Kirtana as Collective Remembrance

Mirabai's kirtanas were devotional songs that invoked Krishna's presence through repetition and emotional intensity. This practice of calling out the beloved's name, of telling their story again and again, sustained her longing and connected her to other devotees. In collective mourning, kirtana translates into the rituals we create: candlelit vigils, shared playlists, the retelling of the person's words and deeds, the hashtags that keep their name visible. These are not distractions from grief; they are vessels for it. Repeating a public figure's name, their quotes, their achievements, we keep them alive in memory and in each other's hearts. Mirabai understood that repetition is not empty ritual—it is how the heart learns to dwell with loss without being consumed by it. The kirtana acknowledges that we are never alone in our grief; we grieve within a community of others who speak the same name.