“I found my Guru”: Mirabai’s Neo-Feminist Approach to Enlightenment

Abstract

Mirabai as a figure in medieval Indian culture is trailblazing due to the poet's personal life choices which stood in opposition to her immediate society. Yet, her poetry and methodology as a mystic features hyperfeminine imagery that alludes to Indian classical femme from literature, myth, or folklore. This choice emerges contrary to her persona as the depiction of gender in classical literatures produced during archaic times feature non-antagonistic characters, and ideals that follow moral codes of conduct while exercising their righteousness. Even though these moral codes are inherently flawed and politically incorrect from the standards of contemporary times, their portrayal engender vibrant shades of celebration and acceptance in classical medieval literatures. This article examines the poet's choice to use the social construct (which is not intrinsic) to her advantage as a Bhakti poet, and achieve a neo-feminist enlightenment. Neo-feminism as an epistemology problematizes the assumed inferiority of feminine sensibility to masculine superiority, while also disregarding the characteristics of this sensibility which are designed to oppress women and serve patriarchy as a system. Despite neo-feminism as a movement is associated with Western feminism, this article aims to establish the Bhakti movement poet, Mirabai as a neo-feminist.
Keywords: Mirabai, Vaishnavism, Neo-feminism, Indian Knowledge System, Bhakti movement