The Vedas are one of the oldest manuscripts in the world literature. The word Veda is derived from the Sanskrit root ‘vid’ which means knowledge, but it could be attributed as a bundle of knowledge of the Vedic period. All the Indian chronicles and myths extol the Vedas. There is not even a single mantra anywhere in the sacred text repudiating anyone the right to become versed in Vedas but the authority to study and teach the Vedas abounding with knowledge, has been interpreted as the right of a monopolized community gradually.
Prominent social reformers like Dayananda Saraswati and Swami Vivekananda who visited India in the late 19th century argued that everyone has the right to study the Vedas. Meanwhile, Chattambi Swami wrote Vedadhikara Nirupanam, proclaiming that the right to study Veda belongs to everyone in Kerala. In this book, Chattambi Swami analyses extensively the question of who is qualified to study the Vedas and has explicitly established that everyone who has the desire to study the Vedas and the customs in rapport with it are eligible for the study. The dissension created by this work was tremendous during the time when the elite castes and scholars of the society strongly believed and argued that only Brahmins had the dominion to study the Vedas.
Vyaptheshcha Samajasam is elaborated in the Brahma Sutras as follows. Para brahma swaroopi, Parameswaran (Lord Shiva) is omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient and absolute. On account of this, it is equitable to say that even if there is a disparity in the name or context of the theosophical form of knowledge, the objective serves as the same. The purpose of all techniques is to illustrate the essence of God in copious ways. They all have similarities in it. Therefore every theosophy is analogous.
After reflecting the Vedic forms and significance of the Vedas, Chattambi Swami encompasses the principles of Shruti(what is heard), Yukti(logic) and Anubhavam (experience) and depicts his own perceptions. Similarly, Swami meticulously discusses who is a Brahmin. For instance, Swami examines whether any of these qualities like pure knowledge, birth, noble action and self knowledge make a person a Brahmin or a combination of all these. From this discussion it is implicit that a Brahmin is only one who has wisdom and associated noble deeds.
The dogma that the Shudrascannot be educated ‘nasthrishudrau vedamathiyatham’, this verse is neither a Veda nor a Smriti, it is just a sutra (aphorism).It is not accepted or studied anywhere in Shruti (what is heard) Smriti (what is recollected) mythological texts. Therefore, it does not have to be accepted as a doctrine. The verse means that women and Shudras need not have to study but it cannot be interpreted that they are incapable to learn.
Even if it is argued that Shudras (lowest ranked of the four varnas of Hindu caste system) have no authority to study the Puranas, many of the authors of the Puranas are Shudras. The veracity of the matter cannot be denied. Most people know that the author of the Suta Samhita is also a Shudra. Ergo, the eminence of that book cannot be deemed as inferior. Parasaran, the son of Odakkari, and Vyasa, the son of Mukuvathi (fisherwoman) compiled the Vedas and were also Brahmins.
Art. XVII.—The Nāgas. A Contribution to the History of Serpent-Worship
