Sage Sankara:~ For one who has been bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is the knowledge of Brahman.+

Sage Sankara: ~ 'Like a servant who carries a lamp in front of you to find your way, and you have found it, so becomes the Veda to that person. What is the Veda? ~ utterances of those who have known the Truth. Here is one who has known the Truth; why should he or she depend upon the Veda further? Actual realization takes you beyond books. At a certain stage, books become a botheration. The Upanishad itself says that the 'words are only so much of distraction for such minds'

Sage Sankara means Advaita and Advaita mean Sage Sankara. Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara is not theology. Theological Advaita is not Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom.

The main hurdle in his way of thinking is the fact that Sage Sankara did not claim to be an original thinker at all, and his philosophy took the form of commentaries on the generality of the scriptures, particularly the Upanishads and the Gita.

Sage Sakara says: ~ VC-162- There is no liberation for a person of mere bookish knowledge, howsoever well-read in the philosophy of Vedanta, so long as one does not give up the false identification with the body, sense organs, etc., which are unreal.

People study Vedanta and they are under the delusion, and concl that and they declare:~ "I-Am-Brahman", but they fail to realize the fact that Brahman is everywhere and in everything! The existence of Brahman is not limited to his physical identity, because, it the very ece of the form, time, and space.

Sage Sankara says: - VC-47- All the effects of ignorance, root, and branch, are burnt down by the fire of knowledge, which arises from discrimination between these two—the Self and the nFollowing following Vedanta does not mean that one has become Brahman. One gains thereby a mere intellectual understanding of the truth, which eyond the form, time, and space.

That is why Sage Sankara VC-61- For one who has been bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is the knowledge of Brahman. Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures, Mantras (sacred formulae), and medicines to such a one?

VC- v6~ Let erudite scholars quote all the scripture, let Gods be invoked through sacrifices, let elaborate rituals be performed, let personal Gods be propitiated---yet, without the realization of one‘s identity with the Self, there shall be no liberation for the individual, not even in the lifetimes of a hundred Brahmas put together

Sage Sankara goes on to say: ~A sickness of not cured by saying the word “medicine.” You must take the medicine.

Liberation does not come by merely saying the word “Brahman (God in truth).” Brahman must be realized. Until you allow this apparent universe to dissolve from your consciousness until you have realized Brahman, how can you find liberation just by saying the word Brahman? The result is merely noise. 

Until a man has destroyed his enemies and taken possession of the splendor and wealth of the kingdom, he cannot become a king by simply saying “I am a king.”

A buried treasure is not uncovered by merely uttering the words: “Come forth.” You must follow the right directions, dig, remove the stones and earth from above it, and then make it your own. In the same way, the pure truth of the Atman, which is buried under Maya and the effects of Maya, can be reached by meditation, contemplation, and other spiritual disciplines but never by subtle arguments.

People dwelling in ignorance, but thinking themselves wise and erudite, go round and round by various blind beliefs and tortuous paths and practices, like the blind led by the blind.

The ultimate truth or Brahman or God can only be realized through Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Only through Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana can one cross the domain of duality.

Even then it is only a rare one who sees the all-pervading Brahman (God). He sees the Brahman within more clearly than you see the objects of this world with your physical eyes.

Brahman is to be grasped within and is not to be sought outside. When there is a real longing to be united with Brahman, then he realizes the truth beyond form, time, and space. And still, only a rare one realizes Brahman or God in truth.

When the Soul remains in its own awareness then there is oneness in the midst of diversity. In Self-awareness, the world in which we exist is merely an illusion. The Soul, the Self itself is God. 

Realizing the Soul, the 'Self' is Self-realization or truth realization or God realization. Self-awareness can never be achieved through an intellectual understanding of Advaita.

It is only one in millions who realizes that consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman. A Gnani is fully aware of the fact that consciousness alone is Real all else is merely an illusion. 

No amount of studying Vedanta can give Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar