A Gnani bears no external mark of Guru or holy man . Neither nudity nor the religious robe has anything to do with him.+

A Gnani never claims himself as Gnani, he guides the seekers not posing himself as a guru, and he does not force his wisdom on others. 

Sage Sankara says: ~ “Though I wear these robes of a Sanyasin, it is only for the sake of bread."

Thus, it proves that Sage Sankara meant, taking sanyasa and wearing religious robes to earn bread. Sanyasa is not a qualification to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Thus, all those who wear religious robes are not seeking the truth. Sanyasa is a religious fable.    Sanyasa has nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman. Those who are seeking truth should never search for the guru because the guru belongs to the religious and yogic path.  

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).

A Gnani wears no signs which means he does not identify himself as a Guru or teacher or swami. 

Sage Sankara: ~ On Gnani: "The knower of Brahman wears no signs. Gives up the insignia of a monk's life…his signs are not manifest, nor his behavior." (page 482 )

When the knower of Brahman (Gnani) wears no signs, it means he does not identify himself as Guru or Yogi or teacher or Swami. 

People’s observation is based on the dualistic (matter or body or ego) perspective, whereas Gnani's judgment is based on the nondualistic (Soul or Spirit or Consciousness) perspective. 

People can only lecture for giving out falsehood, but it is a waste of time to deliver a public lecture giving out the truth.   It the illusions that appeal to the taste of the audience because they are ignorant about the world in which they exist is merely an illusion, from the standpoint of the soul, the innermost self.

Gnani does not want to think of the ego, therefore he does not do or say anything to make himself appear superior to others or to pretend to know more than others.  If a person spends his time in Samadhi, he is not a Gnani but he is only a yogi. 

The Gnani is as alert and awake to what is happening to him externally as all other people: he is not a yogi in Samadhi. A yogi does not know the ultimate truth or Brahman because he believes his Samadhi as Brahman. 

A Gnani has realized the world in which he exists is merely an illusion created out of consciousness.  And consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. 

For a crowd at a venue will contain men of varying capacities to understand, of whom only one or two might be receptive to receive Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.  People who provoke and try to argue from their own standpoint are unfit to receive Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Gnani mixing with the company of people from all walks of life, behaving as they did, not claiming to be different from them.  He occasionally drops some words and gives some suggestions which creates curiosity to know the reality beyond form, time, and space. Thus he will instill hope into seeker's hearts that is really possible to acquire self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

A  Gnani will neither talk too volubly like shallow persons nor observe complete silence like some yogis and gurus. He will talk as much as is necessary but no more. Thus, he follows the inner (mental)   path, the formless path.

If one wants to interview a Gnani then he must be ripe enough to understand what a Gnani is pointing at.    A Gnani will be withholding the truth because he is aware of the fact that, the unready people will not understand what he is saying.  

The path of wisdom is not the path of argument. The argument is possible only from the standpoint of the ego, which is the false self within the false experience. Many think that all their accumulated knowledge as wisdom.  Such accumulated knowledge is intellectual knowledge based on imagination.  Imagination is not the truth.

That is why Bhagavad Gita says: ~ "Don't unsettle the minds of the ignorant by revealing the esoteric truth."

A Gnani may travel provided he is actively engaged therein helping the serious seekers.

For the benefit of those who think from the lower standpoint of the world of duality, the Gnani tells them to follow their chosen path and when they are convinced that their chosen paths are inadequate and useless in quenching their inner thirst they only take the path of wisdom or reason.

The Gnani is not a sanyasi or guru or swami or Sadhu or monk.  He does not belong to any ashrams."  Both Gnani and the ignorant see the multiplicity, but Gnani does not take the differences he sees as being real. That is the difference between them. The Gnani see the unity behind the differences within the realm of form, time, and space by knowing that form, time, and space are one in essence.  A true Gnani can never renounce anything. It is impossible. He has only renounced the idea of a separation of form, time, and space.

A Gnani chooses no religion,   dress, thing, speech, actions, vocation, or posture to show off that he is a Gnani, and that he is different from others. That would indicate distinctness or separateness.  A Gnani is fully aware of the fact that the experience of form, time, and space are one in essence.

This realization in its fullness brings absolute harmony between thought and action and makes the Gnani.   

A Gnani desires to share Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana with humanity before he disappears from this illusory world and thus keeps it alive in the illusory world.  He alone can be a true Gnani who is soulcentric.

Gnanis have ignored the opinions of whole peoples in their independent search for truth and questioned all beliefs, all scriptures, and all authorities until they could be proven to be true. 

Even the arguments that religions have been followed since time immemorial make no difference to them because if people have believed a false thing over thousands of years, the length of time does not prove it true.  

The ultimate truth does not belong to the religion because the religion and its belief in religious God and its scriptures are a reality within the scope of form, time, and space whereas the ultimate truth is hidden by ignorance. 

A Gnani who knows reality interprets everything according to its light. It is not enough to write books to bring people to the realization of nonduality or Advaita, perfect understanding, assimilation, and realization are also necessary.

The Gnani accepts the sameness in pleasure and pain because he is fully aware of the fact that pleasure, pain, and the world are made of the same stuff and that stuff is consciousness.   

Without consciousness, there is no pleasure, pain, and the world.  Gnani’s position is that if enjoyment comes, he accepts it; if it does not, he keeps quiet. Even when he is taking pleasures, however, he is not deluded by them, and he regards them as a game he is playing for he knows their unreality: he does not take them seriously.

Clouds do not affect the sky, although they appear to; so the pleasure and pain do not change the Gnani because he is fully aware of the fact that, the pleasure and pain belong to the world. And the world is merely an illusion from the standpoint of the soul, the innermost self.    From the standpoint of the soul, the innermost self the illusion is merely a passing show.

Remember:~

A Gnani does not try to eliminate thoughts, but he accepts or knows them as the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.  He knows that the mind (universe) and soul (self) are one in essence. And that essence is consciousness. 

The Gnani uses sense objects because he sees they are as consciousness. He is fully aware of the fact that practical life within the practical world is merely an idea created out of consciousness.  He is fully aware of the fact that it would be foolish to observe celibacy within the illusory world in which he exists. 

Manduka Upanishads: ~  It is very difficult to find out who is a Gnani because he bears no external mark. Neither nudity nor the religious robe has anything to do with him.

A Gnani cannot have the idea of giving up or renouncing the world or some object or person in the world, because that would connote the idea of duality. Knowing no second thing at all there remains nothing to be given up.

The Gnani will follow whatever occupation he wishes according to circumstances. There are no prohibitions for him. He may be a peasant or a billionaire.

Gnanis does not perform miracles to attract attention to the Soul, which is the ultimate truth.  If one performed Miracles in a dream the dream becomes unreal when waking takes place. Similarly, the waking becomes unreal when wisdom dawns. Wisdom dawns when the waking entity (you) realizes it is not the Self but the Self is the formless Soul, which witnesses the coming and going of the three states. The witness of the three states and the three states are one in essence.  That essence is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.  

Even whilst in the midst of the experience of objects, the Gnani have the awareness of the Soul, the Self. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.  

 In Self-awareness, there is no separation of form, time, and space from the other because the form, time, and space are one in essence.

A person who realizes the ultimate truth or Brahman will throw off his religious robe and his religious identity and become Avadhuta and live as he wishes.:~Santthosh Kumaar