The path of Bhakti is a hindrance to Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.+

Many seers in the past commented on the ancient scriptures and enlightened sages. It has always been so in India because much dust gathers as time passes.  The Advaitic wisdom came into existence in a totally different world. Those sages of truth have disappeared and their world no more exists. Sage Sankara’s Advaita as the fairest flower of philosophy that the world in any era has produced.

By the 12th to 18th centuries, the Bhakti movement had spread to all regions of India. Bhakti poetry and attitudes began to color many aspects of the Indian culture, religious and secular, and became an integral part of Indian society.

Prominent Bhakti poets wrote against the hierarchy of caste. It extended its influence to other religious ideologies. Bhakti offered the possibility of religious experience by anyone, anywhere, at any time.  Thus, the Indian ignorant populace adopted the path of Bhakti, so, the Bhakti moment became very popular. 

Hinduism is not Santana Dharma or Vedic religion.  Hinduism is not a religion. Rather it is a group of castes found in India that share common beliefs while still remaining very different.

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

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. 

As one goes deeper into the annals of history, it indicates the fact that somewhere someone has added the Puranas in the name of Veda Vyasa the grandmaster of Vedas. It is impossible to accept and believe that Veda Vyasa authored and introduced Puranas which have all conceptual Gods and Goddesses.

Vedic religion was modified and reintroduced with new add-ons by Sage Sankara a great Advaitin Sage to uplift the Vedic culture and Santana Dharma, which was in ruins in the clutches of Buddhism.

18 Puranas are introduced in the name of Veda Vyasa by the dualist's Saints because the Puranic Gods are non-Vedic Gods. Worship of Such Gods barred Vedas.  

As one goes deeper into the annals of history, it indicates the fact that somewhere someone has added the Puranas in the name of Veda Vyasa the grandmaster of Vedas. It is impossible to accept and believe that Veda Vyasa authored and introduced Puranas which have all conceptual Gods.

Diverse paths and practices in India are conceptual divisions invented by the religious Gurus of different sects by their excessive imagination based on the false self (ego).  All these concepts are a great obstacle in the pursuit of truth.    Why should introduce personal Gods and create confusion when the Vedas clearly say: ~ 

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

Do not accept any other God other than the Soul. The Soul is God in truth,  Nothing is real but the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Nothing matters but realizing God in truth. God in truth is everywhere and in everything. Let these words be inscribed in your subconscious.

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

Brahman is merely a word to indicate the ultimate truth or God in truth.  The ultimate truth itself is God in 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)

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

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

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

When Upanishads and Vedas declare that, “God is present in the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself” then why accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman.

People, who worship the belief of God, are hallucinating that they become one with such God.

That is why Swami Vivekananda: ~   The masses in India cry to sixty million Gods and still die like dogs. Where are these Gods?

Vedic people did not worship personal Gods and Goddesses. Personal God and Goddesses are not Vedic Gods.  Vedas mention that God is “One” whereas in Hinduism there are sixty million Gods.

Hinduism is not ancient Vedic Religion or Santana Dharma.  Bhaktas indulge in idol worship or chanting of the names of personal Gods while Vedas bar worship of personal gods’   idols of a variety of Gods and Goddesses. God pervades everything and everywhere. Bhakti Marga, they hold the Puranic Gods as real gods. The Puranic Gods are not the real Gods.

The Bhaktas indulge non-Vedic beliefs such as idolatry, chanting of God’s name, glorifying Gurus, ancestor worship, pilgrimages, priestcraft, and offerings made in temples. All these lack Vedic sanctions, therefore, Hinduism is not Ancient Vedic religion or Santana Dharma.

The Hindu Gods are Rama, Krishna, Kali, Ganesh, Hanuman, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, and the respective consorts of the last three, namely, Saraswati, Lakshmi, and Shakti. None of these deities figured prominently in the Vedic pantheon and some of them are clearly non-Vedic.

The major Gods of Hinduism like Vishnu and Shiva are non-Aryan in origin. Though they may have belonged to the Vedic tradition they played no major role in the Vedas.

Remember:~

All Hindu  Gods are Puranic Gods.  Puranas deals with symbols Puranas are not history; it is concerned with objective reality. Puranas are not concerned with subjective reality. These Puranic  Gods do not exist outside the physical existence, but they have a psychological existence and that psychological existence is a great hindrance to realizing the reality beyond form, time,  and space.

 So the first thing to be understood is that Puranic Gods are not real persons in the world, but they create a barricade and hide the truth, which is beyond form, time,  and space.

Puranas are Indian mythology. Mythological stories are a myth. Whatever is based on myth is merely a superstition.  Mythology was introduced in the past for the ignorant masses. It has to be discarded as one progresses in his spiritual advancement. 

Mythology breeds superstition, blind belief, senseless rituals, and most irrational and gives them a divine outlook. 

Lord Krishna says: ~ “Those who know the Self 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. (Ch~ V.)

“Know me in truth”: ~   It means to know God without the form, time, space, and name.

From a Vedic perspective, Lord Krishna is not Vedic God because Rig Veda says:   May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?"

The more important religious sects among the Hindus, like Vaishnavism, Saivism, and so on, did not have a Vedic origin but had come into existence in much recent times.

Originally Shiva and the cult of the Mother Goddess belonged to the religion of the Indus Valley people. As one goes in deeper into the annals of Indian religious history  Vishnu and Shiva's cult is a melting of at least two cultures, if not three, namely, the Aryan culture, the pre-Aryan culture of the Ganges Valley, and the Indus Valley culture. These three cultures were closely knit by the first century of Christianity and in the later period underwent further developments, and probably also a fourth tradition of the indigenous tribes that stood outside the four classes of the caste system as outcasts.

Vedic worshippers did not use temples and idols as Hindus of today do. For them, the sacrificial rituals were more important than the temple or idol worship the major Hindu feasts of today are based on the epic feats of Rama and Krishna and the Puranic lore pertaining to Shiva and the Goddess.

Vedas are not the important sacred scriptures for the Hindus. The Vedas as a body of scripture contains many contradictions and they are fragmentary in nature. For most Hindus of today, scriptures like the Bhagavad-Gita, Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Puranas are more attractive and appealing than the Vedas. In addition, the Gods and Goddesses they worship differ considerably from the Vedic ones.

The Hindus believed in polytheism, believing all of their Gods to be separate individuals, which were introduced much later by the founders of Hinduism which contains diverse beliefs caste, and creed.   The Bhakta Gods are to be separate individuals. Without an individualized God, there is no path of Bhakti.

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.

Yajur Veda indicates that:~   They sink deeper in darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example, table, chair, idol, etc. - (Yajurveda 40:9).  

ISH Upanishads: - By worshipping Gods and goddesses you will go after death to the world of Gods and goddesses. But will that help you? The time you spend there is wasted because if you were not there you could have spent that time moving forward toward 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 then why one has to indulge in rituals and Bhakti to 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.   

Fortunate is the man who does not lose himself in the labyrinths of paths and practices but goes straight in search of the truth. ....

Remember:~

Bhakti is an important component of many branches of Hinduism, defined differently by various sects, and schools are non-Vedic introduced several centuries back.  

The Bhakti movement reached North India and throughout the Mughal era contributed significantly to the characteristics of Hinduism as the religion of the general population under the rule of the Mughal elite.

After their encounter with the expanding Islam religion, Bhakti proponents ~ who were traditionally called "saints “~” elaborated egalitarian doctrine that transcended the caste system and encouraged individuals to seek personal union with the divine." Its influence also spread to other religions during this period and became an integral aspect of Hindu culture and society in the modern era.

A more literal translation of Bhakti would be "participation"; some define Bhakti as "intense love" for God.  Some define Bhakti as an "intense attraction" for God.  

The One who practices Bhakti is called a Bhakta.   The devotional path is referred to as Bhakti Marga or Bhakti yoga.

Bhakti emphasizes religious devotion and sentiment above ritual and orthopraxy. In this sense, it parallels the early 20th-century movement of Pentecostalism in Christian history, where the direct personal experience of God was also emphasized over liturgy or ritual.

The concept of Bhakti means single-minded devotion to one God.  The object of the devotee’s adoration is to secure the grace of God for the sake of salvation.

The Bhakti movement was essentially monotheistic and the devotees worshipped one individualized God, who could either have a form (saguna) or be formless (nirguna).

The Bhagavata Purana placed the concept of Bhakti on a very high pedestal. During the post-Bhagavata phase, passionate love and devotion to one individualized God became a characteristic feature of Indian religious thoughts.

The term Bhakti means devotion. It may refer to devotion to a spiritual teacher (Guru) as guru-Bhakti, to an individualized form of God, or to divinity without form (nirguna). "Bhakti" is also used as a unisex name.

The Bhakti saints of North, as well as South India, regarded knowledge (Gnana) as a constituent of Bhakti. The Bhakti movement greatly emphasized securing true knowledge from a Guru.

The early leaders of the Bhakti movement were mostly from India- the earliest being Ramanuja whose disciple Ramananda carried the Bhakti movement to North India.

The followers of the former, known as Vaishnavas, were further subdivided into those who regarded Ram or Krishna-both incarnations of Vishnu as their personal God, respectively. The followers of Nirguna Bhakti discarded idol worship. Worshipping God without the idol by changing the name of individualized God is not nirguna Bhakti. :~Santthosh Kumaar