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INTRODUCTION
 
liked by the Lord: hence, it is adharma (sinful). (Even with
reference to the passage quoted above from the Gita), this
point is made clear by the words next following: "He at
once becomes a man of virtuous conduct." (IX. 31)
 
Again, bhakti is open to all, whether the person is in one
or other aśrama or is in no āśrama at all, like a widower or
snataka (a person who has completed his studies as a brahma.
charin and has not yet married and become a grihastha ) So the
Brahma Sutras determine in the following and other aphor.
isms: "He (the householder) must have control of the senses
and the mind" (III. IV. 27); and ("Knowledge of God can be
attained) in the case of those outside (the aśramas), as this is
observed." (III. 4. 36). This is but proper. There is no
prohibition of the recitation of the holy Names by any
person, whatever his position, as in the case of a son calling
for his mother. For God is loving like a mother. He is the
kinsman of all and a natural friend. See, for example,
Gajendra, Jaṭāyus, the crow (the son of Indra), Vibhishaṇa
(brother of Ravaṇa), the people of Kosala, the gopikas and the
flower-maker.
 
Then the question arises: What about the Apasūdra Adhi.
karana? What is stated there is something different. This is
an adhikarana in the Brahma-Sutras, in which it is concluded
that the Sudras are prohibited from studying the Vedas. What
is prohibited to others than the three higher is only the cere-
monies eonnected with fine which they have not learnt,
and the supreme science (of God) to be known through the
Vedanta, as they have not studied the Vedas under an instruc
tor and obtained the necessary qualification by studying the
Upanishads under a guru. (Then, the commentator goes on to
describe the exact position laid down in the Apasidra Adhi-
karaṇa, as to the competency of persons to approach God and
the ways of doing so.) This kind of regulation (of approach-
ing God through the path enjoined in the Vedas) holds good in
the case of persons, desirous of moksha and belonging to the
three (higher) castes. On account of the preponderance of
their sattvaguna, they can proceed along the great path of
Brahma-vidya as laid down in the Upanishads and involving
śravana (hearing about God), manana (thinking about Him),
etc. This is fairly well known. Even among them (the three