Narshi Mehta and Bal Krishna

Definite information about Narsinh Mehta's life is not available. Based on the historical and literary traces it can be said surely that Narsinh was born in Talaja, Bhavnagar District of Saurashtra, in Nagar community. He lost his mother in his child hood(about 1425. Narsinh married Manekbai probably in the year 1428 and soon he lost his uncle who raised him. Narsinh and his wife went to stay at his cousin Bansidhar’s place in Junagadh. However, his cousin's wife (Sister-in-law or bhabhi) did not welcome Narsinh very well. She was an ill-tempered woman, always taunting and insulting Narsinh for his worship (Bhakti). One day, when Narasinh had enough of this taunts and insults, he left the house and went to a nearby forest in search of some peace, where he fasted and meditated for seven days by a secluded Shiva lingam until Shiva appeared before him in person. On the poet’s request, the Lord took him to Vrindavan and showed him the eternal raas leela of Sri Krishna and the gopis, the cowherd girls of Vrindavan. A legend has it that the poet transfixed by the spectacle burnt his hand with the torch he was holding but he was so engrossed in the ecstatic vision that he was oblivious of the pain. Narsinh, as the popular account goes, at Sri Krishna's command decided to sing His praises and the nectarous experience of the rasa in this mortal world. He resolved to compose around 22,000 kirtans or compositions.

After this dream-like experience, transformed Narsinh returned to his village, touched his bhabhi's feet, and thanked her for insulting him. In Junagadh, Narsinh lived in poverty with his wife and two children, a son named Shamaldas, and a daughter for whom he had special affection, Kunwarbai. He revelled in devotion to his hearts’ content along with sadhus, saints, and all those people who were Hari's subjects - Harijans - irrespective of their caste, class or sex. It also seems that he must have fallen into a somewhat ill repute for his close relations with Lord's sakhis and gopis, Narsinh's women followers, with whom he danced and sang. The Nagars of Junagadh despised him and spared no opportunity to scorn and insult him. By this time, Narsinh had already sung about the rasleela of Radha and Krishna. The compositions are collected under the category of shringar compositions. They are full of intense lyricism, bold in their erotic conception and are not without allegorical dimensions, this saves the compositions from being something of erotic court poetry of medieval India.
Soon after his daughter Kunwarbai's marriage (around 1447) to Sringara Mehta's son, Kunwarbai became pregnant and it was a custom for the girl's parents to give gifts and presents to all the in-laws during the seventh month of pregnancy. This custom, known as Mameru, was simply out of the reach of poor Narsinh who had hardly anything except intransigent faith in his Lord. How Krishna helped his beloved devotee is a legend depicted in ‘Mameru Na Pado’. This episode is preserved vividly in the memory of Gujarati people by compositions by later poets and films. Other famous legends include ‘Hundi (Bond)[[1]]’ episode and ‘Har Mala (Garland)’ episode. The episode in which none other than Shamalsha Seth (The Dark one as Seth) cleared a bond written by poverty stricken beloved, is famous not only in Gujarat but in other parts of India as well. The Har Mala episode deals with the challenge given to Narsinh by Ra Mandlik (1451-1472) a local king and a vassal of Delhi's Sultan, to prove his innocence in the charges of immoral behavior by making the Lord Himself garland Narsinh. Narsinh depicts this episode. How Sri Krishna, in the guise of a wealthy merchant, helped Narsinh in getting his son married is sung by the poet in ‘Putra Vivah Na Pado’. Mahmud Begada (Mahmud Shah I) 1458-1511, invaded Junagadh in 1467 and soon after many a sporadic Muslim raids, the city was annexed to the Gujarat Sultanate. Perhaps to escape the consequences, he went to Mangrol where, at the age of 66, he is believed to have expired. The crematorium at Mangrol is called ‘Narsinh Nu Samshan’ where perhaps one of the greatest sons of Gujarat was cremated.