Hinduism is a group of castes and sects founded by different founders at different times. +

Hinduism is a group of castes and sects founded by different founders at different times.  

All Hindus indulge in non-Vedic practices barred by the Vedas introduced by the different founders of the different sects of Hinduism at different times, whereas the Vedic religion, or Santana Dharma is ancient and has no founder.

Hinduism is not a Vedic religion or Santana Dharma. Hindus do idol worship while Vedas bars idol worship.

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 Jains.

There is logic to idol worship. Vedas speak of one God that is the supreme ‘Self’ i.e. Atman or Soul but Hinduism indulges in worshiping 60 million Gods. All these 60 million Gods are non-Vedic Gods based on their beliefs.

Ancient Sanatan Dharma without a caste system and without any founder.

Ancient Sanatan Dharma is based on Vedas and the Vedic God is Athma.

Advaita is Vedic Spirituality or Adyathma.

Remember:~

Hindus are idol worshipers of a large number of Gods and Goddesses whereas Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

The Vedas do not talk about idol worship. In fact, until about 2000 years ago followers of Vedism never worshipped idols. 

Idol worship was started by the followers of Buddhism and Jains. There is logic to idol worship. Vedas speak of one God that is the supreme Self i.e. Atman or Soul but Hinduism indulges in worshiping 60 million Gods.

Yajur Veda – Chapter- 32: - God is Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. He cannot be seen directly by anyone. He pervades all beings and all directions.

Yajurveda: ~ There is no image of God in truth. God in truth is unborn and eternal. (Chapter 32, Verse 3)

Yajurveda: ~ God in truth is nondual and pure"

Yajurveda: ~ "They are entering darkness, those who worship the natural things (like air, water, fire, etc.), they are sinking more in darkness who worship created things." (Chapter 40, Verse 9)

Thus, Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

Rig Veda: ~ 'Prajnanam Brahma'- Consciousness is the ultimate reality or Brahman or God in truth.

God in truth is the Atman, the Self. Atman is present in the form of consciousness.

Do not accept any other God other than Atman not worship other than Atman.

Let these words be inscribed in your subconscious.

Nothing is real but God. Nothing Matters but love for God in truth. God in truth is everywhere and in everything.

God in truth is hidden by the illusory universe. God in truth alone is and all else is an illusion.

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)

Thus it refers to a formless and attributeless God, which is the Atman (Soul), the 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 in truth. :~Santthosh Kumaar

People in India believed in polytheism, believing all of their Gods to be separate individuals, which was introduced much later by the founders of Hinduism which contains diverse beliefs caste, and creed. +

People in India believed in polytheism, believing all of their Gods to be separate individuals, which was introduced much later by the founders of Hinduism which contains diverse beliefs caste, and creed.

The Vedas bar polytheism thus, it proves that Hinduism believes in polytheism is not ancient Vedic Religion or Santana Dharma.

Rig Veda: ~ 'Prajnanam Brahma'- Consciousness is the ultimate reality or Brahman or God in truth.

God in truth is the Atman, the Self. Atman is present in the form of consciousness. Do not accept any other God other than Atman not worship other than Atman. Let these words be inscribed in your subconscious.

Nothing is real but God. Nothing Matters but love for God in truth. God in truth is everywhere and in everything.

God in truth is hidden by the illusory universe. God in truth alone is and all else is an illusion.

Rig-Veda 1.164-46 and Y.V 32-1 clearly mention that God is “One”.

Rig Veda: 1.164.46: ~ Ekam Sat Vipra Bahudha Vadanti” -” The Reality (Truth or God) is One.

Rig Veda 1/164/46: ~ “They call him Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni, or the heavenly sunbird Garutmat. The seers call in many ways that which is One; they speak of Agni, Yama, Matarishvan.

Rig Veda 8/58/2:~ Only One is the Fire, enkindled in numerous ways; only One is the Sun, pervading this whole universe; only One is the Dawn, illuminating all things. In very truth, the One has become the whole world

Religious Gods are based on blind belief or blind faith. Religious God cannot be considered as the center because, the Soul, the Self is the center of all that exists. Without the Soul, the world in which you exist ceases to exist, which means the religious God is dependent on the Soul for his existence.

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

Rig Veda: ~ The Atman 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)

Rig Veda declares God is ‘ONE’ and God is Atman, then why believe and worship in place of the real God.

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?

Sickness is not cured by saying the word “medicine.” You must take the medicine. Ignorance will not vanish does not come by merely saying the word “God nor by worshiping God of belief. First one must know what God is supposed to be. God must be realized. One must know God in truth.

Perfect undemanding and assimilation of ‘what is what’ leads to truth realization, truth realization itself is Self-realization. Self-realization itself is God-realization. God- realization itself is real worship.: ~ Santthosh Kumaar

There are hundreds of commentaries from different authors on the Bhagavad Gita. Each one goes on spinning yarns imagining as he likes what the meaning may be.+

Bhagavad Gita.

There are hundreds of commentaries from different authors on the Bhagavad Gita. Each one goes on spinning yarns imagining as he likes what the meaning may be.

Bhagavad Gita has been interpreted in a thousand ways, according to the author’s capacity to understand the test of all these is the reason. Only a few understood Bhagavad Gita.

Bhagavad Gita is a hodgepodge containing everything; hence it suits the populace because there is something in it for every type of mindset.

It is difficult to find any tradition whose voice is not found in the Gita. It is difficult to find anyone who does not take solace from the Bhagavad Gita. But for such people, the Advaitic path will prove very difficult.

Once you are Soulcentric you will know what the Bhagavad Gita and other scriptures really mean, you will see that there is only one possible interpretation, irrespective of your opinion or imagination.

The Bhagavad Gita does not contain the higher wisdom. Bhagavad Gita is intended for those who are incapable of thinking rationally.

People love the Bhagavad Gita because it is very easy to extract one's own meaning from it. Reading the Bhagavad Gita a religious believer extracts something of which he can make a belief, because

Bhagavad Gita speaks of bhakti, devotion. The karma yogi extracts his belief because Krishna has spoken on karma yoga, the Yoga of action. The believer in knowledge finds what he wants because Bhagavad Gita has spoken on knowledge as well. Somewhere Krishna calls bhakti the ultimate, somewhere else he calls knowledge the ultimate, again elsewhere he calls karma yoga the ultimate.

Lord Krishna taught the Karma and Bhakti yogis their own paths only to lead them up to the Gnana yoga path, which is the highest and the real object of his teaching.

Lord Krishna confesses that the oldest wisdom of India (our true Advaita philosophy) has been lost: people misinterpret and falsify it today as they did then. It is not yoga but the philosophic truth. But nobody knows it. The teachers of philosophy and leaders of mysticism or religion do not want to inquire into truth and have no time for it. (Gita ~ Chap ~IV~ v.2)

Why is the word Yoga used in so many different senses in the Gita? Because there are grades and the highest demands concentrated brains, and not sitting mindless and imagining you are seeing God.

In Gita Chap.IV where Lord Krishna says: ~ “This yoga has been lost for ages" The word yoga refers to Gnana yoga, not other yogas: the force of the word this is to point this out.

Lord Krishna describes some of the other yogas but devotes this chapter separately to Gnana Yoga. So one sees even in those ancient days people did not care for Advaita; they wanted religion; hence Gnana got lost. That is why Krishna calls it "the supreme secret." Krishna points out that the yoga must-see is "Brahman in action."

Gita Chap.IV:~ “He who achieves perfection in Yoga finds the Self in time." This means that after his yoga is finished, he begins the inquiry into ultimate truth, and in due course, this inquiry produces the realization of the universal spirit as a result.

Understanding what is God is not so easy. Religious people can only imagine God based on their beliefs.

That is why Lord Krishna says Ch ~V: ~ “Those who know me in truth.". The last two words (tattvataha) are usually ignored by pundits, but they make all the difference between the ordinary concept of God and the truth about God.

No dualities, no differentiation. Only Atman exists.

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

It proves that the all-pervading Atman, which is present in the form of consciousness, is God. Thus worshipping the form-based Gods is meant for the ignorant populace who are incapable of realizing the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

Bhagavad Gita: 4: 22: ~ ".....who has gone beyond the conflicting dualities like good (happiness) and bad (sorrow)....."

Bhagavad Gita: 4: 42:~ ".....cut all such conflicting dualities (doubts) by the sword (weapon) of knowledge. ....."

Bhagavad Gita: 5: 18:~ “The learned men (who have come out of delusions (Māyā), got rid of Avidya) see no differentiation have an equal vision for a revered Brahmin, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a cāndāla (outcaste, rogue, mleccha, demonic person, etc)"

Bhagavad Gita: 5: 19:~ "Those who have achieved the true knowledge i.e. the 'Self-Knowledge' or the 'knowledge of Atman' and see no difference, are free from conflicting dualities have merged in Brahman"

Bhagavad Gita: 5: 20:~ "One who does not get excited out of happiness on getting good and does not get depressed on getting bad is situated in Brahman i.e. is merged in Brahman"

Bhagavad Gita: 6: 9:~ "The one who has an equal vision for a Selfless do-gooder, a friend, a foe, an unbiased, a well-wisher, a depressed and jealous man, relatives, a righteous and a sinner is the best (as he sees no duality and differentiation but sees everything as Ātman)"

Bhagavad Gita: 6: 32:~ “.....as one seeks and treats oneself with equal vision, the same way one who has an equal vision for good and evil, for everybody is the best of all"

Bhagavad Gita: 6: 8: ~ "For whom soil, a pebble, and gold are alike, he is merged in Brahman"

Bhagavad-Gita Gita: 7: 27:~ ".....people are getting entangled in the primordial ignorance (Avidya) of the conflicting dualities like good and evil, happiness and sorrow caused due to attachments, desires, and hatred....."

Bhagavad Gita: 6: 28:~ “.....who have cut-off conflicting dualities (like good and evil) is determinedly in my service. ...."

Bhagavad Gita: 7: 19:~ "Such a man who has attained true knowledge, the knowledge of Self, the knowledge of Atman, in the last birth in the series of many births worships Me as~ Atman alone exists~ everything is Atman, there exists nothing except Atman. Such a man is extremely rare"

The earliest part of Bhagavad Gita deals with religion because it is for mentally immature persons, but in the latter part, you get philosophy as that is intended for the intellectually evolved. You can’t make all men into geniuses, and therefore religion is provided for them.

Lord Krishna himself says that he can do nothing to make a man intelligent straight away. The adepts give Prasad, blessings, initiations, mantrams, etc. only to confer temporary peace of mind, to help one to get rid of worries, but not to confer Gnana. The capacity to receive it must first be inborn in man by evolutionary degree.

In the statement in the Bhagavad Gita which says that the path of the Unmanifest is harder than others, this path means Gnana Yoga.

The Upanishads and Gita do not give detailed explanations because the knowledge of those days was not as advanced as it is nowadays. However, there are odd words here and there which give hints.

Bhagavad Gita gives dualistic worship of "God” only for the lower minds; it also indicates the Advaitic wisdom for the more evolved.

Likewise, thinkers and poets of the Age of Devotion (Bhakti) of the 16th century believed in a God with attributes that became very tangible when incarnated as Avatar and were attainable simply through love and devotion rather than scholastic and intellectual meditation.

For the religious people, the Bhagavad Gita became the main vehicle of inspiration with its qualified and deistic Monism, rather than the scholastic and esoteric path shown by Sage Sankara's Advaitic path. :~Santthosh Kumaar 

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

Maitreyi Upanishad 2:26 says: ~ All those who desire to have salvation without taking several births, should worship God in spirit and truth.

ISH Upanishads: - By Worshiping Gods and Goddesses you will go after death to the world of Gods and Goddesses. But will that help you? The time you spent there is wasted because if you were not there you could have spent that time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is your goal. In the world of Gods and Goddesses, you cannot do that, and thus you go deeper and deeper into darkness.

It clearly indicates that:- If the human goal is to acquire Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Athma Gnana then why indulge in rituals and glorify the conceptual Gods, Goddesses, and gurus to go into deeper darkness. Instead spend that time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is one’s prime goal.

Upanishads: ~ They alone in this world are endowed with the highest wisdom who are firm in their conviction of the sameness and birthlessness of Atman. The ordinary man does not understand their way. (Chapter IV — Alatasanti Prakarana 95-P-188 in Upanishads by Nikilanada)

Sage Sankara’s Supreme Brahman (God) is impersonal, Nirguna (without Gunas or attributes), Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without special characteristics), immutable, eternal, and Akarta (non-agent). It is above all needs and desires. It is always the Witnessing Subject. It can never become an object as It is beyond the reach of the senses. Brahman is non-dual, one without a second. It has no other besides it. It is destitute of difference, either external or internal.

Brahman cannot be described because description implies a distinction. Brahman cannot be distinguished from any other than It. In Brahman, there is no distinction between substance and attribute. Sat-Chit-Ananda constitutes the very essence or Svarupa of Brahman and not just Its attributes. The Nirguna Brahman of Sage Sankara is impersonal.

The 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)

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?

Sickness is not cured by saying the word “medicine.” You must take the medicine. Ignorance will not vanish does not come by merely saying the word “God nor by worshiping God of belief. First one must know what God is supposed to be. God must be realized. One must know God in truth.

Perfect undemanding and assimilation of ‘what is what’ leads to truth realization, truth realization itself is Self-realization. Self-realization itself is God-realization. God- realization itself is real worship.: ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Sage Goudpada: ~ To establish the truth of Non-duality by sheer reasoning alone.+

Sage Goudpada: ~ To establish the truth of Non-duality by sheer reasoning alone. He begins by defining "What is real?" "What is unreal?" etc, because that is the right way to understand and assimilate.   (Manduka Karika)

Existence is nondual. Nonduality cannot be described through words for all uses of language fail to express it. Nonduality is sought to be indicated by mentally negation of duality (all attributes and characteristics).

Sage Sankara says:~ How can the talk of diversity, dvaita, apply to the Supreme Reality which is one and homogeneous, Advaita? Who has ever observed diversity, dvaita, in the unmixed bliss of the state of profound sleep?

Sage Sankara says only through direct knowledge of non-duality that one be enlightened.

Sage Sankara’s opponents accused him of teaching Buddhism in the garb of Hinduism because his non-dualistic ideals were a bit radical to contemporary Hindu philosophy. However, it may be noted that while the Later Buddhists arrived at a changeless, deathless, absolute truth after their insightful understanding of the unreality of samsara, historically Vedantins never liked this idea.

Although Advaita also proposes the theory of Maya, explaining the universe as a "trick of a magician", Sage Sankara and his followers see this as a consequence of their basic premise that Atman is real. Their idea of Maya emerges from their belief in the reality of Atman, rather than the other way around.

Sage Sankara was a peripatetic orthodox Hindu monk who traveled the length and breadth of India. The more enthusiastic followers of the Advaita tradition claim that he was chiefly responsible for "driving the Buddhists away". Historically the decline of Buddhism in India is known to have taken place long after Sage Sankara or even Kumarila Bhatta (who according to a legend had "driven the Buddhists away" by defeating them in debates), sometime before the Muslim invasion into Afghanistan (earlier Gandhara).

Although today's followers of Advaita believe Sage Sankara argued against Buddhists in person, a historical source, the Madhaviya Shankara Vijayam, indicates that Sage Sankara sought debates with Mimamsa, Samkhya, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, and Yoga scholars as keenly as with any Buddhists. In fact, his arguments against the Buddhists are quite mild in the Upanishad Bhashyas, while they border on the acrimonious in the Brahma Sutra Bhashya.

The Vishistadvaita and Dvaita schools believe in an ultimately attributed Atman. They differ passionately with Advaita and believe that his attriubuteless Atman is not different from the Buddhist Sunyata (wholeness or zeroness) — much to the dismay of the Advaita school. A careful study of the Buddhist Sunyata will show that it is in some ways metaphysically similar to Atman. Whether Sage Sankara agrees with the Buddhists is not very clear from his commentaries on the Upanishads. His arguments against Buddhism in the Brahma Sutra Bhashyas are more a representation of Vedantic traditional debate with Buddhists than a true representation of his own individual belief. :~Santthosh Kumaar 

The rituals mentioned in the Karmakanda of Vedas are sought to be negated in the Jnanakanda, which is also part of the same scripture.+

If people have believed in religious propagated myths over thousands of years, the length of time does not prove it true. 

Sage Sankara’s  Brahman or God in truth is impersonal. Worshiping personal Gods is meant for the orthodox people who are ignorant and refuse to accept the truth. 

Sage Sankara pointed out that those rituals could in no way bring about wisdom, much less Moksha.  

The rituals mentioned in the Karmakanda of Vedas are sought to be negated in the Jnanakanda, which is also part of the same scripture. While Karma kand enjoins upon you the worship of various deities and lays down the rules for the same, Jnanakanda constituted by the Upanishads ridicules the worshiper of deities as a dim-witted person no better than the beast.

The path of wisdom is divided into three parts:~

First: hearing the truth--that consciousness is the only reality and that the universe along with you is merely an illusion or Maya.

Second: reasoning upon these words of wisdom of Sage Sankara from all points of view.

Third: giving up all further argumentation and realizing the truth. This realization comes from being certain that consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

Remember:~

Rig Veda: ~ 'Prajnanam Brahma'- Consciousness is the ultimate reality or Brahman or God in truth.

God in truth is the Atman, the Self. Atman is present in the form of consciousness. Do not accept any other God other than Atman not worship other than Atman. Let these words be inscribed in your subconscious.

Nothing is real but God. Nothing Matters but love for God in truth. God in truth is everywhere and in everything.

God in truth is hidden by the illusory universe. God in truth alone is and all else is an illusion.:~Santthosh Kumaar

Satyam-Jnanam-Anantam-Anandam is not a separate attribute. They form the very essence of Atman.+

Sage Sankara wrote Bhashyas or commentaries on the Brahma Sutras, the Upanishads, and the Gita. The Bhashya on the Brahma Sutras is called Shareerik Bhasya. Sage Sankara wrote commentaries on Sanat Sujatiya and Sahasranama Adhyaya.

It is usually said, “For learning logic and metaphysics, go to Sage Sankara 's commentaries; for gaining practical knowledge, which unfolds and strengthens devotion, go to his works such as Viveka Chudamani, Atma Bodha, Aparoksha Anubhuti, Ananda Lahari, Atma-Anatma Viveka, Drik-Drishya Viveka, and Upadesa Sahasri”. Sage Sankara wrote innumerable original works in verses that are matchless in sweetness, melody and thought.

Sage Sankara’s supreme Atman is Attriubuteless (without the Gunas), Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without attributes), and Akarta (non-agent). He is above all needs and desires. Sage Sankara says, "This Atman is self-evident. This Atman or Self is not established by proofs of the existence of the Self. It is not possible to deny this Atman, for it is the very essence of he who denies it. The Atman is the basis of all kinds of knowledge. The Self is within, the Self is without, the Self is before and the Self is behind. The Self is on the right hand, the Self is on the left, the Self is above and the Self is below".

Satyam-Jnanam-Anantam-Anandam is not a separate attribute. They form the very essence of Atman. Atman cannot be described, because description implies distinction. Atman cannot be distinguished from any other than He.

The objective world-the world of names and forms has no independent existence. The Atman alone has a real existence. The world is only Vyavaharika or phenomenal.

Sage Sankara was the exponent of the  Advaitic wisdom. His  wisdom can be summed up in the following words:

Brahma Satyam Jagat Mithya,

Jeevo Brahmaiva Na Aparah

Atman alone is real; this world is unreal; the Jiva is identical to Atman

Sage Sankara preached Vivarta Vada. Just as the snake is superimposed on the rope, this world and this body are superimposed on Atman or the Supreme Self. If you get a knowledge of the rope, the illusion of the snake will vanish. Even so, if you get a knowledge of Atman, the illusion of the body and the world will vanish.

Sage Sankara is the foremost among the masterminds and the giant souls that Mother India has produced. He was the expounder of the Advaita philosophy.

Sage Sankara was a giant metaphysician, a practical philosopher, an infallible logician, a dynamic personality, and a stupendous moral and spiritual force. His grasping and elucidating powers knew no bounds. He was a fully developed Yogi, Jnani, and Bhakta. He was a Karma Yogin of no mean order. He was a powerful magnet.

There is not one branch of knowledge that Sage Sankara has left unexplored and which has not received the touch, polish, and finish of his superhuman intellect.

For Sage Sankara and his works, we have a very high reverence. The loftiness, calmness, and firmness of his mind, the impartiality with which he deals with various questions, and his clearness of expression all make us revere the philosopher more and more. His teachings will continue to live as long as the sun shines.

Sage Sankara's scholarly erudition and his masterly way of exposition of intricate philosophical problems have won the admiration of all the philosophical schools of the world at the present moment.

Sage Sankara was an intellectual genius, a profound philosopher, an able propagandist, a matchless preacher, a gifted poet, and a great religious reformer. Perhaps, never in the history of any literature, a stupendous writer like him has been found. Even the Western scholars of the present day pay their homage and respect to him. Of all the ancient systems, that of Sage Sankara will be found to be the most congenial and the easiest to accept to the modern mindset.:~Santthosh Kumaar