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104
RIŞABHA DEVA
bhangi can do! There a man may do the work of a sweeper but he is not a bhangi by birth, ancestry and living!
At the same time we must be on our guard against stretching the point too far, to suffer an exaggerated sentiment to mar the progress of an aspiring soul, which cannot but be productive of evil result in our own case. It is not every passing thought that takes effect as a suggestion ; isolation, intensity and persistence are necessary for the purpose. And it is not every suggestion even that will lead to nicha (low) status in the future rebirth; for a suggestion can always be eradicated from the mind as easily it can be formed. Habitual association with actual filth will be required to produce an effect that is to accompany the soul after death and to lead to nicha gotra (status).
If the untouchables will change their condition and rise higher, let them get rid of their filth and the filthy surroundings, and so arrange matters that their appearance should no longer be suggestive of the extreme filth that it does today. It is not blood prejudice that is really working against them, but their own uncleanliness. To what extent the acute economical problem that is facing us will admit of-their ridding themselves of filth, it is difficult to say ; but it is
