20
company of Krishna who, though nobody saw him, was: always present before her. When the king sends her a letter inviting her to Mewar to live with him she sweetly asks him in reply to abdicate the pageantry of the throne and to come and join her and her Sadhus iu the sweet work they were doing. To use her own words, the world “tastes saltish” to Mira, and she prefers “the everblack blanket to the beautiful gown whose colours are treacherous and vanish.” Her heart recoils from intrigues, and she asks her camel- driver to equip the animal well, for she has to travel away from her husband's roof through hundreds of miles as fast as.she can. Mir& has to leave Mewar to her left and to- travel to the west. She finds it sinful to take a drop of water in the territories of her Ranaji. Herheart is set upon Govinda and Ramji who dwell away from intrigue. She is entirely in the hands of Hari, and thelove of Hari has. taken possession of her heart. She passes her life in singing how her dear Hari lived and loved, how he- captivated poor Gopis with the music of his flute, how he whistled from the depths of the forests on the banks. of the Yamuna, and how the Gopis had to follow the direction of the music like spell-bound beings. The love that the Gopis yielded to the Krishna on earth, Mira owes to Krishna in the heavens and in her heart. No living man on earth could claim it. In one thousand sweet and homely songs has the broken heart of Mira.
