Literature

Mirabai was a little late to the Bhakti movement but embraced it so fiercely and with si much devotion that her name and her poems continue to awe people even today. Mirabai, who had devoted herself to Lord Krishna from an early age, struggled for many years to be an ardent devotee to her favourite god. Her battle against society has eventual life as a wandering poet is an example of resilience and quiet strength.

Historical records don’t reveal much about the life of Mirabai (also Meera or Meerabai), the bhakti saint whose songs about Krishna continue to be sung today. Many of the stories we know of her now were pieced together from secondary literature and oral traditions.

Mirabai was born into n aristocratic Rajasthani family and it is said that her family were ardent devotees of Lord Krishna. Mirabai became one too, and her devotion was so deep that she considered herself married to her beloved god. When she was old enough, Mirabai was forcefully married to the crown prince of Mewar, and his family did not take too well to her devotion. It is also said that she refused to pray to their family goddess.

Five years into her marriage, her husband died at war. The story goes that Mirabai refused to jump into the funeral pyre of her husband, customary of Rajasthani women during her time.

In the end, Mirabai left her in-laws and became a wandering poet of the Bhakti movement. She left Mewar and travelled to places considered sacred – especially those associated with Krishna – such as Vraj (near Mathura) and Dwaraka. It is uncertain how and when she died.

Even though Mirabai was seen as a rebel and a revolutionary of her time, scholars often point out that it did not reflect in her work, because in her poems, she was always a dutiful wife to Krishna.

A legend surrounding Mirabai’s life is that Emperor Akbar heard of her and visited her in disguise. It is believed he even presented her a necklace. But the historical accuracy of this incident has been heavily contested because of the time periods they lived in.

Mirabai’s poems were often emotional and intense, especially when she wrote about being separated from Krishna.

Sanchi Honnamma has the distinction of being one of the earliest women writers to emerge from a humble background at a time when established poets and noblemen were the only ones with accomplished written works to their name. Legend has it that Sanchi worked for the palace of King Chikadevaraya as a helper, and particularly specialised in rolling betel nuts in leaves for the royal family. Court poet Singaracharya spotted her love for words and taught her to read, write and create poetry. He is even said to have called her Sarasahityada Varadevata or ‘goddess of poetry’.

Honnamma was also a favourite of the queen Devajammanni, and grew to be well respected in the Mysore court. She wrote about the lives of common women and often about the pain they went through in life. She was a seemingly traditional thinker and upheld the values of her time. She was also very loyal to the kingdom.

“Haddibadeya Dharma” spoke on the virtues of women. And while this was a traditional form of literature and Honnamma by no means spoke up strongly for women’s rights, her position in history itself is an achievement, given her background.

Nothing else is known about Honnamma’s personal life.

Excerpt

“Garathiya Haadu” (Song of a Married Woman)

…Wasn’t it woman who raised them,

Then why do they always blame woman,

These boors…

In the womb they’re the same,

When they’re growing they’re the same,

Later the girl will take, with love, what’s given,

The boy will take his share by force.

In “Hadibadeya Dharna”, Honnamma is caught between her feelings and the values of her time. There is some veiled feminist angst but nothing is ever outspoken. Honnamma does make some remarkable points such as identifying that there is gender bias and that it isn’t a loss if a daughter is born to a family.

Picture Credit : Google

The first-known female Chinese historian was born into an illustrious family of writers and philosophers. Ban Zhao was the daughter of Ban Biao, who began working on the history of the Han Dynasty and after his death, his son (and Zhao’s brother) Ban Gu was put on the task of completing this. Ban Gu, who was then the official historian of the empire, was executed for palace fraud in 95 AD. Five years later, the responsibility of finishing this work fell on Ban Zhao, making her immortal in the pages of history.

About Ban Zhao

Ban Zhao born in Anling, Saanxi province of China. She married young – at the age of 14, but lost her husband in a few years. She never remarried and instead, devoted her life to pursuing academics and scholarship.

When Ban Gu was executed, and the dynastic history of the Han empire, Hanshu, was left incomplete, it was up to Ban Zhao to fill in her brother’s shoes and finish that monumental task. She added in the missing bits of Babiao (Eight Tables) and the genealogy of the mother of the emperor, which was not information usually recorded in that time period. Due to this, she became extremely popular in China.

Also, due to her reputation as a scholar and historian, Ban Zhao was invited to teach Empress Deng Sui and other court members, which only made her more politically influential. The empress and her consorts gave her the title “The Gifted One” and soon, she became the Empress’s lady-in-waiting. The empress also continually sought her advice on matters pertaining to her son, Emperor Shang of Han.

Apart from these duties, Ban Zhao was also the royal librarian and is said to have overseen the copying of manuscripts in bamboo and silk onto a recent invention – paper.

Ban Zhao was also a poet and wrote many poems during her time, and also “Lessons for Women”, a treatise that looked into the education of women in the empire. Although the document spoke about a code of conduct for women and quickly became popular all over China, it focused more on how women needed education.

Excerpt

In her book “Nu Jie” (Lessons for Women), Ban Zhao writes about the quality of humility and why it is important for women to embrace it.

On the third day after the birth of a girl the ancients observed three customs: first to place the baby below the bed; second to give her a potsherd [a piece of broken pottery] with which to play; and third to announce her birth to her ancestors by an offering. Now to lay the baby below the bed… should regard it as her primary duty to humble herself before others. To give her potsherds with which to play indubitably signified that she should practise labour and consider it her primary duty to be industrious. To announce her birth before her ancestors clearly meant that she ought to esteem as her primary duty the continuation of the observance of worship in the home.

Some have argued that Ban Zhao’s work could be seen as among the earliest works of feminism. Though “Lessons for Women” may not seem so, scholars point to the fact that Ban Zhao was not only extremely intelligent but also highly influential. She’s believed to have written this work as a guide for women to survive and subtly negotiate the complex demands of society back then, and she did not remarry despite a short marriage, and perhaps couples this freedom with her intelligence to become influential.

Ban Zhao’s grandmother was Ban Jiyeu who lived during the Western Han Dynasty and was a poet and scholar. Jiyeu is the title given to a third-rank palace lady, and her personal name remains unknown. She is best-known for her poem ‘Yuan Ge Xing” or “Song of Resentment”, where she compares herself to an autumn fan that is ignored. It is written in yuefu style – poems composed like folk songs.

Picture Credit : Google