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Babu
In Hindu culture, the Brahmin caste is considered to be at the very top of the caste hierarchy. Brahmins are traditionally associated with priesthood and teaching, though in Untouchable, poet Iqbal Nath Sarshar asserts that manipulative Brahmins are also to blame for the entire problem of caste hierarchy. The narrative reflects this general critique of Brahminism, presenting its only Brahmin priest, Pundit Kali Nath, as lecherous, hypocritical, and more than willing to abuse his power.
Brahmin Quotes in Untouchable
The Untouchable quotes below are all either spoken by Brahmin or refer to Brahmin. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Pages 3–43
Quotes
The expectant outcastes were busy getting their pictures ready, but as that only meant shifting themselves into position so to be nearest to this most bountiful, most generous of men, all their attention was fixed on him [Pundit Kali Nath]. […] But the Brahmin, becoming interested in the stirrings of his stomach, and the changing phases of his belly, looked, for a moment, absent-minded. A subtle wave of warmth seemed to have descended slowly down from his arms to the pit of his abdomen, and he felt a strange stirring above his navel such as he had not experienced for months, so pleasing was it in its intimations of the relief it would bring him.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Untouchable LitChart as a printable PDF.
Brahmin Term Timeline in Untouchable
The timeline below shows where the term Brahmin appears in Untouchable. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Pages 3–43
...Sohini agrees and rushes away. On her way out, she runs into Lachman, a young Brahmin who has long nursed a crush on Sohini. But when the Pundit notices Lachman looking...
(full context)
Pages 43–73
Bakha is livid, threatening to kill the hypocritical Brahmin. Bakha wants to know exactly what the priest did to Sohini, and she explains that...
(full context)
Pages 105–139
...Christ sacrificed himself “to help us all; for the rich and the poor; for the Brahmin and the Bhangi” (Untouchables). Bakha is intensely moved by this idea of equality, though he...
(full context)
...positing that everyone is basically equal and that the caste system is a result of Brahmin greed and manipulation. To prove his ideas, Sarshar points to the eloquence and poetry of...
(full context)
