The Shudra Question

My plan was to write this as a research paper in a scholarly journal.I have a sizeable quantity of
manuscripts, printed materials and notes that were collected for the above mentioned purpose.A few
months back ,I came across a spirited discussion between Kalavai Venkat and Venkatarahavan in
the+ facebook regarding this issue.I was tempted to write a blog post immediately but as usual my
sluggishness got better of me.This week I saw a post on the same issue.This time it was by
Jataayu.My first instinct was to decry Jataayu for lieing through teeth.May be he was not exactly
lieing,but at least ,he was being very economical with truth.Alternatively,one can say that Jataayu
just tried to carry forward the legacy of Neo-Vedanta school of thought,to which he belongs to. In
the wake of that post by Jataayu,I decided to write a blog post first and clear a few things.

You would have guessed the focus of this post from the title itself.The post is about the definition of
the term Shudra with reference to vedanta.To be precise I would like to limit myself to Brahma
Sutra Bhashyas.Further,I would like to confine myself with the commentaries of Shankara and
Ramanuja.There are only a handful of Shudras in the mAdhva school.Further the mAdhva school
does not put forward Western ideas like universal inclusiveness.(However one would be pleasently
surprised if one were to travel in that direction).

My post will have folowing sections 1) Questions raised in the Psuedo-Shudra Adhikarana of
Brahma Sutra 2) A Gist of Shankara'a position and explanation on that 3) A gist of Ramanuja's
position and Explanation 4) How do Neo-Vedantis and Hinduthvas negate it ? 5) What are the
ideological implications of such a negation for a seeker ?

1) Brahma sutra and Shudra :

Brahma Sutra in one among the triad ie Prastana Traya on which most of the Hindu schools of
thought are based .Brahma Sutra has a discussionof a number of topics .One amoung them is about
the eligibility of the Shudra to pursue Vedanta. This section is usually termed as Psuedo Sudra
Adhika by commentators.This section tries to find out answers for the following questions
a) Do Shudras have right to learn/chant Vedas ?(The earlier section was about the rights of
Devas.This section should be considered to be a continuation of that).
b) If there is an ineligibility ,will that ineliigibility continue in the case of learning of Vedanta too.
c)Then how did Shudras like Vidura exhibited Brahma gnana
d)How did King Janasruti who was called Shudra by Raikva got gnana? (Chandokya Upanishad)
e)How did Satyakama was accepted by Gautama as a disciple ? Was it because he Satyakama spoke
truth and truthfulness was equated with the brahminic quality? To be precise, does the Chandokya
Upanishad say anyone who speaks truth is brahmin irrespective of his /her birth ?

2) Shankara's explanation:
Shankara categorically states that Shudras do not have the right to learn Vedas and ergo they are
excluded from Vedanta too.In case of Vidura and such ,the readon for their gnana lies in their merits
that they have acquired during their earlier births.The implication is that exceptions do not make
rules.In the case of Janasruti ,Sankara establishes that he is not a Shudra.Raikva called Janasruti a
Shudra just because he was grief-ridden at that point and that adress is not indicative of his varna.
(With the help of grammatical rules Sankara explains how the word Shudra can be used to adress
one who suffers from grief).Further he ascertains that Satyakama is a brahmin by birth and his
truthfulness is indicative of that.To be precise,Satyakama is truthful because he is a brahmin and not
adjudged to be brahmin because of his truthfulness.This is the arguement put forward in the
text.There is no charges on the morality of Satyakama's mother.One need not strain much to
understand that Sankara does not believe that Shudras have eligibilty to pursue vedantic studies.He
says that Shudras can listen to Ithihasa and Puranas.However ,Shankara does not say that Shudra
can attain gnana through Ithiha /Purana.Shankara's conclusion is as follows:
ञञानस्ययैकञाननन्तिकफलत्वञान्तित। शतरञावययेच्चन्तितररोवरञार्णान त इनन्ति चयेनन्तिहञासपतरञारञानधिगमये चञान्तितवर्णारयर्णास्यञानधिकञारस्मररञान्तित। वयेदपपवर्णाकस्न्तित
नञास्त्यनधिकञाररः शपदरत ञारञानमनन्ति नस्स्थिन्तिमत।।
3) Ramanuja's Position
Ramanuja who is now falsely paraded as a poster boy for all sort of “reformation” and “political
correctness” was not hetrodox in his approach to the issue.Infact ,one cannot see any prevarication
in the explaination of Ramanuja.He categorically dismisses the argument that Shudras have right to
gnana through Veda and Vedanta.His explanations closely follow those of Sankara. Ramanuja goes
a step further in dispelling any doubts regarding this issue.He knows very well that certain people
will raise objections on the grounds that a) Vedanta is entirely different from Veda b) An ordinary
brahmin is prohibited from guiding shudras towards brahmagnana ,but a brahmagnai has no such
constraints c) Advaitic knowledge of non-duality is more cerebral and hence there is no necessity
for ritualistic knowledge of Vedas etc.He handles all these issues and firmly establishes that those
are no excuses for a Shudra to dabble with Vedana.He asks,” if there such simple ,intellectual
methods that can enlighten Shudras,then why intellect alone cannot enlighten a brahmana?If
intellectual pursuit etc is enough for everyone ,then the very existence of Upanishads will become
meaningless.Finally ,Ramanuja comes to the role of Puranas and Ithihasas.Sankara has just made a
passing reference.However Ramanuja settles that issue too.He says it is impossible for anyone to
get brahma gnana through puranas and Ithihasas without Vedas.At the best,those texts help in
removing the sins of Shudras and that is it.

4) Neo-vedantins
Influenced by Abrahamic discources and their linear concept of religion,many neo-vedantins were
disturbed by this adhikarana.They tried to twist the meaning and came up with explanations like
this.Most of their explanations were rooted in spatio-temporal justifications.In other words ,they
said Sankara and Ramanuja excluded Shudras because of the rigid caste system of their period.A
few tried to re-define the very term shudra

5) Implications of the apolegetics of Neo-Vedantins: