212. caste
yet regard each as ultimate for the period during which that god is at the forefront
of the believer’s attention.^28 Similarly, when it comes to saints and society, Hindus
find it natural that people should draw toward their own point of focus all that con-
cerns them, as the Untouchables of North India have consolidated much of the gen-
eral bhakti heritage around Ravidas.
The henotheistic habit of mind makes it possible for people like those who live in
Sri Govardhanpur to assign themselves a convincingly important position in the
broad sweep of Indian society and religion. If others do not orient themselves by
the same map, it does not greatly matter. For these Benarsis the figure of Ravidas,
a gift from the past, serves as a major point of reference, and for that reason he is
very much alive in the present, shaping the world half a millennium after his death.
POEMS OF RAVIDAS
Translated with Mark Juergensmeyer
I’ve never known how to tan or sew,
though people come to me for shoes.
I haven’t the needle to make the holes
or even the tool to cut the thread.
Others stitch and knot, and tie themselves in knots
while I, who do not knot, break free.
I keep saying Ram and Ram, says Ravidas,
and Death keeps his business to himself.^29 (AG20)
A family that has a true follower of the Lord
Is neither high caste nor low caste, lordly or poor.
The world will know it by its fragrance.
Priests or merchants, laborers or warriors,
half-breeds, outcastes, and those who tend cremation fires—
their hearts are all the same.
He who becomes pure through love of the Lord
exalts himself and his family as well.
Thanks be to his village, thanks to his home,
thanks to that pure family, each and every one.
For he ’s drunk with the essence of the liquid of life
and he pours away all the poisons.