One more thing !
Sankara's " Manisha Panchakam " - Sloka 1
This the first statement of Shankara .
"If one is convinced firmly that he is that very soul which manifests itself in all conditions of sleep , wakefulness and dream , in all the objects from the great Brahman to the tiny ant and which is also vibrant but invisible witness of all then as per my clear conclusion he is the great teacher , be he be twice born or an outcaste".
The emphatic statement is
చండాలో అస్తు స తు ద్విజో అస్తు
चंडालो अस्तु स तु द्विजो अस्तु
whether he is a Brahmin or an outcaste .. it does not matter , He is the Guru !!
గురుః ఇతి ఏషా మనీషా మమ||
गुरुः इति एषा मनीषा मम॥
That is my firm belief " iti Esha manishaa mama"
Shankara states emphatically that the " soul manifests itself in all objects from the great Brahman to the tiny Ant " and the one who realizes that is the Guru - it does not matter if he is brahmin or a chandala. Sankara also adds the fact of soul being the witness and again the one who realizes this also is the knower, no matter what ever may be his antecedents .
In the contemporary idiom - It boils down to saying that if one has the samskara of education and one has the equanimity towards all of life it does not matter who he is by caste designation be he a brahmin or be he of any of the castes specified -
- he is the Brahman !!.
The corollaryalso is that though one may be "Brahman" by caste if he does not have the qualifications for being a"Brahman" he certainly is not one.
Over the ages the Brahmins were the source of scriptural knowledge for others. But there were always other seekers of knowledge challenging the knowledge boundaries.
Knowledge was acquired by others as well and all those who emerged as the knowledge seekers expanding the boundaries of knowledge were celebrated as the knowers. This was an accepted fact of glorious the past in this domain. The Vyasa and Valmiki acquired the knowledge and the status of "Brahman", they were not born ""Dvijas" .
Shankara through this " manisha panchakam" restated that fact that knowledge is Supreme and not one's antecedents !!
Sankara's answer is firm. Sankara states that as his conviction:
చండాలో అస్తు స తు ద్విజో అస్తు
గురుః ఇతి ఏషా మనీషా మమ||
चंडालो अस्तु स तु द्विजो अस्तु
गुरुः इति एषा मनीषा मम॥
Who ever posses ( this) wisdom- Be he a brahman or be he a chandala - He is the Guru !!
Said with conviction- nobody could have said it better !!
||om tat sat ||