Do wind and rain avoid
Some men among the rest
Because their caste is low?
When such men tread the earth
Does it quake with rage ?
Or does the brilliant sun
Refuse them its rays?
Oh Brahmana, has our God
E'er bid the teeming fields
Bring forth fruits and flowers
For men of caste alone?
Or made the forest green
To gratify the eyes of
None but the Pariahs?
Oh Brahmans, listen to me
In all this blessed land
There is but one great caste,
One tribe and brotherhood
One God doth dwell above,
And he hath made us one
In birth and frame and tongue.
Kapila was a poet of the Sangam age; one of his compositions, the Kapilar Agaval, has remained popular among the Tamils since ancient times. Sangam poetry is a Dravidian, pre-Christian literary tradition of Southern India that carries no influence of Sanskrit.
Source: Folk Songs of Southern India, Charles Grover.
Tags: Kapila