Vedic God is the Atman, the ‘Self'.+

Max Müller says: ~ "The religion of the Veda knows no idols; the worship of idols in India is a secondary formation, a degradation of the more primitive worship of ideal Gods."

Vedic God is Atman. Atman is the Self. Self-realization is God-realization. Self-realization itself is real worship. There is no other worship other than Self-realization. 

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 realize the reality beyond the form, time, and space.

So the first thing to be understood is that Puranic Gods are not real persons in the world, but they are mere beliefs. The belief creates a barricade and hides the truth, which is beyond the form, time and space. 

Religion can never make you know God. Only an intense urge to know what God supposed to be in truth can make you realize God.  The Athma, the ‘Self is the Infinite God. 

Vedic God is the Atman, the ‘Self'. 

The Athma is the innermost Self. God is the Athma, which is present in the form of consciousness. God is the fullness of the consciousness without the illusory division of form, time, and space.  Therefore, there is nothing apart from it. 

God is Self-evident. God is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny God because God is the very essence of the one who denies it. God is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs. God is within the universe in which you exist, God is without the universe in which you exist.

Lord Krishna himself 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. (BG~Ch~ V.)

“Know the Self in truth”: ~ It means to realize the Self itself is God. God is without form, time, space, and name. 

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

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

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 innermost 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) is in the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself.

Thus, it clearly indicates the God is without the form and attributes and ever free.   Vedic Gods, hardly have any significance in present-day Hindu belief system. The Gods and Goddesses important to the Hindus of today 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 are clearly non-Vedic.

When Upanishads and Vedas declare that, “God is in the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself” then why to 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. 

Bhagavad Gita Chapter:~ All those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires, they worship many God s. (7- Verse -20)

Kena Upanishad (6) Chapter I: ~  “That which cannot be apprehended by the mind, but by which, they say, the mind is apprehended-That alone know as Brahman, and not that which people here worship.

Kena Upanishad (7) Chapter I:~  That which cannot be perceived by the eye, but by which the eye is perceived-That alone know as Brahman, and not that which people here worship.

Kena Upanishad (8) Chapter I:~  That which cannot be heard by the ear, but by which the hearing is perceived-That alone know as Brahman, and not that which people here worship.

Kena Upanishad (9)- Chapter I:~ That which cannot be smelt by the breath, but by which the breath smells an object-That alone know as Brahman, and not that which people here worship.

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad declares: "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)

According to Yajur Veda: ~ They sink deeper in darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, idol, etc. - (Yajurveda 40:9)

Those who worship visible things born of the Prakriti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like) in place of God 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."- (Yajur Veda 40:9.)

Then why does anyone has to indulge in idol worship which is not God when Rig Veda clearly says: “May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5) 

Worshipping non~Vedic Gods in place of real God they fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time (Yajur Veda 40:9.). 

Santana Dharma or Vedic religion emphasizes on Self-realization is the quintessence.  Thus, Self-realization is God-realization. Self-realization itself is real worship. There is no other worship other than Self-realization.:~Santthosh Kumaar