Mundaka Upanishad: ~ “These performers of karma do not know the Truth owing to their attachment, they fall from heaven, misery-stricken, when the fruit of their work is exhausted.
Arguing with religious believers is fruitless. Belief in tradition and the scripture as if they were true or factual quite clearly is delusion, but the payoff for holding such delusions is, for those who hold them, extremely compelling ~ the avoidance of the "wrath of God," the hope of heaven or salvation, or the imagined "end of suffering."
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.
Religious orthodox think that through their good karma and performing rituals, they get moksha. Religious moksha is based on the birth entity whereas spiritual moksha is based on the birthless Soul, the ‘Self’.
First Mundaka - Chapter 2 (9) - Children, immersed in ignorance in various ways, flatter themselves, saying: We have accomplished life's purpose. Because these performers of karma do not know the Truth owing to their attachment, they fall from heaven, misery-stricken, when the fruit of their work is exhausted.
Sage Goudpada says:~ The merciful Veda teaches karma and Upasana to people of lower and middling intellect, while Jnana is taught to those of higher intellect. The karma based on the false self is not a qualification for Self-Realization.
Thus, it proves that the Advaitic wisdom is kept away from religious people who are of lower and middling intellect and made them indulge in karma and Upasana. Thus all the religious prescription is not meant for Self-Realization.
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 more advanced seekers who seek to know the truth beyond form, time, and space. The Religious orthodoxy is meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. The Atmic path, emphasis on the Advaitic wisdom, is meant for those who wish to go beyond form, time, and space.
The conduct-oriented religious orthodoxy is not the means to Self-Realization because all the orthodox theories are based on the experience of birth, life, death, and the world as a reality whereas the world in which the birth, life, and death take place is an illusion.
Religion is for the lower intellect and Advaitic wisdom is for those who are capable of inquiring into their own existence to know and realize the ultimate truth, which is consciousness.
That is why Sage Sankara gave religious, ritual, or dogmatic instruction to the populace, but Advaitic wisdom only to the few who could rise to it.
If you mix Advaitic orthodoxy with Advaitic wisdom creates confusion, because they mix up the two viewpoints. Thus, they may assert that ritual is a means of realizing Brahman, which is absurd.
Indulging in Non -Vedic rituals(Puranic Rituals) in place of Vedic rituals 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." Thus Puranic karmas are not Vedic karmas as per Yajur Veda.
The Puranic karmas are introduced to suit the mass mindset of that time, by the founders of present-day Hinduism by keeping the Vedas as their base. They also introduced a new modified belief system on Puranic GODS with a new code of conduct to revive the Vedic religion, which was in ruins in the hands of Buddhism and Jainism. Thus present-day Hinduism with diverse beliefs is not pure Vedic religion. Thus, this hotchpotch ideology is the greatest obstacle to the realization of the ultimate truth. That is why Bhagavan Buddha rejected the Vedas.
Sage Sankara says: ~ 11. As regards the rituals, the 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)
Sage Sankara says:~ 11.1 ~The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are, therefore, he says, addressed to an ignorant person. (Adhyasa Bhashya)
Sage Sankara:~ 11.2. In short, a person who engages in rituals with the notion “I am an agent, doer, thinker”, according to Sage Sankara, is ignorant, as his behavior implies a distinct, separate doer/agent/knower; and an object that is to be done/achieved/known. That duality is Avidya, an error that can be removed by Vidya. (Adhyasa Bhashya)
Sage Sankara viewed this as a distortion of the Upanishad ideals. To play down the prominence given to rituals by the Mimamsakas, Sage Sankara relied on the idea of Avidya He bracketed the ritualistic approach with Avidya and called it an “error”.
Thus Advaitic orthodoxy has to be discarded to realize the ‘Self’ hidden by the ‘I’, which is ignorance.
Sage Sankara states wisdom (Vidya) can eliminate ignorance (Avidya); but the ignorance it eliminates is not real, because it has no existence of its own. Once the error is removed the Brahman (God) will reveal of its own accord. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar
