VML-4/20/01

[Guest guest]

The business of the Pariah is to clean the streets of the cities and

to keep houses clean. He cannot enter the house by the front door; by

the back door he enters; and as soon as he has gone, the whole place

over which he has passed is sprinkled with and made holy by a little

Ganga water. By birth the Brahman stands for holiness, and the Pariah

for the very reverse. And this Brahmin asked to be allowed to do the

menial services in the house of the Pariah. The Pariah of course

could not allow that, for they all think that if they allow a Brahmin

to do such menial work it will be an awful sin, and they will become

extinct. The Pariah would not permit it; so in the dead of night,

when all were sleeping, Ramakrishna would enter the house. He had

long hair, and with his hair he would wipe the place, saying, " Oh, my

Mother, make me the servant of the Pariah, make me feel that I am

even lower than the Pariah. " " They worship Me best who worship My

worshippers. These are all My children and your privilege is to serve

them " --is the teaching of Hindu scriptures.