It's True I Went To The Market
My friend, I went to the market and bought the Dark One.
You claim by night, I claim by day.
Actually I was beating a drum all the time I was buying him.
You say I gave too much; I say too little.
Actually, I put him on a scale before I bought him.
What I paid was my social body, my town body, my family body, and all my inherited jewels.
Mirabai says: The Dark One is my husband now.
Be with me when I lie down; you promised me this in an earlier life.
[Translated by Robert Bly]
You claim by night, I claim by day.
Actually I was beating a drum all the time I was buying him.
You say I gave too much; I say too little.
Actually, I put him on a scale before I bought him.
What I paid was my social body, my town body, my family body, and all my inherited jewels.
Mirabai says: The Dark One is my husband now.
Be with me when I lie down; you promised me this in an earlier life.
[Translated by Robert Bly]
Mirabai
In this very interesting poem, Mira challenges the religious norms by using the language of business. She is a customer who buys Krishna, her god, her lover. What's more, she weighs him as she would vegetables or grain! And, of course, she has to pay quite a bit, including her body, to own him. In the final punch line, she is the one who makes him stick to his promise. Notice, throughout she asserts her agency. Her spiritual striving is not left to destiny.
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