Reading Notes: Indian Fables and Folklore Part B

Mirâ's Bridegroom

- There was once a king who was a devout Vaishnava (believer in shree Krishna, "humanity's first apostle)
- He had a daughter named Mirâ
- One evening she watched a marriage in the palace, and asked her dad what it was about
- He told her it was a dulâh (bridegroom)
- She thought it was the name of a toy and asked for one
- The king got her a marble baby Krishna and she loved it
- She would dress it up, offer it garlands sweets to as if it were a real dulâh

- As she grew up she became a devout worshipper of Krishna like her parents
- She would sing hymns composed by herself to her toy
- After a while, she became a composer of hymns
- When she was old enough her father proposed she marry Prince Kumbha, an astrologer
- When he came to meet Mirâ and her father, he said that Mirâ was already married
- The king was confused, and when he asked her about it, she took her toy out and said "yes this is him"
- Then sang a hymn:

My bridegroom has celestial renown
The peacock's rainbow plumage is his crown
The Shepherd, Krishna -  pledged to him above
I have, and I desire, no mortal love.


Bibliography:
Devi Shovona, "Indian Fables and Folklore"

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