Yajur Veda :~ It is the right of all people irrespective of caste, colour and sex to read Vedas.+

In the past, the orthodoxy barred women and Shudras from studying Vedas the reason is the truth of the Vedas will expose,  the truth hidden by them by introducing non~Vedic Gods in the name of Vedas time to time,  by different founders of the different sects of Hinduism. It is a high time people of India must realize the Santana Dharma or Vedic religion is not present-day Hinduism. Santana Dharma or Vedic religion is buried under the debris of the non-Vedic belief system. 

Vedas were read by the people in the olden days. Gargi, a woman had read it. Janshruti, a Shudra by birth, had read it under Raikya Muni.

Yajur Veda ch. 26-ii states:~  It is the right of all people irrespective of caste, color, and sex to read Vedas.’

Orthodoxy barred and restricted women from studying scriptures restricted women only to household and bearing children.  In modern days, women are capable has more capable of grasping truth like in the Vedic era.

Sage Sankara: ~ “Even women can realize truth if they persist. (Mand.P.351 and also in Vivekachoodamani)

Thus it proves that Sage Sankara wanted even women to acquire Advaitic wisdom, whereas the orthodox Advaitins bars women from indulging in the path of wisdom even in these modern days.  The orthodoxy is based on the experience of birth, life, death, and the world as a reality whereas the ultimate truth is based on the formless Soul, the Self.   Thus, Advaitic wisdom is for the whole universe irrespective of any gender, race, creed, or religion. 

     Rig Veda: ~ The Atman (Soul) is the cause; Atman is the support of all that exists in this universe. May ye never turn away from the Atman the innermost self. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)

Rig-Veda 1-164-46 and Y.V 32-1 clearly mention that God is “One”. And never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman

Brihad Upanishad: ~ “If you think there is another entity, whether man or God there is no truth."

The Upanishads say in effect that ~ if you believe that the Soul is one and God (Brahman) is another you cannot understand Truth.

Brihad Upanishad: ~ “If you think there is another entity, whether man or God there is no truth."

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: ~ Brahman (God) is present in the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself. 

Bhagavad Gita: ~ Brahmano hi pratisthaham ~ Brahman (God) is considered the all-pervading consciousness (Spirit), which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material. (14.27).

When Bhagavad Gita says, God is considered the all-pervading consciousness (Spirit) which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material then nothing has to be accepted as God other than consciousness. 

All the above description is the nature of the Soul (Atman).

There is a clear-cut idea of God in the Vedas, Upanishad, and Bhagavad Gita. And also there is a clear-cut idea of what not to worship as God in place of real God.  Thus, it proves from the Vedic perspective the Puranic Gods are not Vedic Gods.

It means the ultimate truth is God.  That is Atman is Brahman.  That is the Soul, the innermost Self, is the ultimate truth. Thus, the ‘Soul’ is ‘God’.

The Soul, the Self, is in the form of the Spirit (consciousness) is the ultimate truth and it is God.   

The Soul is hidden within the mind. And the mind is within the Soul.  The mind is present in the form of the universe and the Soul is present in the form of the consciousness. The universe appears as waking or dream (duality) and disappears as deep sleep (nonduality).  The one that witnesses the coming and going of the three states is the Soul.   From the standpoint of the Soul, the three states which come and go are merely an illusion.:~Santthosh Kumaar