Savitribai Phule · Sanskrit Story
The Well That Belonged to Everyone
सर्वेषां वापी
D. Keer — Mahatma Jotirao Phooley (1964); Maharashtra State Archives; R. O'Hanlon (1985) · Beginner Sanskrit
The Thirsty and the Forbidden
ग्रामे एका वापी आसीत् — किन्तु सर्वेषां कृते न। शूद्राः, अस्पृश्याः — तेषां वाप्यां प्रवेशः निषिद्धः। ते नद्याः, तडागात्, पंकात् जलं पिबन्ति स्म। सावित्री एतद् दृष्ट्वा अचिन्तयत् — "जलं तु ईश्वरस्य देनम् — कः निषेधयितुं शक्नोति?"
In the village there was a well — but not for everyone. Lower castes, those called "untouchable" — their entry to the well was forbidden (niṣiddhaḥ — निषिद्धः). They drank from rivers, ponds, puddles. Seeing this, Savitribai thought — "Water is the gift of the divine — who can forbid it?"
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