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Meera, also known as Mira Bai,〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.britannica.com/biography/Mira-Bai )〕 was a 16th century Hindu mystic poet and devotee of Krishna. She is celebrated as a poet and has been claimed by the North Indian Hindu tradition of Bhakti saints.〔Karen Pechelis (2004), The Graceful Guru, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195145373, pages 21-23, 29-30〕〔Neeti Sadarangani (2004), Bhakti Poetry in Medieval India: Its Inception, Cultural Encounter and Impact, Sarup & Sons, ISBN 978-8176254366, pages 76-80〕 Meera was born in a royal family of Kurki district of Pali, Rajasthan, India. She is mentioned in Bhaktamal, confirming that she was widely known and a cherished figure in the Indian bhakti movement culture by about 1600 CE.〔Catherine Asher and Cynthia Talbot (2006), India before Europe, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0521809047, page 109〕 Most legends about Meera mention her fearless disregard for social and family conventions, her devotion to god Krishna, her treating Krishna as her lover and husband, and she being persecuted by her in-laws for her religious devotion.〔〔 She has been the subject of numerous folk tales and hagiographic legends, which are inconsistent or widely different in details.〔〔 Thousands of devotional poems in passionate praise of Lord Krishna are attributed to Meera in the Indian tradition, but just a few hundred are believed to be authentic by scholars, and the earliest written records suggest that except for two poems, most were written down only in the 18th century.〔John Stratton Hawley (2002), Asceticism (Editors: Vincent Wimbush, Richard Valantasi), Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195151381, pages 301-302〕 Many poems attributed to Meera were likely composed later by others who admired Meera. These poems are commonly known as ''bhajans'', and are popular across India.〔Edwin Bryant (2007), Krishna: A Sourcebook, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195148923, page 254〕 Hindu temples, such as in Chittorgarh fort, are dedicated to Mira Bai's memory.〔 Legends about Meera's life, of contested authenticity, have been the subject of movies, comic strips and other popular literature in modern times.〔Edwin Bryant (2007), Krishna: A Sourcebook, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195148923, page 242〕 ==Biography== Authentic records about Meera are not available, and scholars have attempted to establish Meera's biography from secondary literature that mention her, and wherein dates and other details are available.〔 These records suggest Meera was a Rajput princess〔''An Introduction to Hinduism'', Cambridge 1996, Page 144, by Gavin Flood〕 born in about 1500 (likely 1498)〔Usha Nilsson (1997), Mira bai, Sahitya Akademi, ISBN 978-8126004119, page 12〕 in Merta, Rajasthan in northwest India.〔David Kinsley (1997), Tradition and Modernity in Bhakti Movements (Editor: J Lele), Brill Academic, ISBN 978-9004063709, pages 88-89〕 Her father, Ratan Singh Rathore was the ruler of a small Rajput kingdom kurki, district-pali, rajasathan. her mother died when she was a baby, and she was the only child of her parents.〔 She was educated in music, religion, politics and government.〔 She grew up with her grandparents, who were devout worshippers of deity Vishnu.〔 Meera willingly married Bhoj Raj, the crown prince of Mewar, in 1516.〔Usha Nilsson (1997), Mira bai, Sahitya Akademi, ISBN 978-8126004119, pages 12-13〕〔Nancy Martin-Kershaw (2014), Faces of the Feminine in Ancient, Medieval, and Modern India (Editor: Mandakranta Bose), Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195352771, page 165〕 Her husband was wounded in one of the ongoing Hindu-Muslim wars of the Delhi Sultanate in 1518, and he died of battle wounds in 1521. Both her own father and her father-in-law were killed within a few years after her husband,〔 during a war with the Islamic army of Babur – the founder of Mughal Empire in Indian subcontinent.〔〔SR Bakshi (2002), Mirabai: Saints of India, Criterion, ISBN 978-8179380239, pages 42-45, 282-283〕 After the death of her father-in-law, Vikram Singh became the ruler of Mewar. According to a popular legend, her in-laws tried many times to execute her, such as sending Meera a glass of poison and telling her it was nectar or sending her a basket with a snake instead of flowers.〔〔 According to the hagiographic legends, she was not harmed in either case, with the snake miraculously becoming a Krishna idol (or a garland of flowers depending on the version).〔〔 In another version of these legends, she is asked by Vikram Singh to go drown herself, which she tries but she finds herself floating on water.〔Usha Nilsson (1997), Mira bai, Sahitya Akademi, ISBN 978-8126004119, pages 16-17〕 Yet another legend states that the Mughal emperor Akbar came with Tansen to visit Meera and presented a pearl necklace, but scholars doubt this ever happened because Tansen joined Akbar's court in 1562, 15 years after she died.〔 Similarly, some stories state that Raidas was her guru (teacher), but there is no corroborating historical evidence for this and the difference of over 100 years in the birth years for Raidas and Meera suggest this to be unlikely.〔 The three different oldest records known as of 2014 that mention Meera,〔These are Munhata Nainsi's Khyat from Jodhpur, Prem Ambodh from Amritsar and Nabhadas's Chappay from Varanasi; see: JS Hawley and GS Mann (2014), Culture and Circulation: Literature in Motion in Early Modern India (Editors: Thomas De Bruijn and Allison Busch), Brill Academic, ISBN 978-9004264472, pages 131-135〕 all from the 17th century and written within 150 years of Meera's death, neither mention anything about her childhood or circumstances of her marriage to Bhojraj, nor do they mention that the people who persecuted her were her in-laws or from some Rajput royal family.〔JS Hawley and GS Mann (2014), Culture and Circulation: Literature in Motion in Early Modern India (Editors: Thomas De Bruijn and Allison Busch), Brill Academic, ISBN 978-9004264472, pages 131-135〕 Nancy Martin-Kershaw states that to the extent Meera was challenged and persecuted, religious or social conventions were unlikely to have been the cause, rather the likely cause were political chaos and military conflicts between the Rajput kingdom and the Mughal Empire.〔Nancy Martin-Kershaw (2014), Faces of the Feminine in Ancient, Medieval, and Modern India (Editor: Mandakranta Bose), Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195352771, pages 162-178〕 Further, the diversity and inconsistencies in Meera's stories suggest that her biography was likely invented and molded by all sides, long after her death, for political goals through the medium of historical rewriting.〔Nancy Martin-Kershaw (2014), Faces of the Feminine in Ancient, Medieval, and Modern India (Editor: Mandakranta Bose), Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195352771, pages 168-169〕 Other stories state that Mira Bai left the kingdom of Mewar and went on pilgrimages. In her last years, Meera lived in Dwarka, Vrindavan, where legends state she miraculously disappeared by merging into an idol of Krishna in 1547.〔〔 While miracles are contested by scholars for the lack of historical evidence, it is widely acknowledged that Meera dedicated her life to Hindu deity Krishna, composing songs of devotion and was one of the most important poet-sant of the Bhakti movement period.〔〔〔John S Hawley (2005), Three Bhakti Voices: Mirabai, Surdas and Kabir in Their Times and Ours, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195670851, pages 128-130〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Meera」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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