Caste and Race in India c8.180

c8.180

In the field of religion the Śūdra has not only retained the rights that were conceded to him but finds them now ever more well-defined and codified beyond all cavil by Kamalākara, who even upholds his right to the use of the all-purifying mixture, "pañchagavya."⁵ As already observed, this religious emancipation of the Śūdra does not by any means put him on an equal footing with the higher castes. Even within the folds of new creeds like devotional Vaishṇavism, where, perfect religious equality may, naturally, be expected, the Śūdra's inferiority is taken for granted and even acted upon. It is precisely because Rāmānanda, one of the apostolic successors of Rāmānuja, the founder of perhaps the most catholic form of Vaishṇavism, was insulted by his brethren for his social inferiority that he travelled northwards and established a new sect. He asked his followers not to inquire about anyone's caste.⁶