Smarana: Remembrance That Liberates Rather Than Binds

Smarana in bhakti tradition means remembrance of the divine through memory and recitation. Mirabai sang of Krishna in memory, not to escape reality but to acknowledge deeper truth. This concept invites you to practice smarana toward your former identity: remember it fully, hold it with tenderness, understand its role in your journey, but don't let memory become imprisonment. Many people cycle between two extremes when grieving lost identity—either obsessively reliving the past or denying it completely. Smarana offers a middle path: conscious, loving remembrance that doesn't cling. You remember who you were with gratitude for what that identity taught you, what it offered, how it protected you when you needed protection. But you don't try to resurrect it or condemn it. Mirabai's songs weren't bitter rejection of her past but transformation of it into spiritual fuel. Practice smarana by deliberately remembering your former identity without trying to reclaim it, honoring what was true in it while remaining fully present to who you're becoming.