Cokhāmelā: a poet from an “ex-Untouchable” caste in the Marathi Bhakti Tradition

Indian religious traditions are multidimensional and multi-layered. Though the Sanskrit texts often try to make Brahminical hegemony sacrosanct, some voices from the margins challenge exclusivity. Vernacular medieval *bhakti* poetry has provided a literary platform for the subalterns to articulate their grievances, express spiritual musings, and assert themselves.  Cokhāmelā and his family belonged to an untouchable caste in 14th-century Maharashtra, and their poetry records the discrimination and humiliation they faced. They are assertive about their identity as devotees of Viṭṭhala, the God at Phandarpur, as Cokhāmelā proudly says that he may be of lower caste, but his devotion is not in any way inferior. Given the socio-cultural situation of the medieval period, he could not free himself from the psychological fetters of the tradition altogether and found consolation in internalizing the doctrine of *karma*, which he believed to be responsible for his degraded position.