• On Navaratri, this is the fourth in a series of nine articles on Women Sants, of Marathi-speaking areas, between the 13-17 centuries. This is a brief feature on the life of Soyarabai, who belonged to the Varkari tradition and derived her spiritual wisdom from Advaita Vedanta. 

To read article 1 on Mahdambha , To read article 2 on Muktabai , To read article 3 on Janabai

Soyarabai is one of the foremost and probably the first known female sant of the Varkari tradition who belonged to the untouchable caste. She was the wife of a relatively better known sant of the Varkari Sampraday, Chokhamela. Soyarabai and Chokhameḷa are known to have resided in Mangalvedha (near Pandharpur) during the late thirteenth to early fourteenth century and had a son named Karmameḷa. The entire family of Chokhamela, including his wife Soyarabai, brother-in-law Banka, sister Nirmala, and son Karmamela, are all esteemed sants of the Varkari Sampraday.

There are a minimum of 62 abhangas attributed to Soyarabai, who often employs “Chokhiyachi Mahari” (the wife of Mahar Chokhamela) as her signature, and rarely identifies as Soyara. The works ascribed to her hardly mention her husband Chokhamela. Her compositions frequently allude to her low-caste status.

During an era when the mere presence of a Shudra was deemed polluting and required ritual purification for redemption from this “sin”, Soyarabai pursued the spiritual knowledge accessible solely to the dvija castes. As an untouchable woman, Soyarabai confronted numerous societal hierarchies. It was remarkably bold for an untouchable woman to desire knowledge, to comprehend the true essence of existence, and to pursue the perennial spiritual inquiry, “Who am I?”

She resolutely asserts her position, challenges societal conventions, resists, and contends with the divine. Through profound contemplation and unwavering commitment, she leaves the invaluable legacy of spiritual wisdom in her abhanga compositions and secures an indomitable status within the sant tradition of Maharashtra.

According to the societal norms of her era, the spiritual message propagated by Soyarabai, who was otherwise engaged in removing deceased animals from the village alongside her husband, is astounding. Seven centuries ago, when concepts of purity and pollution prevailed, it was inconceivable for an untouchable woman, positioned at the lowest social rung, to express any views regarding these superficial notions of purity.

Soyarbai poses thought-provoking enquiries regarding purity and pollution. She enquires, if the body is impure, who is the creator of the body? She writes:

देहासी विटाळ म्हणती सकळ । आत्मा तो निर्मळ शुद्धबुद्ध ।।१।।

देहींचा विटाळ देहींच जन्मला । सोवळा तो झाला कवण धर्म ।।२।।

विटाळावांचोनी उत्पत्तीचें स्थान । कोण देह निर्माण नाहीं जगीं ।।३।।

म्हणुनी पांडुरंगा वानितसे थोरी । विटाळ देहांतरी वसतसे ।।४।।

देहाचा विटाळ देहीच निर्धारी । म्हणतसे महारी चोखियाची ।।५।।

The body is deemed impure, yet the soul remains pure and aware.
The body's pollution originates from menstruation, childbirth, death, and touching. What type of dharma purifies the Brahmin’s body? The origin of birth is pollution, and no one is born without suffering pollution. Impurity exists within the body, and the only path of redemption to transcend this impurity (for all) is to worship Panduranga. The Mahari of Chokha asserts that the body’s pollution is contained entirely within the body, without exception.

The language of Soyrabai’s abhangas are straightforward and rooted in her personal experience. Her abhangs reflect profound spiritual wisdom derived from Advaita Vedanta. She composes: 

अवघा रंग एक झाला । रंगी रंगला श्रीरंग ॥१॥

मी तूंपण गेलें वायां । पाहतां पंढरीच्या राया ॥२॥

नाही भेदाचें तें काम । पळोनी गेले क्रोध काम ॥३॥

देही असुनी तूं विदेही । सदा समाधिस्थ पाही ॥४॥

पाहते पाहणें गेले दुरी । म्हणे चोखियाची महारी ॥५॥

All colours converge into a singular hue, and the lord of colours, Shreerang, rejoices in that one colour. Upon encountering the king of Pandhari, Pandurang, the dichotomy of ‘I’ and ‘You’ dissipates. Discrimination has no place; anger and desires diminish along this spiritual path. The supreme being is without the body; nonetheless, its essence exists within me and can be perceived in the state of samadhi, or absolute concentration. The perception of the supreme being is behind me, (and I can sense my unity with it,) so says Chokhamela’s Mahari.

Similar to most Varkari Sants, Soyarabai does not advocate for asceticism or withdrawal from the quotidian world. She often writes about family, daily responsibilities, devotion to God Vithoba, pilgrimage to Pandharpur, married life, and the pursuit of liberation amidst it.

Let’s pay tribute to her by invoking the following mantra:

या देवी सर्वभूतेषु जातिरूपेण संस्थिता।

नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः॥

To that Devi who resides in all beings as the Original Cause of all, I offer my salutations, my salutations, my salutations, and my repeated salutations.

Author is Associate Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. The opinions expressed in this series are personal. 

References

1. Daukes, Jacqueline. Female voices in the Vārkarī sampradāya: Gender constructions in a bhakti tradition. Diss. SOAS, University of London, 2014.

2. Jain, Jasbir. Indigenous roots of feminism: Culture, subjectivity and agency. New Delhi: SAGE Publications India, 2011. 

3. Kanade, M.S. and Bhalchandra Khandekar, eds. Sant Chokhamela Abhangavani. Pune: Snehavardhan Publishing House, 1987.

4. Kher, B.G. (1979) “Maharashtra Women Saints” in Women Saints of East and West, edited by Ghanananda and Stewart-Wallace (1979), pp. 58–72.

5. Mahipati. Bhaktavijay. Trans. Justin E. Abbott and N.R. Godbole. 1933. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1999.

6. Mokashi-Punekar, Rohini. On the Threshold: Songs of Chokhamela. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 2004.

7. Ramaswamy, Vijaya. “Rebels – Conformists? Women saints in medieval South India” Anthrops 87.1992, pp-133-146.

8. Zelliot Enleanor. Untouchable Saints: An Indian Phenomenon. New Delhi: Manohar Prakashan, 2005.

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