Story #2

Because Mira Bai was a devotee of Sri Krishna, I will explain the meaning of his name, as defined in the Dictionary of Sanskrit Names, compiled by the Integral Yoga Institute. For full bibliographical reference, please see my bibliography.
Krishna (m)  1.  One whose nature is truth and bliss.  2.  Black, dark colored.  3.  The name of the Lord Vishnu's eighth incarnation. Sri Krishna is well known for delivering the famous Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna on the battlefield in 5000 B.C. on the eve of the present Kaliyuga, or dark age.

This picture shows Mira Bai playing music for Krishna. It was taken from a biographical site titled Mira Bai.
 

Once upon a time there was a young princess who lived in a beautiful city.  Her name was Mira.  She did not have a care in the world.  She always had plenty to eat, wonderfully decorated close to wear and someone was always there to entertain her.
One day she was gathering flowers from the courtyard with her mother.  It was a beautiful day and they could faintly hear the tinkling of bells and joyful singing as a wedding procession approached.  As the procession passed by Mira was amazed by the amazed by the bridegroom and all of his attendants. She asked her mother who her bridegroom would be.  Her mother replied, "My dear Mira, Lord Krishna-this beautiful image-is your bridegroom."  Mira took the figure her mother was holding out to her and began dancing around, singing gleefully to her image of Krishna.  From that day forward all Mira wanted to do was sing and dance for her lovely image of Krishna.  She no longer cared about getting new clothes or playing with her numerous toys.  As Mira grew to be a young woman, she began to learn that her image of Krishna served as inspiration gain knowledge while searching for the truth and love in life.
Eventually, Mira parents arranged for her to marry and become a queen.  Even though she knew she did not have any choice in the matter,  Mira told her mother that she could not possibly be devoted to her new husband because she had already dedicated her life to Krishna.
Mira was not anything like the princesses or queens that came before her,  but she was good to her family and her husband.  She was sure to take care of all of her responsibilities, but at the end of each day she would leave her house to go to a temple where she could feel free to dance and sing praises to her lord Krishna.
Mira's husband had a large and doting family.  His sisters were especially protective of him and they could not understand why Mira would rather spend her time giving praise to an image, rather than her husband.  The sisters continued to be suspicious of how Mira spent her time.  They couldn't understand why she would never sit with them in the afternoons to hear the latest gossip from their servants.  Mira didn't notice any of the bad feeling her sisters had for her, she was to busy thinking of the wonderful, beautiful things in her life, and worked her feelings into poetic songs to praise Krishna for enlightening her.
Mira's husband met an untimely death.  At this time in India, women were expected to be so devastated by the loss of their husband that they would not want to go on living.  As part of the funeral ritual, a widow was expected to throw herself onto the place where her husband's body was burning, and thus end her own life.
This seemed like a ridiculous idea to Mira.  Why would she cut her life short when she could go on spreading her love and praise for Krishna.  The sisters were appalled that Mira thought her life was just as important as that of her deceased husband, no other woman had ever taken her life into her own hands.
    Mira continued to be numb to all the criticisms coming from her in-laws.  She wrote more songs than ever and would begin dancing spontaneously at the thought of Krishna.  This behavior eventually drove the sisters mad.  They were worried that people would eventually see that Mira deeds were selfless, and that they would be required to share her same devotion.  They decided that they must take action to stop this from happening.
One day, while Mira was in the temple,  her sister-in-law sent her a flower basket with a poisonous snake hiding in the bottom.  When the basket arrived, Mira praised Krishna for such a beautiful gift, and in return he protected her.  When she reach into the basket to take out the flowers,  the snake had been transformed into an image of Krishna himself.  This miracle only enraged the sisters further.  Next, the sent her a cup of poison with a message that it was a gift of rare nectar especially for Mira.  Once again Mira offered the cup to Krishna in her thankfulness.  And we she drank from the cup it was not poison, it was truly nectar and did not harm her.  In desperation the sisters sent a bed of nails to Mira.  When she realized her sisters true feeling for her, Mira accepted her fate and laid down on the bed.  But as her skin touched the tips of the nails, they were transformed and collapsed as rose petals beneath her.
After she was made to understand her family's true feelings for her, Mira decided to leave her life of privilege.  She fearless traveled around, without the security of food and shelter.  And her joy and love of life grew and spread to others who were willing to let their selfishness dissolve into divine love.

Please visit my Bibliography for full information on the source of this text.