[Advaita-l] A request for clarifications

[Hari R]

Namaste.

First of all, modern Indian constitution certainly seems to agree with
this, since it doesn't allow the study of Vedas and Vedanta as part of the
secular public school curriculum"! That includes the study of Ithihasas
like Ramayanam and Mahabharatam as well.

As for Sankara, he does seem to endorse the popular view that Sudras aren't
eligible to a *direct* study of the Vedas and Upanishads. In this respect
he is aligned with Bhaskaracharya and Ramanujacharya while Srikantacharya
of the Saivism school makes all Sudras eligible for the study of the
Vedanta.

Now by the word "Sudras" who are meant here, is a debatable point. In the
Manu Smriti certain tribal communities (for example the Baluchis) who lived
on the outskirts of the then Aryan civilization, were specifically named
under the category "Sudras". But none of the modern communities who call
themselves "Sudra" are explicitly named so in the Smriti texts.

Back to Sankara, he agrees that irrespective of community, all Sudras are
very much eligible to learn Vedanta through the Mahabharatam, Ramayanam and
Puranas. This is significant since the Bhagavad Gita which is the cream of
the Vedas and Vedantam, lie in the Mahabharatam. In it, lord Krishna has
categorically stated that women, sudras as well as Chandalas/Mlecchas too
are eligible to moksham through him.

किरातहूणान्ध्रपुलिन्दपुल्कसा
आभीरशुम्भा यवनाः खसादयः ।
येऽन्ये च पापा यदुपाश्रयाश्रयाः
शुध्यन्ति तस्मै प्रभविष्णवे नमः ॥
​सन्दर्भः: श्रीमद्भागवतम् २.४.१८

Kirata, Huṇa, Andhra, Pulinda, Pulkasa, Ābhīra, Śumbha, Yavana, and the
Khasa tribes and even others addicted to sinful acts can be purified by
taking shelter of the devotees of the Lord, due to His being the supreme
power. I beg to offer my respectful obeisances unto Him. (Srimad
Bhagavatham)

and Sankara too endorses this in his Gita Bhashyam.

Apart from the Bhagavad Gita, we see Vedantic passages in almost all the
Puranas, like in Suta Samhita in Skanda Purana, the Ullapana Gitam of
Madalasa Devi in Markandeya Purana etc. Traditionally all the Puranas used
to be taught to all communities, including the Sudras. So the Vedantic
knowledge was always available to Sudras at all times.

The Smritis stress that for directly learning the Vedas and Upanishads, one
should undergo proper initiation ceremony under a qualified teacher. In the
Chandogyopanishad, a rich king by name Janasruti is mentioned. He takes
pride in the various alms houses he had set up in the country, but his
pride was crushed by two Rishis, who in the form of birds, convey to him
that his fame is far surpassed by a brahmana, Raikva with the cart. The
king approaches Raikva with money and with his daughter, asking him to
teach him about "the devata whom he (Raikva) worships". Raikva then teaches
the king "Samvarga Vidya" through his daughter. Essentially this story
reveals king Janasruti as a person who has not undergone initiation in any
mantra (ex: Gayatri mantra), or else, a Raja who after undergoing
initiation, failed to do his devata worship regularly, and hence became a
"Patita". That is why Raikva calls him a "Sudra" prior to teaching him the
Vidya. Smritis like the Manu Smruti state that one who, after undergoing
initiation, fails to do Upasana regularly, will become Patita and will lose
his dwija status.

In that sense, in my opinion, any one in modern times, who even though he
might be doing a lot of public works, isn't doing the regular Upasana of
any Devata he is initiated to, might be considered a Sudra, hence
ineligible for the direct study of the Vedas and Vedanta.

With saadara pranamam to all,
Hari


On Friday, April 24, 2026, santosh mahapatra via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Esteemed Members,
> Please accept my humble Pranams. For past several months I am going
> through an internal turmoil due to my inability to answer some questions
> raised by my 18 year old son regarding Adi Shankar's remarks prohibiting
> studies of Vedas and Vedanta by Women and Shudras.Can there be any
> spiritual interpretation to Adi Shankaracharya's such injunctions? I shall
> appreciate the responses from the learned members in this group. They will
> be very helpful to clarify his doubts.
> Pranams,
> Santosh
>  "Ego rules the world. People are helpless victims of their egos."-- Amma
> (Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, The Hugging Saint)
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