Deliverance is a short story by Premchand on the plight of the untouchables in contemporary

society. It is in line with most of the themes of Dalit Shaitya in highlighting the merciless,

unjustifiable oppression of the ‘lower’ class; but rather than take the characteristic angry and

rebellious tone that rages against social constructs, the story takes a suffocatingly acquiescing

quality, leaving the reader to feel the anger and the frustration on behalf of the oppressed

characters. It is cynical and reflective in nature, forcing us to look at how religious dogma

makes some people less human than others, normalizing extortion to a point where neither

the oppressed nor the oppressor realize the gravity of the misdeeds.

The title ‘Deliverance’ or the original title ‘Sadgati’ is a dig at the Hindu concept of liberation

from the cycle of birth and death towards transcendence to a higher state of being, which is

attainable only if one follows the prescriptions of the religious texts ‘faithfully’. The

underlying question that the author seems to be asking through the story is, “Is this truly the

route to Deliverance?”.

In the story we follow our protagonist Dukhi as he tries to fix an appointment with the village

priest to get a date for his daughter’s wedding. Dukhi is a tanner by caste and profession,

delegating him to the untouchable status, doomed to live in the terrible conditions that come

with it. But throughout the story, Dukhi’s faith in the Brahminical religion remains steadfast,

to a point where he sees himself as subordinate or even sub-human compared to the other

dvija (higher) castes. This is exemplified in his specific instructions to his wife in the

beginning of the story on how to present offerings so that it is worthy of being offered to the

Brahmin, careful that they do not ‘pollute’ it with their touch. He truly believes that his

sadgati lies in his lifetime of faithful service to ensure an honorable death.

Dukhi’s task in the story is a one that all Hindus are familiar with: to get the Brahmin to fix a

date and by extension give his approval and blessing for any auspicious event, in this case,
Dukhi’s daughter’s wedding. To any person of a higher caste this would have been easy

enough, but the lengths to which Dukhi has to go for the Brahmin, Ghasiram Pandit, to even

consider his request is greatly exacerbated by the accident of birth, where he was assigned the

lowest rung on the ladder. The Brahmin immediately gives him a long list of chores, not

allowing for even a little rest in between, needing all of it done by evening before his visit to

Dukhi’s house. The panditayin treats him no different than her husband, if not being stricter

about the segregation between caste, creating an atmosphere where the poor man doesn’t dare

ask for water. The heartlessness of the conversation between the two of them where they

decide whether or not to feed Dukhi for his troubles highlights how sub-human he is in their

eyes; not even worth the stale pieces of leftover bread in the kitchen. Better he work on an

empty stomach, then waste such a delicacy on him.

Dukhi’s absolute subservience to them is shown in the many instances where he berates

himself for the perceived slights against the brahmin and his household. He always finds

ways to blame himself for his own mistreatment. When he walks into the house of the

brahmin to ask for a piece of coal to light his pipe with, the panditayin almost burns him with

how carelessly she flings the coal in his direction once forced concede a piece from her fire.

Dukhi immediately depreciates himself, thinking it to be a punishment of God for daring to

commit sacrilege against brahmins by almost polluting their house with his presence.

It is this belief that the brahmins themselves use to extract free labour from him, with the

Gond rightly pointing out, “The government officials may force you to work for them but

they pay you something for it… This fellow’s gone one better, calling himself a holy man.”

Dukhi’s labour benefits no one but the brahmin, who is comfortably napping, with all his

chores taken care of.

When he goads Dukhi into working further, the man hangs the promise of an auspicious date

in front of him, making the unfortunate Dukhi push himself to such an extent that he ends up

dying of overwork, starvation and thirst. Dukhi’s death is symbolic of how the caste-ist

society uses and abuses the lower caste. The upper castes dangle a superficial promise of

salvation over the heads of those that they extort, extracting to a point where they have

nothing left to give, not even their own lives. The promise of a better afterlife blinds the

oppressed to the sufferings in this one.

The value of Dukhi’s life is so little that the brahmin has no realisation that he has committed

murder by taking it. The stench that comes from Dukhi’s rotting corpse is an inconvenience.

When none of the upper castes are able to draw water due to Dukhi’s body blocking the path,

they still do not register Dukhi’s death, they only bother with the obstacle that he poses. Even

when the brahmin is forced to dispose the body, he is more concerned with the pollution

through touch, which he rectifies with a few purification rituals. The last line of the story

seems to cruelly mock Dukhi’s efforts for a honourable way to die through his service a

society that doesn’t see him as human even in death.

“Out there in the filed with the jackals and the kites, dogs and crows were picking at Dukhi’s

body. This was the reward of a whole life of devotion, service and faith.”