Gora Kumbhar: The Potter Who Sang to the Clay

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode! Dharma Katha · Season 4: The Road to Diwali · Episode 145 Go to any market in India this week, and somewhere near the corner, on a sheet on the ground, there will be a potter's family selling diyas. Hundreds of them. Small, red-brown, still smelling a little of the kiln. Ten rupees for a dozen, maybe less. Every one of them was a lump of wet earth a few weeks ago. Someone kneaded it with their feet, shaped it on a wheel, and baked it in fire. Tonight, the story of a potter. Missed the previous story? Listen to Episode 144 first. Source note. Label: tradition. Gora Kumbhar of Ter, his singing of Vitthal's name while treading clay, his testing of the saints with a potter's paddle, Namdev being called unbaked, Vitthal's advice and Namdev taking Visoba Khechar as his guru, are told in the Varkari tradition and by Mahipati in the Bhaktavijaya; it is hagiography, and details differ between tellings. The reflections are my own. Note: this episode is narrated with an AI voice and the script was written with AI assistance. Sanskrit verses are checked against published editions; corrections are welcome.