OF THE HINDUS. 99 



proof at least of her popularity : as the author of sacred poems addressed to the 

 deity, as Vishnu, she also enjoys a classical celebrity, and some of her odes are 

 to be found in the collections which constitute the ritual of the deistical sects, 

 especially those of Ndnak and Kalir : according to the authority cited, she 

 flourished in the time of Akhar, who was induced, by her reputation, to pay 

 her a visit, accompanied by the famous musician Tan Sen, and it is said, that 

 they both acknowledged the justice of her claim to celebrity. 



MiRA was the daughter of a petty Raja, the sovereign of a place called 

 Mertd ; she was married to the Ri?ia of Udayapur, but soon after being taken 

 home by him, quarrelled with her mother-in-law, a worshipper of Devi, res- 

 pecting compliance with the family adoration of that goddess, and was, in 

 consequence of her persevering refusal to desert the worship of Krishna, ex- 

 pelled the Rana's bed and palace : she appears to have been treated, how- 

 ever, with consideration, and to have been allowed an independant establish- 

 ment, owing, probably, rather to the respect paid to her abilities, than a notion 

 of her personal sanctity, although the latter was attested, if we may believe 

 our guide, by her drinking unhesitatingly a' draught of poison presented to 

 her by her husband, and without its having the power to do her harm. In her 

 uncontrouled station, she adopted the worship of Ranach'hor, a form of the 

 youthful Krishna ; she became the patroness of the vagrant Vaishnavas, and 

 visited, in pilgrimage, Bindraban and Dwdrakd : whilst at the latter, some 

 persecution of the Vaishiwvas, at Udayapur, appears to have been instituted, 

 and Brahmans were sent to bring her home from Dwdrakd : previously to de- 

 parting, she visited the temple of her tutelary deity, to take leave of him, 

 when, on the completion of her adorations, the image opened, and MirX leap- 

 ing into the fissure, it closed, and she finally disappeared. In memory of this 

 miracle it is said, that the image of Mf rX. Bai is worshipped at Udayapur^ in 

 conjunction with that of Ranach'hor, The Padas that induced this marvel, 

 and which are current as the compositions of Mira Bai, are the two following: 



