He cannot serve food in the ashram
for of the highest caste he is not;
He cleans the place and washes the plates
for that task is pre-ordained for his lot.

The devotees chant the Great Saint’s name
their hearts laden with prejudice;
By a visit to a shrine; a dip in a river
they strive and hope for eternal bliss.

Tis a symbol of all things contrary
to what the Great Saint had taught;
Tis a repository of just the very evil
against which the Man had silently fought.

If the Man is revered and worshiped
and his Message it is all but forgotten;
Are not our Holy Shrines and Sacred Places
Crumbling and degenerating into the rotten?

(for Arun and several others like him)