ABSTRACT
The caste system has many complexities, and it is usual for modern scholars to concentrate on simplified aspects of it, which they condemn on moral grounds. Thirteenth-century Virashaiva poets such as Palkuriki and Somanatha denounced social problems caused by caste rigidities. And Telugu folk-poet Vemana wrote verses in South India before the time of Kanakadasa, criticizing caste prejudices: Though there are many castes, and personalities vary, people are all of the salf-same human race; cotton shares basic sameness, though pillows have different shapes; divine consciousness is affirmed by all true faiths. In his series of Sanskrit verses, Hari Bhakti Sara, Kanakadasa questions the logic of the strict birth-based systems of ritual purity/pollution which divided life in India so stultifyingly: Once food has been tasted, people call it polluted. Kanakadasa's songs are still sung, centuries after the fall of Vijayanagara. Kanakadasa is one of those beloved sources of spiritual inspiration.
