The power of love has a special beauty and magic which no
other power can have. It is not aggressive; it has no intention to win over
others and yet it wins…. All aggression is absorbed and dissolved, it
disappears in love. Meera’s love transforms the quality of the poison from
death to life and the dance and ecstasy of love remains undisturbed.
In a bid to gain real knowledge, many people spend their life reading and decoding the wisdom hidden in printed words. The real objective is to become a scholar - a learned person who knows everything, every aspect of life - through all available great written words in the world. But all their attempts to gain real wisdom fail. There is a reason for that. They fail because even the life-long reading and research cannot define the true meaning of life, the true meaning of love.
Sant Kabir, the 15th century mystic poet, says, “Dhai akhar prem ke padhe so pandit hoy - forget about the books; the one who is able to read just ‘two-and-half letters’ of prem, love, is a scholar.” In Devnagari script, the word ‘prem’ is spelt using two and a half letters.
Kabir says there’s no need to read philosophy or books that claim to offer knowledge and wisdom. He stresses on the two-and-half letter word, ‘prem’, which is all that one needs to gain wisdom of life. When Kabir says, “Padhe so pandit hoy”, he means not only reading the word ‘prem’ but living it, breathing the immortal, infinite, spiritual love.
Kabir and Meera, both represent the Bhakti Movement in India. Both talk about the ultimate symbol of love - a connection with God. The ‘prem’ Kabir is talking about can be experienced through Meera’s life.
Meera, the ultimate symbol of love and devotion, was served poison by her brother-in-law. As her intense love for Krishna transformed into a prayer, she chose to drink the poison, knowing fully well that it could kill her.
Holding the bowl of poison in her hand, she had only one regret: “Hey Krishna,
I have no fear of death, but I am feeling sad that I will not be able to serve
you anymore.”
Meera drank the poison; such a thing is possible only in love. However, her
intense love for Krishna turned the poison into amrit, divine nectar. While
singing for Krishna, she said, “My Giridhar, only by your power I have crossed
over to the shore beyond.”
The real power and knowledge for Meera and Kabir was love. ‘Kabir’s wisdom of
Dhai Akhar was all she had and that guided Meera to enlightenment. That
two-and-half letter word gave birth to hundreds of couplets soaked in divine
love; the love Meera professed for her lord.
A beautiful couplet that she sang which unravels the power of love is as follows: My heart goes into you, as the polish goes into the gold. As the lotus lives in the water, O Krishna, I live in You.
Kabir says people have died after living their life reading books in search of wisdom, but could not succeed. Meera became immortal, because she could only read that two-and-half letter word.
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