Mirabai's concept of seva—selfless service—distinguishes between authentic giving and the self-abandoning service that enables betrayal and erodes trust from within.
Seva in bhakti is service offered without expectation of return or recognition. However, Mirabai's life reveals a critical distinction: seva to the divine is different from self-abandonment in human relationships. After affairs, many people discover they were offering unreciprocated seva to their partner—serving, accommodating, managing the other's needs while their own withered. This imbalance itself erodes trust, because it creates resentment and a hidden ledger of debt. Mirabai's actual practice involved fierce boundaries: she would not perform wifely duties that violated her truth. Her seva was to her integrity first. This framework teaches that genuine trust cannot exist where one person is in constant seva mode—dissolved into service. Rebuilding trust requires examining: Where am I serving out of authentic love, and where am I serving out of fear of abandonment or unworthiness? True seva between partners is mutual, conscious, and bounded by self-respect. It is not the erosion of self but its expression.
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