Secondary Sources: Women and Bhakti

Feldhaus, Anne, ed. Images of Women in Maharashtrian Literature and Religion. Albany: SUNY Press, 1996.

This volume includes a number of important translations of women’s poetry and folk songs from Maharashtra, one of India’s largest states.

Johnsen, Linda. Daughters of the Goddess, The Women Saints of India. St. Paul, MN: Yes International Publishers, 1994.

A very readable, popular account of contemporary women saints of India.

Manushi: Tenth Anniversary Issue, Women Bhakta Poets. No.s 50-52. 1989.

Manushi was founded in 1978 by a group of women scholars and activists in India. This particular issue focuses specifically on women in the Bhakti movement.

Narayanan, Vasudha. “Brimming with Bhakti, Embodiments of Shakti: Devotees, Deities, Performers, Reformers, and Other Women of Power in the Hindu Tradition.” In Feminism and World Religions. Edited by Arvind Sharma and Katherine K. Young. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1999.

This article questions whether the women who were a part of the Bhakti movement can be best understood within the later feminist movement.

Ramanuja, A. K.. “On Women Saints.” In The Divine Consort Radha and the Goddesses of India. Edited by John Stratton Hawley and Donna Marie Wulff. Berkeley: Graduate Theological Union, 1982. 316-24.

A good introductory reading on women within the Bhakti movement.

Sangari, Kumkum. “Mirabai and the Spiritual Economy of Bhakti,” Economic and Political Weekly. July 7, 1990, 1464-75 and July 14, 1990, 1537-52.

An excellent historical critical essay on the Mirabai of myth and history.

Sharma, Arvind, ed.. Women Saints in World Religions. Albany: SUNY Press, 2000.

Includes a chapter on Janabai by Rajeshwari Pandharipande, “Janabai: A Woman Saint of India.”
Original Sources: Introductions, Translations

Abbot, Justin E., tr.. Bahina Bai: A Translation of Her Autobiography and Verses. Pune: Scottish Mission Industries, 1929.

An important early 20th-century translation from Marathi, the language of the state of Maharashtra in India.

Alston, A. J.. The Devotional Poems of Mirabai. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1980.

An introduction to and translation of 200 of Mirabai’s poems.

Hawley, J. S. and Mark Juergensmeyer. “Mirabai.” In Songs of the Saints of India. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988. 119-142.

An important volume that includes a scholarly focus on the historical Mirabai, in addition to Hawley’s own translation of 22 of Mirabai’s poems.

Menezes, Armando and S. M. Angadi, tr.. Vacanas of Akkamahadevi, with the original text in Kannada. Dharwar, M. A. Adke, 1973.

This translation covers 315 of Akkamahadevi’s poems and includes the original Kannada language (from the state of Karnataka in India), with an introduction and notes to accompany the poetry.

Ramanan, Mohan. “Andal’s Tirupavai.” In Journal of South Asian Literature. 24:2 (Summer/Fall, 1989). 51-64.

Selections and translations of Andal’s poems from the Tamil language, the official language of the state of Tamil Nadu in South India.

Ramanjuan, A. K., tr.. “Mahadeviyakka.” In Speaking of Siva. London: Penguin Books, 1973.

A. K. Ramanujan’s translations of Mahadeviyakka’s poems, from the Kannada language.

Ramanujan, A. K.. “On Women Saints.” In The Divine Consort: Radha and the Goddesses of India. Edited by John Stratton Hawley and Donna Marie Wulff. Boston: Beacon Press, 1986.

Ramanujan’s overview, analysis, and comparison of the lives of women saints in India, including that of Mirabai.

Rosen, Steven J., ed.. Vaisnavi: Women and the Worship of Krishna. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1996.

A collection of writings including: Dennis Hudson’s “Antal’s Desire,” which includes translations of her poetry in prose; Andrew Schelling’s essay on Mirabai, “Where is my Beloved”; and Nancy Martin’s “Mirabai: Inscribed Text, Embodied in Life.”

Shelling, Andrew. For Love of the Dark One: Songs of Mirabai. Illustrated by Mayumi Oda. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1993.

A translation of 220 of Mirabai’s poems including a brief introduction to Mirabai and the poetry itself.

Tharu, Susie and K. Lalita, eds. “600 B.C. to the Early 20th Century.” Vol. 1 in Women Writing in India: 600 B.C. to the Present. New York: The Feminist Press at The City University of New York, 1991. 77-98.

A theoretical and historical overview of the Bhakti movement at large as it pertained to women, with numerous translations of women bhaktas.
Websites

Other Women's Voices: Translations of women's writing before 1700: Akka Mahadevi /Mahadeviyakka (1100s)
Dorothy Disse
http://home.infionline.net/~ddisse/mahadevi.html#anchor186952

An extensive website devoted to women’s voices, pre-1700s from around the world, including a selection of Akka Mahadevi’s poetry in the Tamil language from South India.

Other Women's Voices: Translations of women's writing before 1700: Antal/ Andal/ Goda /Kotai (mid-800s?)
Dorothy Disse
http://home.infionline.net/~ddisse/antal.html

An extensive website devoted to women’s voices, pre-1700s from around the world, including a selection of Antal’s writings in the Kannada language from India.

Sri Vaishnava Home Page
Mani Varadarajan
http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/alvars/andal/

A website devoted to Vaishnavism, a dominant strain within Hinduism. Andal was one of the Alvar Saints of South India.

Sri Vaishnava Home Page
Mani Varadarajan
http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/alvars/andal/tiruppavai/verse1.html

"Tiruppavai" (Andal’s first work), here presented in both the Kannada language and English literal translation.

[tamil] tiruppavai and Tiruvempavai – English, "Dr.N.Ramani"
Tamil.net
http://www.tamil.net/list/2000-12/frm00575.html

This email, part of a larger discussion from Tamil.net, focuses on Andal’s poetry, including her poems "Thiruppavai," "Thiruvempavai," and "Thiruppalliyelucci," translated from Kannada by N. Ramani.

Other Women's Voices: Translations of women's writing before 1700: Mirabai /Mira /Meera (c.1498-aft.1550)
Dorothy Disse
http://home.infionline.net/~ddisse/mirabai.html

An extensive website devoted to women’s voices, pre-1700s from around the world, including a selection of Mirabai’s poetry in English, originally from the Gujarati language.

Madhu Kishwar, “Traditional Female Moral Exemplars in India.”
The Infinity Foundation
http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/s_es/s_es_kishw_EAA.htm

An excellent article by Madhu Kishwar, Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Developing Societies in Delhi, India, and founding editor of Manushi—A Journal about Women and Society from India. This article focuses on female “moral exemplars” or “role models” from within the Hindu tradition, from the divine feminine creative energy known as “shakti,” village goddesses, Pan-Indian goddesses (devis) such as Parvati, Sita, and Durga, as well as bhakti poets, including Mirabai (spelled Meerabai in this article) and Antal (here spelled Andal).