‘Crossing Over the Ocean of Existence’: Performing ‘Mysticism ’ and Exerting Power by Female Sādhus in Rajasthan

Abstract: Grace Jantzen’s exploration of the genealogy of Western mysticism illuminates the ways in which relations of power and gender have shaped the production of discourse about ‘mysticism. ’ Jantzen’s work evokes questions of how mysticism is constructed in the Hindu traditions and how gender and power interface in its production. If there is any term that functions like mysticism it is nirguṇī bhakti for female sādhus in Rajasthan. There are several features that make these terms analogous and invite comparison: a focus on divine visions, love, divine union, and liberation. The case of the female sādhus, however, also challenges Jantzen’s thesis about the relationship between gender and power in Christian-based genealogies of mysticism. The female sādhus’ constructions of nirguṇī bhakti through their everyday renunciant practices suggest that power may also be gendered female. Through analysis of their performances of devotional songs and personal narratives, this article demonstrates how Rajasthani female sādhus exert agency in the construction of nirguṇī bhakti as a category of religious experience that carries authority in the male-dominated traditions of Hindu renunciation. Moreover, it suggests a model for theorising about gendered agency and power in traditions of Christian mysticism. ‘If sādhus don’t sing [bhajans], they’re not real sādhus. Real sādhus sing to God.