Saintly Camār

he Hindu poet-saint Ravidas, one of the most famous of the North Indian poet-saints known as the Sants, is generally be lieved to have lived in Benares at the turn of the sixteenth century.1 Ravidas must have been profoundly troubling to the orthodox Hindus of his time, for he came from one of the lowest untouchable groups, the camars or tanners.Camars were considered physically impure be cause of their occupational contact with dead animals, but it is also important to recognize the moral taint associated with untouchability.Given the prevailing belief in karma, according to which people got what they deserved, birth as a camar bore witness to grave sins in one's past.This sinful past also influenced one's present moral ten dencies, while one's "sinful" company (fellow camars) made it unlikely that one could ever reform.The notion of a saintly camar must have been hard for his contemporaries to accept, as it was, as we shall see, for at least one of his biographers.Although in the past Ravidas's low status may have presented a problem, his modem admirers strive to affirm, rather than deny it.Ravidas has become an important symbol for certain low-caste groups, particularly camars, in their struggle for social and religious equality.Hawley's reports on the activities of B. R. Ghera and the camars of Shri Govardhanpur are only two examples of this trend (Hawley and Juergensmeyer 1988, 9-10, 19-23).As a camar saint, Ravidis is their model in the effort to define a new religious identity, as well as a use-* This paper has been modified and enriched by a dialogue with many people: Jack Hawley, who read the first drafts; Winand CaUewaert, who kindly sent me drafts of his manuscripts on Anantadas; and Eleanor Zelliot and Joseph

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