“Greatness comes from the heart, not from caste.”
These famous lines by Mahakavi Laxmi Prasad Devkota convey a powerful message: a person’s greatness is determined not by caste, but by the heart and conduct they demonstrate.
A scene witnessed in Godawari, Kailali, on Friday brought those words to life.
During the funeral rites of 68-year-old Gangaram Seva, a resident of Pashupati Tole in Dhangadhi Sub-Metropolitan City–1, a man from the Chhetri community took an active role in carrying the deceased’s body, preparing the funeral pyre and helping manage the cremation.
At first, he appeared to be an unfamiliar face among the mourners. Yet he stepped forward to carry the body and helped prepare the pyre. After the deceased’s family members lit the funeral pyre, while other mourners stood watching, he continued working to ensure that the pyre burned properly.
Curiosity about who he was eventually revealed his identity. He was a member of the Chhetri community from Badakhet in Jorayal Rural Municipality of Doti.
What made the moment even more poignant was the relationship between the two men. Gangaram, a member of the Pariyar community, had worked as a tailor at the Chhetri man’s clothing shop. He placed the bond he had formed with his employee above caste boundaries and stood by him even during his final journey.
Even today, members of the Dalit community continue to face discrimination, including difficulties finding rented accommodation and social and religious exclusion in their own neighbourhoods. In such a context, the open participation of a non-Dalit man in a Dalit person’s funeral—from carrying the body to preparing the funeral pyre—sent a significant human message against untouchability and caste discrimination.
The mourners praised his courage, generosity and strong sense of humanity. They said that if similar attitudes could develop among other non-Dalit communities, it could make a meaningful contribution to ending caste-based untouchability and discrimination.
In the final journey of death, it was not caste but humanity that stood by him.
The funeral pyre in Godawari left behind a profound message: a person is made great not by caste, but by the heart.
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