There is a need to bifurcate Advaitic wisdom from Advaitic ortodoxy to grasp the Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara.+

Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom has nothing to do with any religion because Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom is pure Spirituality.

Sage Sankara is the only Sage who has final authority on the Advaitic wisdom. The Advaitic truth is the non-dualistic truth, the rational truth, the scientific truth, and the ultimate truth.

All the Advaitic Gurus of East and West and their teaching are based on dualistic and orthodox perspectives. Most of the Gurus spin their yarn on imagination and make their own cocktail. Most of these Advaitic teachings are commercial grade. All Advaitic gurus of the east or west and their teaching is not Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara.

There is a need to bifurcate Advaitic wisdom from the Advaitic belief system to grasp the Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara.

Religion has nothing to do with the Advaitic Gnana of Sage Sankara. The Advaitic sect is dualistic and belongs to religion. Advaitic wisdom is pure spirituality or Adyathma based on the Athma, the Self.

The Advaitic sect is dualistic and has nothing to do with the Advaitic truth which is hidden by the illusory universe or Maya. Mixing religion and spirituality or Adyathma is like mixing oil and water.

Religion is regarded as sacred and real by the common people, by the wise as false, and by the politicians as useful.

Religion and its sects are dualistic and based on ego. Spirituality or Adyathma is based on the nondualistic Athma.

Religions hold birth, life, death, and the world as a reality. From the ultimate standpoint, the world in which we exist is nearly an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

The seeker must know the difference between religion and spirituality before he starts his quest for truth.

Many people think the religion itself as spirituality. Spirituality leads to discovering the truth which is hidden by ignorance.

Advaita is universal. Advaita is the nature of the Soul, the Self. The world in which you exist is created out of single stuff. That single stuff is consciousness. Knowledge of the single stuff is Advaitic wisdom.

Sage Sankara’s wisdom has nothing to do with the orthodox belief systems. Some philosophers in the past dissented from this interpretation of Vedanta philosophy, holding that the incarnated Souls were separate from the Divine Essence and only finally merged with it after the cycles of birth.

All these theoretical philosophies are based on the imagination based on the false self (ego or you) within the false experience (waking).

Orthodox people argue that Sage Sankara had a Guru. Sage Sankara himself’ was Guru.

For orthodox people he is Jagadguru but for the seeker of truth, he is a Brahma Gnani. Orthodoxy is the path of ignorance meant for the ignorant populace.

Traditionally religious people are so entangled in orthodox religiosity; that it is very difficult for them to free themselves from narrow-minded prejudices dogmas and superstitions. These educated orthodox people are more ignorant than illiterate.

They strongly stuck to their inherited orthodox baggage meant for the ignorant populace. Even though their own Sage has said that orthodoxy is meant for the ignorant populace they ignore and they are like the blind led by another blind follow the inherited blind belief.

Even Swami Vivekananda was Ramakrishna Paramahansa’s disciple. Swami Vivekananda himself’ said: ~ “You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher, but your own Soul.”

There are two kinds of audiences - the ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices, and the most advanced seekers who seek to know the ultimate truth or Brahman.

Guru and Guru paramparas are meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. However, there is no need to follow any parampara and follow any Guru who wishes to realize the truth which is beyond form, time, and space. We should not mix religion with spirituality because religion is based on the ego and spirituality is based on the Soul.

Religion is concerned with its paramparas, not truth whereas spirituality is concerned only with the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space. The religion is not spirituality or Adyathma.

Sage Sankara: ~ "Though I wear these robes of a Sanyasin, it is only for the sake of bread." (Select Works of Sage Sankara" also, his commentary on Brihad)

Thus, the above passage proves that all those who wear the sanyasin robes are wearing them for the sake of bread belong to the religion; they have nothing to do with Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Athma Gnana. \

There is no need to criticize and condemn the Gurus, yogis, and swamis because they are needed for the welfare of the ignorant mass in the dualistic world or Maya.

So, he wore a Guru's robe only for the sake of the ignorant. So, he was identified as a Guru with parampara by religious people. For the truth seekers, Sage Sankara is a Brahma Gnani.

Sage Sankara clearly indicates in Viveka Chudamani (2) that the Knower of the Atman (A Gnani) "bears no outward mark of a holy man" (Stanza 539).

When Sage Sankara says, the Knower of the Atman (A Gnani) "bears no outward mark of a holy man.

Thus, it proves that the religious Gurus and yogis are not Gnanis because they identified themselves as holy people.

From the Advaitic perspective, A Gnani never identifies himself as a Guru or a Yogi or someone disciple. The one who accepts himself as a Guru or someone’s disciple is not a Gnani.

The seekers of truth need not identify Sage Sankara as a holy man or Jagadguru but as a Brahma Gnani.

Ashtavakra Samhita: ~ "The man of knowledge (Gnani), though living like an ordinary man, is contrary to him, and only those like him understand his state.

All the Guru Parampara is for the religious people. There is no need for a Guru who wants to tread the path of wisdom.

The Guru is useless so long as the ultimate truth is unknown, and the Guru is equally useless when the ultimate truth or Brahman has already been known.

A Guru is needed in the religious and the yogic path. There is no need for a Guru to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

The religion advocates extreme asceticism. Asceticism is a waste of time. Religion is nothing but remaining in a false belief, dogmas, and superstition.

Mundaka Upanishad: ~ “The rituals and the sacrifices described in the Vedas deal with lower knowledge. The sages ignored these rituals and went in search of higher knowledge. ... Such rituals are unsafe rafts for crossing the sea of samsara, of birth and death. Doomed to shipwreck are those who try to cross the sea of Samsara on these poor rafts. Ignorant of their own ignorance, yet wise in their own esteem, these deluded men Proud of their vain learning go round and round like the blind led by the blind.

Sage Sankara says: ~ The scriptures dealing with rituals, and rewards are therefore addressed to an ignorant person. Thus, the rituals are meant for ignorant people.

Upanishad says: ~ The human goal is to acquire Self-Knowledge and they indicate the personal Gods, scriptures, worship, and rituals are not the means to Self–knowledge, so why anyone should indulge in it.

The religion, concept of individualized God, and belief in physical Guru scriptures are a great obstacle to Self-realization because they are based on false self. The seeker of truth has to search for the ultimate truth without losing himself in the labyrinths of philosophy, through deeper self-search and assimilate and realize it.

That is why Sage Sankara, indicated in Bhaja Govindam says: ~ (Jnana Viheena Sarva Mathena Bajathi na Muktim janma Shatena) - one without knowledge does not obtain liberation even in a hundred births, no matter which religious faith he follows.

Then it is no use going a roundabout way, trace the Brahman which is the formless substance and witness of the universe, which is in the form of mind. By tracing the source of the mind or universe one will be able to realize the Brahman or God in truth.

Religion has become merely a matter of rituals, glorifying false Gods as real Gods and ceremonies and individual conduct, it has become a prison for the Soul, the Self.

People are making unlimited sacrifices and enduring unlimited suffering in the name of protecting their religion and God. They are therefore ignorant about the truth and incapable of understanding the ultimate truth, which is the universal God.

All organized religions have unequivocally claimed man for life in the truth; thus it is sheer folly to fight in the name of religion and God.

It is high time, that humanity had a fresh vision of truth that the mind, which is in the form of the universe, is a myth and consciousness is the only thing that is real and that matters. On the base of consciousness as the Self, the physical life is a vain and empty pursuit of illusory values.

Parental grooming is the main cause of religious influence upon the mass mindset and it cannot be wiped out without knowing the truth of one’s true existence.

Thus, teaching children to view and judge everything from the religious point of view of their parents, warps the minds and destroys the capacity to think beyond the belief system of their grooming.

People who are yearning for spiritual truth will not find it what they are seeking. Religious truth is individual truth and it is not universal truth because religion is based on individuality.

The Atmic path is not the religious and yogic path. The Atmic path has nothing to do with religion and yoga.

There is no need to walk in the mountains in search of the truth. There is no need to meet any Gurus. There is no need to renounce family life. There is no need to study the scriptures. There is no need to glorify the Gurus.

There is a need to spend a fortune to please the Gurus. Going to the mountains, searching for a Guru, renouncing the family life, studying the scriptures, and glorifying the personal Gods and Gurus are the greatest obstacles in the path of wisdom.

One need not be a monk, a sanyasi, or a swami to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Athma Gnana. Religious rituals' scriptural mastery is not a qualification to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Athma Gnana. Monkhood and sanyasa is a great obstacle to realizing the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

Guru, Swami, Yogi, and Sadhu belong to religious paths. Religious paths are paths meant for the ignorant who blindly accept their experience the birth, life, death, and the world as a reality because the universe is the product of ignorance.

When wisdom dawns then the unreal nature of the world in which you exist is exposed. Thus, whatever experiences take place within the world in which you exist is bound to be a falsehood.

The Guru, Swami, Yogi, and Sadhu, have nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman because they are based on the false Self (ego), and false experience (waking).

The Path of wisdom is only for those who are seriously in search of ultimate truth or Brahman. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana is the mother of all knowledge.

Some are intoxicated with the theory of karma; some are with the theory of cause and effect, some with love alone, some with humanism, some with service, and some with the rituals, and worship, some with glorifying and surrendering to the guru, some with their logical and intellectual conclusions, some with their orthodoxy and some with their Yogic Samadhi. But all these are the biggest hindrances, not the qualification to acquire Advaitic wisdom.

It is a waste of time to convince these people because they have already had accepted something else as truth. Thus, they will not have any urge to know the ultimate truth. Therefore, it is no use discussing with such a crowd and it is better to avoid such a mindset if one seriously seeking the truth.

First Mundaka - Chapter 2 (10): ~ Ignorant fools, regarding sacrifices and humanitarian works as the highest, do not know any higher good. Having enjoyed their reward on the heights of heaven, gained by good works, they enter again this world or a lower one.

It is high time to stop judging who is right and who is wrong in this unreal world and instead spend the same time acquiring Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Athma Gnana to realize the world (Samsara) is unreal the Brahman alone is real.

According to Advaita Vedanta, the Veda addresses itself to two kinds of audiences - the ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices, and the most advanced seeker, who seeks to know Brahman.

Thus, the purva mimam. sa, with its emphasis on the karma kanda of the Vedas, is meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. However, the Vedanta, with its emphasis on the jnana kanda, is meant for those who wish to go beyond such transient pleasures.

The orthodox people are ordinary people. Thus, the ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures are obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices. The karma kanda of the Vedas is meant for the ordinary audience, to help lead its followers along the way.

Modern mindset is more advanced and capable of reasoning and discriminating. Thus, the modern mindset is the most advanced which seeks to know the ultimate truth or Brahman.

It is high time for highly educated religious people to realize their religious path was meant for the ignorant in the past, therefore, it is outdated and not suited for the modern mindset.

The right path for the modern mindset is the path of the wisdom or reason of Sage Sankara. The orthodox religious Advaitic path has nothing to do with ultimate truth or Brahman.

Thus, getting stuck with the religious path is getting stuck with duality. Getting stuck with duality is getting stuck with falsehood. Getting stuck with the falsehood is accepting the experience of birth, life, death, and the world as reality.

Thus, the people who want freedom or Moksha right here right now in this very life and in this very world must follow the path of wisdom or Soulcentric reason.

Religion is the path of ignorance because it recognizes the experience of birth, life, death, and the world as a reality.

It is high time to stop judging who is right and who is wrong in this unreal world instead one has to spend the same time acquiring Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Athma Gnana by realizing ‘what is real’ and ‘what is unreal’.: ~Santthosh Kumaar

The Advaitic orthodoxy is nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.+

The Advaitic orthodoxy has nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. Advaitic orthodoxy is the path of ignorance meant for an ignorant populace that is incapable of grasping the truth hidden by the dualistic illusion (world).

Sage Sankara says Atman is Brahman and that Atman is God whereas the orthodox Advaitins believe and worship in non-Vedic Gods barred by Vedas.

Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~ God is Supreme Spirit.

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

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

Thus it refers to a formless and attributeless God, which is the Atman (Soul), the innermost ‘Self’ within the false experience. Thus it indicates clearly all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imaginations based on the false ‘Self’. Thus Atman or Soul, the ‘Self’ is God.

The Vedas do not talk about idol worship. In fact, till about 2000 years ago followers of Vedism never worshipped idols. Idol worship was started by the followers of Buddhism and Jainism. Vedas speak of one God that is the supreme ‘Self’ i.e. Atman or Soul but Hinduism indulges in worshiping 60 million Gods.

It indicates clearly all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imaginations based on the false self’.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says:~ "He who worships the deities as entities entirely separate from him does not know the truth. For the Gods, he is like a pasu (beast)". (1. 4. 10)

How can you worship the Absolute? That implies two ~ the worshipper and the worshipped, whereas the Absolute is nondual. One can worship his idea of the Absolute only or realize his unity with it when he can’t worship it as a part.

Religious rites and rigid ceremonies were passed down from one generation to the next as a practice or set customs and traditions and performed automatically with blind faith. Such worship based on the belief in God does not reach God.

Religious rites and ceremonies, yagnas and homa-havans, or any other forms of ritual are meant for the ignorant populace.

Belief in God without knowing God in actuality holds the worshiper more firmly in the grip of ignorance.

All worship, ceremonies, and rituals performed on the base of non-Vedic Gods will not yield any fruits. Deeper self-search reveals that worshiped, the worship, and the worshiper and the world are merely an illusion created out of consciousness.

Religious rites and ceremonies, yagnas and homa-havans, or any other forms of rituals formal observance has long since set in.

Religious rites and ceremonies, yagnas and homa-havans, or any other forms of ritual are meant for the ignorant populace. In the Atmic path, the seeker has to discard

Sage Sankara says: ~ The scriptures dealing with rituals, and rewards are therefore addressed to an ignorant person.

Sage Sankara:~ (11) As regards the rituals, Sage Sankara says, that a person who performs rituals and aspires for rewards will view himself in terms of the caste into which he is born, his age, the stage of his life, his standing in society, etc. In addition, he is required to perform rituals all through his life. However, the Self has none of those attributes or tags. Hence, the person who superimposes all those attributes on the changeless, eternal Self and identifies the Self with the body is confusing one for the other; and is, therefore, an ignorant person. The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are therefore addressed to an ignorant person. -Adhyasa Bhashya

The orthodox Advaitins consider, birth, life, death, rebirth, heaven, hell, sin, karma, and the world as a reality, whereas Sage Sankara declares the world in which we exist is merely an illusion. If the world is an illusion, then the birth, life, death, rebirth, heaven, hell, sin, karma, and the world, are bound to be an illusion.

Without Sage Sankara, there is no Advaita (non-duality). Since it was mixed up with orthodoxy there is a lot of confusion.

Sage Sankara’s quotes (selected verified) are quoted in my blogs and postings to show what Sage Sankara meant, and ‘what is blocking the seekers from realizing the ultimate truth or Brahman. There are so many non-dualistic masters of the East and also from the West who expound on Advaitic or non-dualistic knowledge, but none of them are helpful in reaching the ultimate end.

According to Advaita Vedanta, the Veda addresses itself to two kinds of audiences - the ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices, and the most advanced seeker who seeks to know Brahman. Thus, the Purva mimam. sa, with its emphasis on the karma kanda of the Vedas, is meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. However, the Vedanta, with its emphasis on the jnana kanda, is meant for those who wish to go beyond such transient pleasures.

Sage Sankara's commentary to Brahma Sutras (Chap.3.4.50) shows that the Gnani "should pass through life", not run away from life, and should take a middle course between seeking worldly honor and worldly abasement.

Sage Sankara varied his practical advice and doctrinal teaching according to the people he was amongst. He never advised them to give up their particular religion or beliefs or metaphysics completely; he only told them to give up the worst features of abuse: at the same time, he showed just one step forward toward the truth.

Sage Sankara was extremely precise and careful in his choice of words.

Sage Sankara gave religious, ritual, or dogmatic instruction to the masses, but pure philosophy only to the few who could rise to it. Hence the interpretation of his writings by commentators is often confusing because they mix up the two viewpoints. Thus, they may assert that ritual is a means of realizing Brahman, which is absurd.

Sage Sankara says in the commentary in Vedanta, sutra that what is accepted without a proper inquiry will not lead a person to the final goal. On the contrary, such acceptance will result only in evil, something which is detrimental to our spiritual progress.

Seekers of truth should not believe blindly in traditional orthodox Advaita without verifying all the facts from every angle. Orthodoxy has nothing to do with spirituality, which is based on the Soul or spirit. One has to reflect through reasoning over and over again without getting tired of the process. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Santana Dharma believes in the immortality of the Soul.+

Santana Dharma believes in the immortality of the Soul.

It inhabits one body after another according to Karma in a previous life, during its eternal journey to the Absolute till it is one with God. This is called a belief in Reincarnation.

It is not a fact that the individual dies with the death of the visible body. At death, the soul leaves the physical body and does not die. It gets into a subtle body called Astral on a non-physical dimension. The forces which brought the body and personality into existence continue shaping its destiny after death and would do so till unison with the Absolute when one becomes free from the cycle of birth and death.

When Yajurveda says:~

Translation 1.

They enter darkness, those who worship natural things (for example air, water, sun, moon, animals, fire, stone, etc).

They sink deeper into darkness than those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example, table, chair, idol, etc.) (Yajurved 40:9)

Translation 2.

"Deep into the shade of blinding gloom fall asambhuti's worshippers. They sink to darkness deeper yet who on sambhuti is intent." (Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Giffith pg 538)

Translation 3.

"They are enveloped in darkness, in other words, are steeped in ignorance and sunk in the greatest depths of misery who worship the uncreated, eternal prakrti -- the material cause of the world -- in place of the All-pervading God, But those who worship visible things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like) in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time." (Yajur Veda 40:9.)

They sink deeper into darkness those who worship Sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example, table, chair, idol, etc (Yajurveda 40:9)

Those who worship visible things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, and bodies (human and the like) in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time." (Yajur Veda 40:9.)

When the religion of the Veda knows no idols then why so many gods and goddesses with different forms and names are being propagated as Vedic gods? Why these conceptual gods are introduced when the Vedic concept of god is free from form and attributes?

Who introduced the concept of god with attributes and attributeless gods, when Yajur Veda says: - those who worship visible things, born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like), in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness.

All these add-ons prove that the form and attribute-based concepts are introduced by some sages of the past with a new belief system and code of conduct in the name of Vedas. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

The Soul itself is God in truth. Nothing exists without the Soul because everything is created out of the Soul the God in truth.+

The Soul, the ‘Self’ is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. The Soul, the Self is present in the form of consciousness.

Consciousness pervades everything and everywhere in the universe because the universe is nothing but consciousness.

The ‘Self is not this body the Self is the Supreme Soul. The universe hides the Soul. The Soul itself is God. Nothing exists without the Soul because everything is created out of the Soul, God.

You don’t recognize the ‘Self’ because you are blindfolded by the dualistic illusion. The Soul, the Self is hidden by the universe, which is a dualistic illusion or Maya.

Those Gurus say you are formless; you are birthless without knowing the Self is not you but the ‘Self' is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Those Gurus who assert the Self as you are still ignorant of the 'Self' hidden by the universe, which is the dualistic illusion or Maya.

You are not the Self because you are bound by birth, life, death, and the world whereas the Soul, the Self is birthless and deathless because, it is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

If you think the Self is you then you are not a wise seeker you are ignorant because your existence is limited to the domain of form, time, and space.

Guru says simply surrender to God without knowing what God is in actuality. There is nothing to surrender. The surrender implies duality. The duality disappears when the Advaitic wisdom dawns.

Those Gurus say surrender to Guru belongs to religion and yoga is not spirituality. religion and yoga have nothing to do with spirituality.

To realize the ‘Self' hidden by the dualistic illusion, you have to realize the dualistic illusion is made of single clay. And that single clay is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Knowledge of the single clay is Self-knowledge o or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Mentally reduce the world in which you exist into the waking experience and waking experience into mind and mind into consciousness by perfect understating of ‘what is what’.

When you realize ’what is what’ you will realize everything is nothing but consciousness. There is no second thing that exists other than the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

When there is unity in diversity in our understanding then there is stillness in the midst of diversity.

The Soul, the Self is existence itself. The Soul, the Self is existence without the illusory division of form, time, and space. The Soul, the Self is the fullness of consciousness. The Soul, the Self is Advaita one without the Second.

The Soul the Self is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God. The Soul, the Self is God the Advaita. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

No one becomes a Gnani by taking sannyasa or wearing religious robes or by mastering the scriptures.+

One need not renounce the worldly life and become a sanyasi or monk. One need not retire from his business or corporate job and become a Guru all these religious and yogic propagated outdated ideas have to be discarded to realize the truth of the true existence.

Do not become a slave to all these outdated religious and yogic ideas they are not meant for those who seriously seeking the truth. There is no need to follow anyone. Self–realization becomes easy if you independently walk your path.

The Atmic path is your own path. You have to tread the path alone to reach it alone finally nothing remains as reality other than the Athma or the Soul.

Stop your emotionally and sentimentally getting stuck with the Guru.

That is why Bhagavan Buddha: ~ Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.

Sage Sankara was a Brahma Gnani. Most of the modern masters are not Gnani. And you have to understand that to be a Gnani is one thing; to be a Guru is totally different.

Out of a million people perhaps one is a Gnani. Most of the Self- realized decide to remain silent – seeing the difficulty, that whatever they have realized is impossible to convey in any possible way to others; seeing that not only is it difficult to convey, but it is bound to be misunderstood too.

A Gnani never claims himself as a Gnani, he guides the seekers, not posing himself as a Guru, and he does not force his wisdom on others. A Gnani is not a religious person or Yogi.

One need not roam one mountain to another, one ashram to another, or meet gurus or yogis to get Advaitic Gnana. One can get the Advaitic Gnana and become a Gnani wherever he lives.

We all are searching for truth within the illusion, not being aware of the fact that the illusion is created out of a single stuff which is the Soul, the Self. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness.

Thus, searching for the truth within illusion with the illusory self, within the illusory experience, has to be an illusion.

The illusion is created and sustained, and finally, dissolves as consciousness. There is no second thing that exists other than consciousness. Consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman. Brahman is God in truth.

No one becomes a Gnani by taking sannyasa or wearing religious robes or mastering the scriptures or identifying with the religious symbol. Religious robes and religious symbols are not the means to Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Blind faith is an obstacle in the pursuit of truth. The seeker should not waste his time on, he should primarily reflect on the Soul, the Self; not on the ‘I’.

The Soul, which is present in the form of the Spirit (consciousness), is ever formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

Sruti says: ~ "brahmavit brahmaiva bhavati":~ He who knows Brahman becomes Brahman Itself. In the Advaita understanding of this statement, the "becoming" is only metaphorical. It is not as if something that was not Brahman suddenly becomes Brahman. Rather, "realizing Brahman" means a removal of the ignorance about one's own essential nature as Brahman. Thus, to "know Brahman" is to "be Brahman".

The one who has realized the Soul is the Self is a Gnani. Gnani is the one who is liberated even while embodied. Such a realization should not and cannot just be a literal understanding of Upanishadic Mahavakyas.

Remember:~

A Gnani has realized the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. Thus, moksha is not a result of ritual action (path of karma a) or of devotional service (path of bhakti). These paths are egocentric paths, therefore, they will not help anyway to get rid of ignorance. In fact, moksha is not a result of anything, for it always exists.

All that is required is the removal of ignorance. The path of wisdom helps the seeker to acquire the Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Ashtavakra Samhita: ~"The man of knowledge, though living like an ordinary man, is contrary to him, and only those like him understand his state.

Thus, moksha is not a result of ritual action (path of karma) or of devotional service (path of bhakti). : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Vedas unequivocally proclaim equal rights for all people regardless of caste, gender or geography.+

It is ridiculous when women are successful in every field. The traditionalists barring women under some pretext or the other from learning Vedas is orthodox hypocrisy.

Accordingly, during the Vedic age, women were given the utmost position. Vedas say Gods reside where women are held in high esteem.

Vedas unequivocally proclaim equal rights for all people regardless of caste, gender, or geography. While the West could give voting rights to women only in the early 20th century, Vedas talk of women being the path-makers and decision-makers in society since the dawn of civilization.

Accordingly, during the Vedic age, women were given the utmost position. We see the names of Ghosha, Apaala, Lopamudra, and Ruchi-Indraani being cited as Rishikas similar to the names of Rishis like Vasistha, Vishwamitra, Vamadeva, etc. They had realized the truth contained in many Veda mantras.

Even they had full powers to administer various Vedic rituals called karmakand. It is clear from the Vedic authority Stree hee brahma babhuvita that women were partaking in the Yagnas. They conducted the yagnas seated as Brahma. They also had access to learn warfare and had the freedom to partake therein. They bequeathed the qualities of courage and heroism to their children also. A heroic mother proudly announces in Veda thus Mama Putro Shatruhane mamaduhita Virat meaning that my son is a vanquisher of enemies and my daughter is honorable.

The tradition continued in the Upanishadic era also. There were many spiritually endowed women called Brahmavaadins like Gargi, Maitreyee, etc. They were master debaters and even reputed Rishis were hesitant to engage them in debates. Gargi’s intellectual combat with Rishi Yagnavalkya is quite well-known.

However, it must be said that the position of women detracted during the middle ages. Her prestige suffered during the Puranic age. In Sanskrit literature, she was treated as an object of enjoyment.

Orthodoxy described characterized women as a way to hell and untrustworthy. The dualist sages called women as anuchari and not as sahachari. The men who led the Bhakti movement also disregarded women.

Women Saints and Sages:

Women saints and sages of India have been given less importance, for several reasons obvious to anyone studying history...

In the medieval period, women were confined to homes and according to some moral codes, women were not allowed to study scriptures and chant mantras while mantras were invoked as female deities or Goddesses.

The Vedic rishis had wives who were learned women and took part in philosophical discussions. The crippling social practices for women, considering them as inferior, and unfit for scriptural studies were introduced by male-dominated societies...While women's monastics or nuns were introduced in Buddhism; it was not a common practice to have nuns in Hindu monastic orders till recent times.

Sage Sankara says in Mand.P.351 and also in Vivekachoodamani, that even women can realize the truth if they persist.

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. T. 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 innermost Self. Thus, Advaitic wisdom is for the whole universe irrespective of any gender, race, creed, or religion.

Sage Sankara has philosophical disputes and debates with an equally great scholar, Mandana Mishra. Mishra's learned wife Bharathi served as the umpire.

However, the credit for uplifting women and restoring their rights should go to liberals like Maharishi Dayananda (1824 -1883) the founder of the movement called Arya Samaj to work incessantly for their all-around welfare. He called women as the most honorable. And criticizing those who prevented women from learning Vedas

Maharshi Dayananda (Arya samaj) quoted: ~ Yajurveda mantra ~Yathemam Vacham kalyani mavadhani janebhyah: Brahmararjaanaabhyam shudrayacharyaa cha swaya chaaranaya|| ladies and even persons lower than shudras. Here shudras mean ignorant people. Condemning certain verses whose authority was doubtful like Stree-shudro Na deeyataam, he countered them with the Vedic mantra Bramhacharyena kanya yuvaanaam vindate patim which enabled women to go for marriage after observing Brahmacharya and after studying the true shastras like Vedas, etc.

He also quoted amply from other sources which sanction women the authority to learn Vedas. Recalling those days he said women like Gargi were total scholars. Citing another incident he pointed out how a queen like Kaikeyee could assist her husband in a war unless she had training in martial arts. His assertions in favor of women learning Vedas had the desired effect and the opposition to women from learning Vedas has waned but was not totally eliminated. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar