Copyright by Jayita Sinha 2015 The Dissertation Committee for Jayita Sinha Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: “An Ant Swallowed the Sun”: Women Mystics in Medieval Maharashtra and Medieval England Committee: Alison Frazier, Supervisor Rupert Snell, Co-Supervisor Elizabeth Richmond-Garza Martha Selby Cynthia Talbot Hannah Wojciehowski “An Ant Swallowed the Sun”: Women Mystics in Medieval Maharashtra and Medieval England by Jayita Sinha M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin May, 2015 Dedication To R.M., who knows everything Acknowledgements Too many cooks spoil the broth, they say. However, this doctoral broth has only benefited from the diverse flavors contributed by my committee, friends, and family. My co-supervisors, Dr Alison Frazier and Dr Rupert Snell have been infinitely helpful, for they painstakingly read multiple drafts of this dissertation and encouraged me even when the project seemed to stall. Dr Hannah Wojciehowski believed in the saints long before I did, and I cannot thank her enough for it. Dr Elizabeth Richmond-Garza has been a pillar of support for me as well as for every other student in the Comparative Literature Program. I am also grateful to Dr Cynthia Talbot and Dr Martha Selby: Dr Talbot asked probing questions on matters historical, and Dr Selby’s beautiful translations furthered my knowledge of translation as a craft. Many scholars in India also assisted in my research and I must acknowledge them here. Dr Ashok Kamath patiently answered all my questions and suggested new avenues for research. Professor Asha Ratnaparkhi provided a substantial list of secondary sources and put me in touch with other scholars of Varkari literature. The committee members of the Samartha Vagdevata Mandir, Dhule went out of their way to make manuscripts available. My friends in India and America tolerated me even when flagging inspiration made me irritable. Debarati insisted on seeing the light always. Connie’s wisdom on saints and life has benefited me more than I can say. Sheela Jane’s efficiency motivated me to write despite the many diversions of life in Austin. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my family. My parents have stood by me every inch of the way, overseeing the project from its very inception. My sister’s v passionate advocacy of women’s rights has been an inspiration. My husband’s unstinting support made it possible for me to finish writing in good time. I must conclude with the mention of my nephew, whose zest for life has given me many moments of joy. vi “An Ant Swallowed the Sun”: Women Mystics in Medieval Maharashtra and Medieval England Jayita Sinha, Ph.D The University of Texas at Austin, 2015 Supervisors: Alison Frazier and Rupert Snell This project examines mystical discourse in medieval India and medieval England as a site for the construction of new images of women and the feminine. I study the poems of three women mystics from western India, Muktabai (c. 1279-1297), Janabai (c. 1270-1350) and Bahinabai (c. 1628-1700) in conjunction with the prose accounts of the two most celebrated women mystics of late medieval England, Julian of Norwich (c. 1343-after 1413) and Margery Kempe (c. 1373-after 1438). My principal areas of inquiry are: self-authorizing strategies, conceptions of divinity, and the treatment of the domestic. I find that the three Hindu mystics deploy a single figure, the guru, as their primary source of spiritual authority. In contrast, the self-authorization of Julian and Margery is more diffuse, for the two mystics record testimony from a variety of sources, including Christ himself, to prove their spiritual credentials. The texts under scrutiny offer variously gendered models of the divine; three of the five mystics show preference for a feminized god. Julian and Bahinabai invest their deities with physical and mental attributes that were labelled feminine, such as feeding and nurturing. However, both women accept God’s sexed body as fundamentally male. Janabai is the most innovative of the mystics in her gendering of the divine; her deity Vitthal’s sexed body can be either vii male or female, although (s)he typically undertakes chores that were the province of women. Janabai is not the only mystic to attempt a reconciliation of the domestic and the spiritual. As narrated in the Booke, Christ expresses willingness to help Margery with her baby, although the text is silent about whether this offer was accepted or not. In addition, Margery undertakes domestic tasks for God and his family, thus investing them with a new dignity. My study demonstrates that as the mystics address questions of women’s relationship with the divine, they go beyond binary frameworks, positing fluid boundaries between male and female, body and spirit, and mundane and spiritual. Thus, these texts can be harnessed to engage creatively with the model of inclusive feminine spirituality expounded by feminist thinker Luce Irigaray, particularly in Between East and West (2002). viii Table of Contents Introduction ..............................................................................................................1 I. Why Varkari and English Mystics? .............................................................3 II. Precedents for Interreligious Comparison ..................................................5 III. Methodology .............................................................................................9 IV. Chapter Summaries .................................................................................16 Note on Transliteration .................................................................................20 Chapter 1 Critical Landscape ................................................................................21 I.a Women As Writers ..................................................................................22 I.b Situating Texts .........................................................................................32 I.c Literary Assesments .................................................................................37 I.d Text as Social Document .........................................................................39 I.e Manuscript History ..................................................................................42 I.f Reception History .....................................................................................45 II.a Women As Writers .................................................................................46 II.b Situating Texts........................................................................................52 Chapter 2 Feeding on Cooked Diamonds .............................................................56 I.a Muktabai: Tracing the Contours of a Life ...............................................57 I.b. Julian: Tracing a Life ..............................................................................62 II.a Muktabai: Social and Religious Background .........................................64 II.b. Julian: Social and Religious Background ..............................................69 III.a Muktabai: A Singular Self ....................................................................74 III.b. Julian: Dissolving the Individual .........................................................86 IV.a Muktabai: The Multimodal Divine .......................................................92 IV.b. Julian: Seeing Christ ............................................................................95 V.a Muktabai: The Guru as Authority ........................................................102 V.b. Julian: Negotiating with Holy Mother Church ...................................107 VI.a Muktabai: Motherhood as Power ........................................................113 VI.b. Julian: Maternalizing Christ, Empowering Women ..........................116 ix VII Conclusion ............................................................................................119 Chapter 3 Domesting the Divine.........................................................................127 I.a Janabai: Recovering a Life ....................................................................128 I.b. Margery Kempe: A Life in the Booke ..................................................131 II.a Janabai: Service to Guru and Service of Scribe ...................................133 Women: The Spiritual Sex .................................................................138 II.b. Margery Kempe: Testimony from Christ, Scribe and Clerics ............143 III.a Janabai: Saintly Communities .............................................................148 III.b. Margery Kempe: Communal Affiliation ...........................................150 Margery and Class .............................................................................150 Margery and Spiritual Community ....................................................154 IV.a Janabai: God's Friendship ...................................................................158 IV.b. Margery Kempe: Loving the Male God ............................................160 V.a Janabai: The Mundane Divine..............................................................164 The Divine Helpmeet .........................................................................165 V.b. Margery Kempe: Mundane Spirituality