Smarana: Remembering the Beloved as Spiritual Practice

Smarana, remembrance or continuous recollection of the divine beloved, was Mirabai's primary practice. She filled her poetry with repeated invocation of Krishna's name, form, and presence. This seemingly obsessive practice reframes anxious attachment's characteristic rumination: the constant thinking about the partner, replaying conversations, seeking reassurance. Rather than pathologizing this tendency, smarana asks: what if this remembrance became devotional rather than anxious? The difference lies in consciousness and choice. Anxious attachment remembers from fear (Will they leave? Do they care?); smarana remembers from love (What is my beloved's essence? How do I express my devotion?). In choosing partners, this matters greatly: Can you remember this person with joy rather than desperation? Does thinking of them deepen your life or diminish it? Smarana also suggests that the obsessive quality of anxious attachment might indicate powerful capacity for devotion waiting for proper channeling. Rather than seeking partners who quiet your intensity, seek those who inspire your remembrance to transform from anxious rumination into genuine spiritual practice, where thinking of them elevates rather than depletes you.