>Mam hi pArtha vypAstritya
>Ye 'pi syuh pApayonayah
>StrIyo vaisyAs tathA sUdrAs
>te 'pi yAnti parAm gatim
>According to Chinmayananda, this poem means :
>"For taking refuge in me, they also, who, O Partha, may be of a sinful
>birth - women, vaisyas as well as sudras - they even attain
>the supreme goal."
>Shall we call Vyasa the oldest feminist in Indian tradition?
vyaasa wrote the story of 'prameela', probably the most ancient Indian
feminist
to-date (may be a creation only) in asvaMedha parva of mahaabhaarata.
>Because he included vaisyas and sudras in the eligibility list,
>shall we call him the earliest protagonist of Dalit movement?
>How about calling him the predecessor to Karl Marx in communist idealogy?
You may refer to the book 'bhagavadgeeta-Marxism' written by renowned
Marxist-Communist Sree 'yETukUri balaraama moorti'. (I tried for this
book, but I couldn't get it in my very limited trials.)
Of course, as long as people want to see the 'person' but not the 'point',
only the 'term' but not the 'concept', there is never a point.
With regards,
Prabhakar Vissavajjhala