I learned something new!

(Remember that bhajan that was called "Aiso Ko Udaar Jag Maahi"? Turns out that that line, which is the sthai, or primary theme, means "The Lord is all merciful.")

The story of Mira Bai feels similar to the stories of the Catholic saints--you know, we can visit Saint Catherine's house, but we don't know if she really loved God when she was three, or what exactly she was like. Historical facts get all mixed up with oral tradition, and literary tradition, and the beautiful ideas painters have long after the people are dead.

But we do know some things almost certainly--Mira Bai (Meera Bai) was a nobel woman in Rajasthan, an area in India. She was married to the king-to-be at thirteen, but the family didn't take to her and made trouble. And here's the good part, the not-necessarily-factual part: she said she couldn't really be a wife to the king, because she had already dedicated her whole heart to Lord Krishna. Her husband died, and she did not commit satti (also sati, suttee) but instead wandered Rajasthan, preaching and writing poetry and music. She is credited with at least 200 bhajans, though some attribute more than 1300 to her. Her writing is called a whole bunch of things--"mystical love poetry" or "love poetry" seem to be repeated the most. In any case, she had an overwhelming love for Krishna, to whom she devoted her life.

To learn more (IT'S SO INTERESTING!):
Here is a basic summary.
Here is a very comprehensive website, with good links to other respectable sites, where you can read her writing or listen to some of the bhajans.
Here is more, and here, and here is Wikipedia's take.
And here is an interesting one by a believer (like reading about St Catherine from a Catholic traditionalist).