All I Was Doing Was Breathing (Further Reading)

Further Reading

• Archer, W. G., The Loves of Krishna in Indian Painting and Poetry, Dover, 2004.

  Archer gives the entire story of Krishna as presented in different historical texts. His purpose is to shed light on Indian paintings that represent Krishna, and he shows why the figure of Krishna is still enchanting to modern Indians. The book includes thirty-nine black-and-white plates.

• Bhaktivedanta, Swami, Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol. 1, Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1996.

  This is a commentary on the tenth canto of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, which tells the story of Krishna's early life, by the Krishna devotee who founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. The book includes a two-page message from the rock star George Harrison and thirteen color plates showing incidents from Krishna's life in Indian art, including one in which the child Krishna holds up the mountain with one finger.

• Hawley, John Stratton, Three Bhakti Voices: Mirabai, Surdas, and Kabir in Their Times and Ours, Oxford University Press, 2005.

  Hawley's study of the literature of bhakti includes four chapters on Mirabai that discuss what is known of Mirabai as a historical figure and how her work has been received from her time to ours. Also included are Hawley's translation and analysis of twenty-two of Mirabai's poems.

• Levi, Louise Landes, Sweet on My Lips: The Love Poems of Mirabai, Cool Grove Publishing, 1997.

  This volume includes translations of Mirabai's poems, a glossary, and several short personal essays by Levi. Among other topics, Levi discusses her own spiritual experiences in studying Mirabai and the bhakti tradition and the art of translation. She also offers musical notation for a Mirabai song in Indian and Western notation.

• Rosen, Steven J., ed., Vaisnavi: Women and the Worship of Krishna, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1997.

  This book includes an essay on Mirabai by Andrew Schelling, in which he examines the differences between Mirabai and earlier religious poets. It also contains an essay by A. K. Ramanujan on the lives of women saints in India, including Mirabai.

• Taft, Frances, "The Elusive Historical Mirabai: A Note," in Multiple Histories: Culture and Society in the Study of Rajasthan, edited by Lawrence A. Babb, Varsha Joshi, and Michael W. Meister, Rawat Publications, 2002, pp. 313-35.

  Taft analyzes the primary sources and other evidence available that give a picture of the historical Mirabai. She argues against the view held by some that no such person as Mirabai ever existed.