Devotion as Autonomous Choice

Mirabai's radical choice to renounce social expectation and devote herself to Krishna reveals that autonomy is not independence from relationship, but rather the freedom to choose one's deepest commitments. In bhakti tradition, devotion is an act of will—a conscious surrender that paradoxically strengthens individual identity. This challenges Western autonomy as mere separation. For Autonomy and Togetherness, this means authentic selfhood emerges through chosen interdependence: we become most ourselves not by isolating, but by freely binding ourselves to what we love. The examined heart asks: to what am I truly devoted, and does that choice reflect my deepest self or inherited obligation?