Born in 1827, Jotiba Phule (1827–90), like Dayananda, had the desire for a form of social organisation that would refl ect the merits and aptitudes of the individual, rather than enforcing birth as the basis both for occupation and for religious status. The play, Tritiya Ratna (The Third Eye), which he published in 1855 is a powerful exposition of his ideology. The play is about the exploitation of an ignorant and superstitious peasant couple by a cunning Brahman priest and their subsequent enlightenment by a Christian missionary. Three important points stand out in this play. First, critical of Brahman domination, he made a wider point concerning the oppressive nature of Hindu religion that, in its present form, imposed an ideological hegemony on the shudras and by suggesting several purifying rituals, it also contributed to material impoverishment of the untouchables. Second, by underlining the role of a Christian missionary who rescued the couple from the clutches of the greedy Brahman, Phule seemed to have explored the possibility of conversion as probably the only practical device to get out of the exploitative Hindu religion.