Why Bhakti Movement failed to uplift the Untouchables?
- Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
“The struggle of the saints did not have any effect on society. They raised some dust but not the level of the people. They fought for equality before God but not in society.
The value of man is axiomatic, self-evident; it does not come to him as the result of the gilding of Bhakti. The saints did not struggle to establish this point. On the contrary, their struggle had a very unhealthy effect on the depressed classes. It provided the Brahmins with an excuse to silence them by saying that they would be respected if they also attained the status of Chokhamela."
As the followers of different cults of Bhakti were themselves filled with caste prejudices, Dr. Ambedkar proceeded, they not only turned a blind eye to their message of equality, justice, and humanitarianism but also described their incredible miracles with utmost exaggeration. - “Dr. Ambedkar: Life and Mission”- Dhananjay Keer, p. 109-110
