(Sung by Smt. Devi)
अस्पृश्यता हि न पापि सङ्गः ।
शबरी दष्ट फलाशन दत्त! ।। (पल्लवी)
O God Datta, the one who ate the fruits tasted by the untouchable lady called Śabarī! Untouchability means keeping away the sinners so that their sinful qualities will not enter us through association.
कृषिकरणं पितृ पशु मश्नाति ।
क्षीरं पीत्वा मातृपशुं च ।।
The fifth untouchable caste resulted due to boycotting sinners from all these four castes. Such horrible sins of these sinners were:- 1) Cutting and eating the bulls and he-buffalos in their old age, who helped in ploughing the land for agriculture and which are like father. 2) After drinking milk taken from cows and buffalos, cutting and eating such mother like animals in their old age.
छात्र बहिष्कृति परिवर्तनार्थ-
दण्डः पुत्रे न धर्म मतः ।।
The boycotted untouchable was a sinner. But, his issue shall not be boycotted as a sinner. Such boycotting is not justified. If a student was debarred from the school for his indiscipline for somedays to bring reformation in him, based on that point, his son shall not be boycotted by the school.
तवाऽक्षि पदगत मस्पृश्य पदम् ।
बोधयसि च शङ्कर मस्पृश्य! ।।
The foot of untouchable hunter is touching near a place of Your eye. You appeared as untouchable to Śaṅkara in Kāśī and preached Him the right practical knowledge.
[A hunter gave his one eye to rectify one eye of Lord Śiva. Then, the next eye of God Śiva also started bleeding. In order to pluck his second eye and place it over the second bleeding eye of Śiva, the hunter placed his foot near that bleeding eye of God for the sake of the recognition of the place. When Śaṅkara asked Lord Datta in the disguise of untouchable person to move away, Lord Datta preached Him the true practical spiritual knowledge to Śaṅkara.]
जन्म बन्धुपदतो गुण कुलात् ।
चण्डाल पदं क्रूर गुणे ।।
The word ‘bandhu’ (relative) must be used if somebody is born in a caste without possessing the qualities of that caste. For example, a Brāhmaṇa born in the caste of Brāhmaṇas without having the qualities of Brāhmaṇa caste, such a person can be called as ‘Brahma bandhu’ (related to caste of Brāhmaṇas), but, he should never be called as Brāhmaṇa. He is called Brāhmaṇa only when he is possessing the prescribed qualities of Brāhmaṇa caste. Similarly, the word ‘canḍāla’ means cruelty and anger. Any person, who is cruel alone must be called as canḍāla irrespective of his birth in any caste.
बीजात् वातावरणात् न कुलम् ।
प्रह्लाद रावणयोः फलितात् ।।
Based on generating source and surrounding atmosphere also, sometimes caste is not decided. Prahlāda is born to demons and grew in the atmosphere of demons. Still he was an angel. Rāvaṇa is born to Sage and grew in the atmosphere of Sages. Yet, he was a demon. Hence, we shall decide the caste from the expressed qualities and deeds only. An untouchable born and grown in untouchables need not be an untouchable. A Brāhmiṇ born and grown in the family of Brāhmiṇs need not be a Brāhmiṇ. The tree shall be decided by its expressed fruits only.
जीवः प्रविशति स्वकीय गुणवान् ।
विज्ञानवशा काचन चेष्टा ।।
The soul with its own inherent characteristics reduced in intensity in hell and heaven enters the womb of the mother in case of human beings apart from the ovum and sperm of parents. The genes related to ovum and sperm as established in science carry only certain mannerisms of ancestors, which are totally different from the inherent characteristics of the entering soul.
[We can predict the caste of the tree from the caste of its seed, but we cannot predict the caste of the issue from the caste of human parents. From mango seed only mango tree will come, but, we can't say that a Brāhmaṇa shall be born to Brāhmaṇa parents only. The reason is that in the case of human beings, a soul coming from the upper worlds enters the womb of the mother through the sperm of the father as described in the Brahmasūtrams. This soul is an extra addition from outside and the qualities of the born issue depend upon the inherent characteristics of this added soul from outside. Such extra addition of the soul does not happen in the kingdom of plants and hence, the caste of the plant can be predicted from the caste of the seed. The sperm and ovum in the zoological kingdom contain genes, which carry only certain mannerisms and not the inherent qualities. The soul from the upper worlds is entering the food eaten by father and enters the womb of the mother along with the sperm of the father. The soul is not an inherent part of the sperm like a gene. Only genes are the inherent parts of sperm and ovum.]