Divine Longing and Anxious Attachment

Mirabai's bhakti practice centered on an overwhelming, all-consuming longing for union with Krishna—a love that defined her entire existence. This devotional intensity parallels anxious attachment, where partners become objects of desperate spiritual need rather than equal companions. In romantic relationships, anxious attachment manifests as constant seeking, fear of abandonment, and the belief that love requires self-dissolution. By examining Mirabai's relationship with the divine through a psychological lens, we see how spiritual language can rationalize unhealthy patterns: the perpetual ache, the inability to find peace alone, the subordination of self to the beloved. Yet Mirabai also transcended this through radical freedom. Understanding this duality helps those with anxious attachment recognize when their longing has become a prison rather than a path, and when choosing a partner reflects genuine love versus desperate grasping for completion.