Devi Meera's whole life was a reflection of this separation with her beloved Krishna. Her life was an expression of this pain of separation or viraha. Not only this, until her final union and dissolution in the divine form of Sri Krishna, her Giridhar Nagar, she had experienced all the stages of love and separation, description of this can be found in her poetry.
The foundation of love is separation. Love without separation is meaningless like body without life. Only in separation can we really experience live in its true form.
Separation has been said to be of three types: future separation, present separation and past separation.
1. That beloved will leave in the future, this results in pain - is 'future separation'. In union, there is always anxiousness due to the ever impending departure of the beloved. As the time passes by, the anxiety intensifies making one restless.
2. We experience heart rending pain when the beloved leaves - this is called 'present separation'. When the beloved is with you there is supreme bliss, the time flies by. But alas! the days of togetherness are soon over! The world ceases to exist in the presence of beloved, and today, he is ready to leave. One has given everything and even oneself away to the beloved and now the beloved is going away. The eyes will no longer see the divine countenance. Ah!! What will happen now? Such thoughts trouble the mind and every pore of the being cries out. The heart is torn in thousand pieces or, the heart is broken in two parts and one part is bring taken away! This pining gets unbearable with every passing moment.
3. When the beloved has long gone, the pain that results thereby- is 'past separation'. Two persons bound by love remain united by this bond however distant they might be from each other. This bond of love become s immortal. In separation, the dear memories of beloved sustains love. But these memories sometimes become so potent that one cannot be at peace without seeing the beloved. One loses patience but even in this state of hopelessness, the liver never loses hope that the beloved will surely come back sooner or later. One desires a brief glimpse from far, if only. In such state, one feels neither alive nor dead. This pining and longing gives rise to several mental and behavioral states.
There are said to be ten such states. These are:
चिन्तात्र जागरोद्वेगो तानवं मलिनाग्ता ।
प्रलापो व्याधिरून्मादो मोहो मृत्युर्दशा दश ।।
1. Worry 2. Sleeplessness 3. Anxiety 4. Loss of appetite 5. Lack of interest in dressing up. 6. Crying 7. General malaise 8. Laziness. 9. Losing consciousness 10. Death
Meerabai'so poetry contains a depiction of all these mental states.
Taken from http://ssharman.blogspot.in/2014/12/pain-of-separation-or-viraha.html?m=1
