Poet: Kalavve

Translator: H. S. Shivaprakash

Source: I Keep Vigil of Rudra, Penguin Classics

Performed by M. D. Pallavi and Bruce Lee Mani

For Bhakti Republic with Amit Basole

Radio Azim Premji University, 2023

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They say –

All those are high born

Who eat sheep, fowl and tiny fish,

They say –

All those are low born

Who eat the cow that rains on Shiva

Sacred milk sanctified five times.

What the Brahmins had eaten adorned the grass

And a dog licked it up and went away.

What the cobblers had eaten adorned the grass –

Now the Brahmin’s ornament

In other words

Bags are made of cow’s hide

For ghee and for water.

Senseless Brahmins who drink

Ghee and water from such leather bags

Thinking it sacred

They can’t escape utmost perdition.

The master of Urilingapeddi

Doesn’t approve of such men.

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Kalavve, among the earliest Dalit women poets in Kannada, firmly stood for the principles of Kayaka Siddhanta, emphasizing selfless work over selfishness and greed in her verses. Her poetic expression strongly condemned practices like animal sacrifice under the guise of pleasing the gods and spoke out against casteism. Vrata, or religious observance, held significant importance in her compositions. Although only 12 of her verses are extant, they encapsulate her staunch stance against societal injustices and her advocacy for selfless devotion through righteous actions.