husbands or in-laws, to visit their
1
Sangari, Kumkum, „Mirābāi: The female voice and oral Compositions‟, Chattopadhyaya, D.P., (Gen ed.) Project of
History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization, ( New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2006) p. 229
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ISSN: 2792 – 1883 | Volume 3 No. 10
maternal house. She was not allowed to mix with men and speak up in front of men. Within such a
system the role of Bhakti movement played an important role in enlightening women‟s conditions
and their issues.
“The saint‟s life is a consensual and socially legitimate pattern, which inherently contradicts the
normative requirements of wifehood. Mirā‟s transgression of the norms for a good Rajput wife and
widow may have necessitated seeking protection in the alternative norms of sainthood. Or,
conversely, her life, may have been retrospectively fitted into the ideal- typical life of a saint
thus erasing all the signs of personal suffering, isolation, vulnerability, and daring in the life of
the women.”2In, this paper I analyse the role of Gender space in Bhakti movement with reference
to Mirābāi of Rajasthan. While considering the basic definitions of, what is Gender? What is
Space? What is Bhakti? And, how, the three arenas have mutually affected. How Mirābāi
belonging to the princely family occupied her space in Bhakti movement. The classification of
space with relevance to the situation, the challenges faced by her from the family and society, the
transformation from princess Mirābāi to a saint and her ways and means of devotion to god will be
discussed in the following lines.
GENDER
We define Gender in terms of dictionary meaning “the fact of being male or female” 3 The other
definition says “Gender refers to a socially constructed means of categorizing people, usually as
masculine or feminine, and assigning particular ideas and characteristics to those categorizations.
The term “gender” is often differentiated from the term “sex” which refers to biological categories
of male and female. It is important to note that many scholars argue that gender is fluid rather than
fixed and there is an unlimited spectrum of possible gender identities, of which masculine and
feminine are simply positions on a continuum.”4 This defines gender as social construction and
differentiates between sex and gender. “Gender roles refer to traditional prescriptions of how
women and men must act in society. Gendered space refers to physical or virtual space that is
associated with particular gender because of the activities that occur in the space.”5
The word Gender is used to differentiate grammatically the categories of, masculine, feminine and
neuter. This notion of gender in recent era undoubtedly means that when we are using the phrase
gender, then we are referring to the feminine notion.
Gender “may be seen from two perspectives either as a symbolic construction or as a social
relationship” 6 We define gender as social construction as well as in relative terms. “One is not born
but rather becomes a woman. No biological, physiological, or economic fate determines the figure
that the human being presents in society: it is civilization as a whole that produces this creative
indeterminate between male and eunuch which is described as feminine”7 Simone argued that
women are not born they are made to be women. She challenged biological, physiological
determinations and referred civilization as the only producer of these creativities.
2
Ibid., p. 231
3
Wehmeier, Sally, Oxford Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary of Current English, A.S. Hornby, (Oxford, Oxford
University Press, 2001) p.533
4
Gender. In Women‟s∕ Gender Studies Programs University Partnership: Iowa state University and Kharkiv
NationalUniversity.
Retrieved 18:21, September 14, 2007, from http:// Women's-Gender Studies Programs University Partnership Module
Gender and Leadership - Key Concepts.
5
Ibid. Retrieved 18:21, September 14, 2007, from http:// Women's-Gender Studies Programs University Partnership
Module Gender and Leadership - Key Concepts
6
Moore, H., Feminism and Anthropology, ( Cambridge, Polity Press, 1988) p.12
7
De, Beauvoir, S. The Second Sex, (Hermondsworth, Penguin Books, 1972), p.295
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SPACE
“The word, “space designates an empty or potentially empty expense among things- boundless
extension which is supposed by contains everything or everything of a certain sort.”8 It can be said
to be an area occupied by something to be existent in area varying shape, size occupied on land,
earth, outer space and something. This „something can be male, female, animals or objects or any
other things. Space has been interesting subject for all the arenas. It is described historically,
geographically, socially, philosophically. “Space is conceptualized as a void or an empty place,
although paradoxically, it is this that lends substance to material objects. Space is thought of as an
intangible, invisible backdrop, in spite of the fact that it is what enables the very definition of
material bodies… Inspite of this, space is pictured as nothing more than the unfilled gap or
intervening distance between objects.”9 The concept of space has been dealt from its basic notion of
describing as emptiness to the occupancy of the fullest. The concept cannot be described in a
monistic way. “One view of space is that it is part of the fundamental structure of the universe, a set
of dimensions in which objects are separated and located, have size and shape, and through which
they can move. A contrasting view is that space is part of fundamental abstract mathematical
conceptual framework ( together with time and number) within which we compare and quantify
the distance between objects, their sizes, their sizes shapes, and their speeds. Space is also defined
as a fundamental structure of the universe, the extents in which these objects are separated, located,
according to the size, shape, speeds. The meaning of space cannot be limited, as variable objects
are located through the substratum of the objects.
“According to Cornford the invention of space as a boundless, all encompassing container
happened in 5th century B.C.”10 That is from 5th century onwards the concept of space was known
and from then onwards it was diversely analyzed encompassing Newtonian notion of space to the
postmodernist notion of space. This notion can be debated from the Indian and western
philosophical perspectives that the notion of space in Indian philosophy was known much before
the 5th century B.C.
“Space, is spoken of as that which is open, or lacking solidity, immediately evoking a strong
association with emptiness. This maneuver suggests that space acquires meaning not in (and of)
itself, but only in oppositional relation to adjoining or constituting entities. A strikingly similar
disposition embodies gender. This is especially the case when the latter is conceptualized as a
quality or identity deriving its significance from a delineation against its opposite, as in observation
that to be female is not to be non-male.”11
Space, is also open, it lacks solidity, which immediately evokes a strong association with
emptiness. This means that space acquires meaning not in itself, but only in relation contrasting
others or adjoining or constituting entities. “Space is commonly understood as the more abstract
concept, having to do with social value, while place has to do with the experience of people” 12
Space is determined in terms of etymological meanings and differentiations. Greek terms “topos-
place, site, Choros- space, region and Chora- land, countryside are mentioned,”13are clearly
differentiated by Gilhuly and Worman. These show the determination of meaning of space in terms
8
Craig, Edward., Routledge Encyclopedia of philosophy, (London, Routledge, 1998), p. 59
9
Niranjana, Seemanthini, Gender and Space Feminity, Sexualization and the Female Body,( New Delhi, Sage
Publications, 2001) p.34
10
Craig, Edward, Encyclopaedia of Philosophy etc. p.
11
Niranjana, Seemanthini, Gender and Space Feminity, Sexualization and the Female Body, etc. p.15
12
Konstantinou, Ariadne., Female Mobility and Gendered Space in Ancient Greek Myth (London, Bloomsberry
Publishing, 2018) P. x
13
Gilhuly, K & Worman, N., eds., Space, Place and Landscape in the Ancient Greek Literature and Culture,
(Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2014) P.4
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of public and sociological connotations. Places are represented with social customs and spaces are
experiences. The major concern of space in philosophy is that is it a mere ontological entity or just
a concept around which all the other concepts centre around. This issue has been resolved in
Philosophy from Pythagoras to Immanuel Kant. Pythagoras identified space with air, Parmenides
denied empty space. Plato recognized mere empty space, limited by geometrical surface, Descartes
identified space with extension in contrast to this Leibnitz held a relational theory of space. He
denied space to be substance, but contended space to be a system of relations where individual
substance or monads stand by together. In contrast to this Kant resolves this problem of space by
describing space as, “Space inheres in our sensibility with absolute necessity, no matter of what
kind our sensations may be; Time can exist in varying modes. Even if we could bring our intuition
to the highest degree of clearness, we should not thereby come any nearer to the constitution of
objects in themselves. We should still know only our mode of intuition, that is, our sensibility. We
should, indeed, know it completely, but always only under the conditions of space and time-
conditions which are originally inherent in the subject. What the objects may be in themselves
would never become known to us even through the most enlightened knowledge of that
which is alone given us, namely, their appearance.”14 He elucidates two points, first, space and
time are only forms of sensibility, and everything apprehended is appearance. Second, that, this is
not a mere hypothesis but is completely certain. Through intuition we can represent only
appearances not things in themselves, and that the appearances thus known exist only in us. No
knowledge of things in themselves can be acquired either through the forms of space and time or
through sensation; space and time are determined solely by our pure sensibility, and sensations by
our empirical sensibility.
Kant designates, “space and time are quanta continua, because no part of them can be given same
as enclosed between limits (points or instants), and therefore only in such fashion that this part is
itself again a space or a time. Space therefore consists solely of spaces, time solely of times. Points
and instants are only limits, that is, mere positions which limit space and time”.15 Kant develops
continuity in reference to space and time.
Kant maintains that, “we must think of any space and time however small as a whole to be
constructed by the successive synthesis of parts. He also maintains that in any case of any spatial or
temporal intuition we must traverse the parts successively, if we are to make the intuition
determinate”.16 That is it must be determined by a measurement and so must be a determinate part
of the one space and time in which all objects are. When an object is perceived the appearance
given in intuition occupies a determinate space and time and can be measured exactly. The
Geographical space is defined in terms of land, location, its ownership, design building, structures
and in terms of human behavior. Historically space means the period during which the things
happened or an era of past, present and future. Social space is the space where we carry out all the
social activities, our relations.
Thus the concept of Space is multidimensional. It is historical, geographical, economical, social,
philosophical, political, Physical, Biological and even more than that.
In terms of occupancy we can describe philosophical space in terms of ontologically,
epistemologically, ethically, in terms of values, aesthetics.
14
Kant, Immanuel Critique of Pure Reason trans. by N.K. Smith., (London, Macmillan Pvt. Ltd., 2003)., A 43/ B60,
,pp.82-83
15
Ibid., A 170/B 212, p. 204.
16
Paton, H.J., Kant‟s Metaphysic of Experience, ( London, George Allen & Unwin Ltd. 1961), p.118.
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“Space and gender are better approached as sets of relationships between phenomena, groups or
persons, negotiated with within certain given frames of references.”17Gender and space constitute
the personnel in broader framework of certain references and hence they are called as a set of
relationships. A prominent similar temperament embodies gender. This is especially the case when
the term gender is conceptualized as a quality or identity deriving its significance from a
demarcation against its opposite, as we perceive the general observation or prevalent notion that to
be female is not to be non-male.
“… Creating a space for women becomes creating a space for the self, and experience becomes an
instrument for knowing the self.”18Gender space refers to the space that is associated with
particular gender because of the activities that occur in the space. Gender space may be categorized
as inclusive and exclusive space. Where gender is excluded and included, is role specific.
Exclusive space means where the role of gender is excluded and inclusive, where the gender role is
included. Broadly it can be divided into public sphere and private sphere
“The idea that women have a particular place is basis not only of the social organization of a whole
range of institutions from the family to the workplace, from shopping mall to political institutions,
but also is essential feature of western enlightenment thought, the structure and division of
knowledge and the subjects that might be studied within these divisions. Thus a list, like the
following, of binary distinctions which are gendered should be familiar.”19
The Masculine The Feminine
Public Private
Outside Inside
Work Home
Production Consumption
Independence Interdependence
Power Lack of Power
This table explains the exclusive and inclusive role of gender in terms of public and private sphere.
This is the general space where the particular genders are referred to act as a norm. Although, with
the awareness, rights and freedom to women there has been a slight change in the roles of feminine
notions in terms, of women empowerment, (more in urban and less in rural). The traditional norms
are still practiced and followed by the majority of the population and they are still deeply rooted in
the societal practices. That is women have to be inside home. Similar notions have been found in
ancient Greek practices. “Many Greek texts imply rigid social expectations regarding the behavior
of women…..Such stereotyping, whether it refers to all Athenian women or only to widows, not
only concerns women‟s passive conduct in matters of action, voice or gaze, but often also
encompasses their mobility. Respected women are expected to remain indoors.”20 Space
determination of Gender is a traditional phenomenon that needs to be altered with respect to
modern times. “In the Vedic texts, the primal principle of action or nature, Prakriti, is gendered
female, while, Purusha, or the consciousness that witnesses action while detached from it, is
gendered male. This gendering of primal principles is of course not coterminous with human males
and females, since each individual partakes of both Purusha and Prakriti…with the man being as
perceived as more inclined to spiritual knowledge and the woman as more inclined to earthly
17
Ibid., p.34
18
Strathern, M. An awkward relationship: The case of feminism and anthropology ( Signs, 1987) p.288
19
Mc. Dowell, Linda., Gender, Identity and place Understanding Feminist Geographies, (Cambridge Polity Press,
1999) p. 12
20
Konstantinou, Ariadne., Female Mobility and Gendered Space in Ancient Greek Myth etc. P. vi
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action.”21 In both the Indian and the western traditions we find similarities in determining the
actions and roles of women. Traditionally the roles are determined accordingly to the work
accomplished by men and women separately. The demarcations of actions, autonomous status of
women, man‟s superiority, attaining emancipation, single women, giving liberty and freedom to
women are constructed by the patriarchal system. This social process is duly constructed as to
subjugate the position of women and to control women. This sociological phenomenon is followed
and even practiced in the advanced level of the globalized world when there is more access to
knowledge, information, communication and technology. There has been a paradigm shift in the
status of women with the help of these technological advancements. We are becoming more aware
and have access to human rights, freedom and liberty. This has lead women to speak against
violations of rights, to distinguish moral claims of what is right and what is wrong for women, and
discuss these issues. The examples set by various women challenging against these determined
roles has motivated us to look back into the spaces created for their own in particular.
The space created by Mirābai, also known as Meera, Mira, in Bhakti movement is such example.
“What emerges, first, is that even if the prescriptions of the Smritis and Puranas did not survive
unequivocally as law, they were available as an ideology which shaped the customary domain and
self- description of Rajput ruling groups, and in this sense were part of their „past‟ which constituted
the historical moment in which Mirā is said to live. Second, in the breaking and remaking of
patriarchal relations, Mirā‟s Bhakti marks as well as belongs to the longer historical period in
which the perceptions of the smritis and puranas were selectively internalized, and the customary
nexus of religious practices was translated into metaphors and emotional structures. Even as her
Bhakti set out to escape, ignore, challenge certain social, religious and patriarchal institutions, its
moral legitimacy was partially obtained from some of these prescriptions into an eternal ethic.
Third, though Mirā‟s compositions are themselves ambivalently situated, there are significant
differences in her ideological location when compared to earlier and contemporary male
bhaktas.”22 This describes the whole of social atmosphere and patriarchal background in that era.
The Bhakti movement was ruled by Tulsidās, Kabir, Surdās, other saints of Sikhism etc. but only a
few women enjoyed this status, they were Mirābāi- Rajasthan, Andāl-Tamil Nadu, Mahādevi-
Karnataka.
BHAKTI
“The word Bhakti is derived from the root „bhaj‟ by the application of „ktin‟ suffix which expresses
an action, and means among other things service, devotion, attachment, loyalty, worship and
homage.”23 The basic definition of Bhakti posits that, it expresses an action through the means of
devotion, attachment, loyalty, worship and homage. For realization of god there are three paths of
jñāna, Bhakti and karma. The path of Jñāna is - knowledge, the path of Bhakti is devotion and the
path of karma is action. These three are mutually dependent, without knowledge and action we
cannot devote and without devotion and action we cannot have knowledge of supreme god.
“Bhakti is like vapour, while knowledge is like water. Just as vapour is produced from water and
yet is different from the latter because of its great strength that can move the biggest engine and
produce electricity. In the same way Bhakti is produced from same kind of knowledge due to the
heat generated by affection for the sun of the supreme and generates the electricity of lovable
21
Vanitha, Ruth., The Self Is Not Gendered: Sulabha‟s debate with King Janaka, NWSA Journal, Vol 15, Number 2,
summer 2003. The John Hopkins University Press. P.81
22
Sangari, Kumkum, „Mirābāi: The female voice and oral Compositions‟ in Chattopadhyaya, D.P., (Gen ed.) Project of
History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization, etc., p. 229
23
Ibid, p.8
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sentiments that kindles the light in the darkness of human hearts.”24 The best path out of these three
is said only after clear recognition. Traditionally Bhakti is widely accepted as supreme and is the
best path to realize god as stated in Gĩta, and by Ramanuja, Tulsidas, Sūrdas. Bhakti is the path
devoid of differences and conveys a strong notion of integration, feeling of unity which includes,
sincere, true dedication to the supreme belief, faith and selfless love towards supreme.
The Bhakti space constitutes the relation between devotee and the god. The power of worship is
reflected by the ways of Bhakti. One‟s submission to god is not forceful; it depends on the qualities
of the Bhakt. The gender of bhakt does not matter at all, what matters is the relation of god and the
form of worship. Spiritualness and divinity are beyond the limits of gender.
MIRĀBĀI AND GENDER SPACE
As explained above, for Mirābāi, the exclusive space was doing Bhakti with religious persons and
going to temples. She did not have any right to independence, power, etc due to patriarchal
practices and as a daughter- in –law of princely family. She challenged this and continued her
Bhakti. The exclusive space became inclusive space for her and the inclusive space as exclusive
space. So the Public and private space of Mirābāi, was restricted to Bhakti of Lord Krishna. She
was not attached to family, home, and other worldly affairs. “Married to King Bhoja, but accepted
Lord Krishna as her husband. She referred Krishna as pritam, piyā, sājan, saiyan, kant bālam, etc.
all of which means husband. Even in some of stanzas she described her marriage with Krishna.”25
She confined her space only to lord Krishna‟s.
The Historical space in the life of Mirā constitutes of the 15th century era, era of Patriarchal
assumptions of the medieval Rajput state. There are various controversies over her life sketch but
the most accepted years of her life are from 1498-1546. Her Geographical Space constitutes the
place she was located and having some ownership over land, property. At different phases of her
life she resided in various parts of Northern India.
Her life history can be sketched to four contrasting phases
Childhood and early life- She was Born in 1498, in Village Kudaiki, in the district Naguar of
Rajasthan to Ratan singh Rathore. He was the younger son of Rao Dudaji, the ruler of the
Kingdom. Being the ruler, he died while fighting in the battle. Her mother also died when Mirā was
seven years old. Her grandfather bought her up in the vaishnavite tradition. He imparted the
political, religious, music, art and administrative lessons. There are several stories associated with
her life. Nothing is written but traditionally it is said that when her parents were alive, she saw a
bridegroom procession. Her mother explained her about the procession and she asked who her
bridegroom was? Her mother replied that Lord Krishna is her husband. It is believed that these
words changed her life forever. From now one Lord Krishna was Mirā‟s husband. It is also
believed that a saint who visited her native place handed over an idol of Krishna and taught her how
to worship Krishna. Mirā is said to have followed the worship practice devotionally and ritually.
She served the idol as one serves her husband.
Life during marriage - She was married at the age of eighteen in 1516 to King Bhojaraj son of King
Sangram Singh in Mewar, Rajasthan. As per traditional she had to live in the Chittorgarh fort, with
her husband‟s family. Very soon she had her own ways and paths of worship in contradiction to her
husband‟s family customs. It is believed that her husband‟s family ancestral deity was goddess
Durga. She refused to worship her but insisted to worship Krishna as her deity.
24
Nature Of Bhakti p. 13
25
Chattopadhyaya, D.P., (Gen ed.) Project of History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization, etc.
p.69
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Life after Marriage- As per the rituals and tradition of their family the newly wed Mirā‟s positing
her ideologue regarding worshipping of her person deity was considered to be rebellious. A story
goes by that Bhojaraj closest relative informed him that Mirā is having a relationship with
somebody else as she has heard her talking to someone in the night. Alert Bhojaraj follows her and
intervenes to catch her, only to find out that Mirā was talking to the idol of her deity Krishna.
Bhojaraj tries to bring her back to lead a normal married women's life, but all his attempts fail.
Bhojaraj now understands his wife and gets a temple constructed for his wife in the fort premises
so that she can have easy access to worship her deity. A relationship between both of them is
constructed that was based on understanding, faith, appreciation and protection. Bhojaraj
appreciates her and protects her from all kind of criticisms. Being the King, Bhojaraj dies in a
battle in 1521. This is considered to be the turning point in Mirā's life, as she is left alone. Her
husband who was her friend, protector and guide was no more. She carves a space for herself being
all alone and willfully with strong bhakti to her idol. Mirā starts a unique way of representing her
love to the deity by singing songs for hours in the temple. People gathered in the temple to hear her
songs and see her dance. After her father -in-law‟s death, her devotion to lord in the form of dance
and song was highly disapproved by the ruling family members. They tried to kill her and locked
her up. These actions turned to be futile, so Mirā is sent to an exile. She travels to her maternal
home, there also her family members disapprove her acts of singing and dancing. So she travels to
Vrindavan, a place where her lord Krishna had spent his childhood and adulthood. She now serves
her lord without restrictions. She wholly devotes her time in singing, dancing, composing new
songs and discussing with fellow saints. She goes on to pilgrimages to the places that were
associated with Lord Krishna. Her popularity increases and her devotion is recognized by all
people. She has devotees who follows her wherever she goes. It is said that once in Vrindavan, she
tries to meet a vaishnavite Saint, who had restrictions for not meeting any female. Mirā passes him
the message that in Vrindavan only Krishna is Male (Purusha) and the rest are females (Prakrti)
The Saint accepts her reasoning and permits her to meet him. It is believed that she travelled to
Dwarka Gujarat and she dies there/ becomes one with God.
Status after death: several temples in India have been constructed after her death in various places.
The places that are associated with her mobility. They are Mirabai temple in Vrindavan,U.P,
Mirabai temple and museum in her hometown, Merta, Mirabai temple at Chittogarh Fort, Udaipur
and Pali, Rajasthan and Krishna Temple in Dwarka, Gujurat.
Seeing these four phases of her life, we see the strong devotion that is sort of regularly and
continuously practiced by Mirā. In local dialectics there is saying Bhakti ki Shakti, translated as
devotion has powers. Also that devotion is powerful, is the notion that was established by the
saints of mediaeval era. In these phases, Mirā‟s strong determination and will creates a path without
luxury. Belonging to the royal family, she inherits luxurious materials and wealth, that she shuns
without any hard beliefs and practices. She qualifies herself to be desirous enough for emancipating
her life for highest liberation, being one with God. Her material ownership was considered to be
mean in front of larger path of liberation. But for Mirābāi, there was no ownership of anything. The
Women during that period had no independent access to political power, although the material
benefits from women‟s maternal family was considered, which meant passing of all the material
wealth from dowry or other means through the women from one maternal house to the in- laws
house. She did not inherit any property either from any source.
She rebels the social space by refusing the set of relationships. Marriage, becoming a good wife,
mother, and obedient daughter -in –law was rejected by her. She rejects the social customs and
practices related to widowhood. She shuns the royal life, social customs and creates her own space
in the unique representation of Bhakti towards lord Krishna, in temples, with devotees and other
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male saints. Her personal form of this practice brings her into contradictions of the Rajput family,
community and the society at large. . Mirā‟s, “Bhakti refixes a feudal hierarchy even as it carves
out a space for personal deviation from the social order. The space created by and for exceptional
women is restricted space and can be made to ratify the rule for ordinary women.” 26 Her unique
way of devotion includes songs, dance, music and poems. She is considered as an poet,
philosopher, psychologists, spiritualist and feminist. “ As a women who dared to sing and speak
her mind in public, she becomes a catalyst for others to find their own voices, and as one who
embodies the authentic human and spiritual life, she calls others to be true to themselves and to be
the best they can be, facilitating psychological healing and spiritual and transformation. The
universal dimensions of her story and the emotions articulated in songs attributed to her allow for
different points of entry and identification, fueling a creative outpouring of narrative and
poetic abundance.”27 There was a constant attempt by her to prove her devotion to lord and carve a
path for other female members of the society. Her ways to transform the lives of all without gender
discrimination in contrast to the image of women to commit themselves to husband, family,
sacrifice and only to be identified as Virangana- the bravest is referred as an act of transformation.
Individual lives have no recognition, if they don‟t fit and adjust to the social norms.
Her poems represent the multitude of devotional sentiments about earth, sky, sea and their union
with individual and Lord. After 19th century she has become the most famous medium of cultural
representation across the globe. Many movies, Television serials and cultural performances on her
life by dance, drama and music have been showcased till now. Her poems have been translated by
scholars in their regional and Global languages. The vast literature that has sourced based on her
life and composition of songs are widely discussed both academically and practically.
Within Gender space, we encounter the notions of bounded and boundaries. The bounded are the
limitations and restrictions imposed by social practices on the females. The boundaries refer to
male dominances of spaces that are owned and controlled by male members of the society.
Restrictions in movement are to be perceived, remembered and practiced. House hold spaces,
public spaces, private spaces, intellectual spaces and ideological spaces restrict and specify the
movement of females. Another dimension of movement, mobility becomes associated with gender
space. “Meanings, given to mobility inside the human body-meanings with highly gendered
connotations-are being translated into the politics of the space race. Mobility, here at least, means
masculinity.”28 Mobility is an activity that relates to the transfer of oneself from one place to
another or changes of one position to another. Social scientist describe various types of mobility on
the basis of social structure, profession, upward, downward, inter-generational, intra-
generational, horizontal, vertical and territorial. Philosophical mobility means changes in the stages
of mind and body, thoughts, customs, cultural practices, time, space, behaviors and ethics. Mirā
had geographical. sociological and philosophical mobility. In philosophical discourse with the
intensity of devotion, spiritual mobility is considered to be pure and mystic. Mirā, owned the
spiritual mobility that acquired her a supreme position of a devotee. She had mastered the ultimate
levels of consciousness towards the spiritual path to attain oneness with lord Krishna through her
devotion.
The philosophical space constitutes the ideology and epistemological, ontological, ethical
consideration of issues, by one. Mirā belongs to the cult of Krishnaite poets, who believed in a
26
Sangari, Kumkum, „Mirābāi: The female voice and oral Compositions‟ in Chattopadhyaya, D.P., (Gen ed.) Project of
History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization, etc p. 244
27
Martin, M., Nancy., Mirabai comes to America: The Translation and Transformation of a Saint.The journal of Hindu
Studies, Volume 3, Issue 1, April 2010 P 31.
28
Cresswell, Tim., On the Move Mobility in the Modern Western World ( New York, Routledge, 2206) P.9
ISSN: 2792 – 1883 | Volume 3 No. 10
formless, transcendental god. She loved Krishna in the form of her husband and sang songs for the
reunion. She wanted herself to be liberated by seeking union with Krishna. Hence her form of
Bhakti is considered to be as nirguna, in asserting the identity of the individual soul with god. She
raised a mass consciousness by her bhakti towards lord Krishna. She became a guiding spiritual
force for women of all centuries to attain oneness through devotion with the supreme entity.
The locus of gender, male and female, is the self. The self is the collective part of the social,
economic, political, philosophical realm and it fills this space of the listener, singer, devotee and
god. “The body is gendered but the Atman (Universal Self/Spirit) is not gendered… The Atman is
one and the same in all beings, regardless of body‟s gender.”29 By doing bhakti when an individual
attains the metaphysical, epistemological and moral realm, then the gender distinction vanishes. A
female has all the powers that she can attain what the male can attain- the spirituality, the divinity.
“The Atman animates both women and men, women are capable of pursuing the same paths as
men.”30
Mirābāi‟s contribution to Bhakti movement was through her poems, bhajans and music which can
be a further research topic. “Mirā‟s bhakti defines itself against the birth determined, quasi
mythological bardic time celebrated in Rajput courts; second against the preordained time of karma
which sets out to explain the origin and inevitability, of social inequality; and third within the
combined time of a meaningful changeable present and the elongated span of rebirth.”31 She went
against all the traditional notions of birth, fruits of karma of previous birth, prevalent in the
patriarchal princely states, etc. and continued her bhakti. “The space created for women by Mirā
was confined to space for „spiritual mobility‟ which could function autonomously at the level of
consciousness and salvation. The chiefs and chieftains, princess and queens who became bhaktas of
Mirā or imitiated her in composing bhakti songs, did not challenge or abdicate royal status.
Another institutional mode of appropriation, which falls outside the comforting parameters of oral
transmutation and literary convention, absorbed Mirābāi into the „charity‟ of the Rajput state.”32
Mirā‟s contribution to the gender space in bhakti movement was indeed a reformation for the
individual, women, for the society, for the place and the bhakti ideology prevalent at that time. Her
followers did not face the strong opposition and contradiction by the society instead they were
helped by the state and the charitable organizations.
CONCLUSION
The major question for concern is that, whether space can be constructed or destructed. As
discussed above space is always constructed individually to socially and socially to individually,
since it provides freedom to explore, expansion to live in that space and construct it accordingly.
Only the use of this space is destructive, as it is the case with the fanatics and other misuses in
terms of faith and beliefs, as it is being observed day by day in the socio- economic, politics and
cultural arenas. People constructing spaces and utilizing space are larger in number than the people
destructing space.
In the phases of post 9/ 11, terrorist attacks, Nuclear wars, violation of human rights, distress,
catastrophe, there is increased and urgent need of enlightenment. This enlightenment is provided
by Bhakti which gives powerful notion of unity, integration, faith, sacrifice, and love for the
betterment of society. We need all these important ideals of Bhakti for enlightenment. This begins
with the individual, gender progressing in the personal life that is private space. The individual
29
Vanitha, Ruth., The Self Is Not Gendered: Sulabha‟s debate with King Janaka, etc.P.88
30
Ibid P. 88
31
Ibid p. 251
32
Ibid., p. 252
ISSN: 2792 – 1883 | Volume 3 No. 10
acting in the public space with a sense of inclusion of all persons as one and equal is the core
exercise of Bhakti movement. They try to integrate humanity and bring unity and social cohesion in
the social space through songs and music to attains spiritual progression.
In this background gender space does play a major role which was played by Mirābāi in the 15th
century. Today the practices of everyday life may differ we can analyse the space occupied by
gender at the public sphere (economical, political, social, philosophical) and private sphere
(veiling, house hold works, violence).
We say that gender and spaces are mutually constructed. Nature also does not deny this space. This
space is inherited and it is a right. We need to have a powerful, timely understanding on gender
space. So that human and natural resources can utilize this space maximally through the bhaktian
notion of devotion, sacrifice, unity and integration.

Gender Space in Bhakti Movement With Special Reference To Mirābāi

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Pindus Journal of Culture, Literature, and ELT

ISSN: 2792 – 1883 | Volume 3 No. 10

Gender Space in Bhakti Movement with Special Reference to Mirābāi

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