Sage Sankara criticized severely the ritualistic attitude and those who advocated such practices.+

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

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.

The Hindus 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 Bhakta Gods are separate individuals. Without an individualized God, there is no path for Bhakti.

The Advaitin orthodox  Gurus say:~  Instead of worshipping many deities, the seeker must reach the state in which he will recognize that he has no existence other than that of his being dissolved in the Brahman.

Sage Sankara:~  The rituals, rewards, etc. are addressed to an ignorant person. 

Then why remain ignorant by indulging in worshipping the deities and indulging the rituals which are addressed to an ignorant populace. 

The religious samskara or conditioning is so strong that people refuse to believe what they are worshipping as Gods are not real Gods according to Vedas and Upanishads.  It is very difficult for religious people to accept what they are worshipping is a false God.

Vedas and Upanishads clearly say, what God is supposed to be and what not to worship in place of God.

The Hindus 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.  

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. 

Hindus indulge in idol worship, while Vedas bar idol worship.   According to Vedas, God pervades everything and everywhere.

According to Advaita Vedanta, the Veda addresses itself to 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 seeker who seeks to know Brahman. Thus, the Purva mimam. sa, with its emphasis on the Karma Kanda of the Vedas, is meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. However, the Vedanta, with its emphasis on the Jnana Kanda, is meant for those who wish to go beyond such transient pleasures.

The Orthodox Advaitins Gurus say: ~  

The purpose of the Vedic rituals is to take us, by degrees, to this state. So long as we believe that the world is real we worship the deities to be vouchsafed happiness. And this world, which we think is real, also benefited from such worship.

 Thinking the deities to be real, we help them and in return, we are helped by them. Living happily on this earth we long to go to the world of the celestials and enjoy the pleasures of paradise. So far so good. But if we stopped at this stage would it not mean losing sight of our supreme objective? Is not this objective, this goal, our becoming one with the Paramatman? Would it not be foolish to ignore this great ideal of ours and still cling to mundane happiness?

In our present state of immaturity, it is not possible to think of the world is unreal. Recognizing this, the Vedas provide us the rituals to be performed for happiness in this world. Because of our inadequacies we are unable to devote ourselves to a formless Paramatman from whom we are not different.

So the Vedas have devised a system in which a number of deities are worshiped. But, in course of time, as we perform the rituals and worship the deities, we must make efforts to advance to the state of wisdom and enlightenment in which the world will be seen to be unreal and the rites will become unnecessary. Instead of worshipping many deities, we must reach the state in which we will recognize that we have no existence other than that of our being dissolved in the Paramatman. We must perform Vedic sacraments with the knowledge that they prepare us to go to this state by making our minds pure and one-pointed.

If we perform rituals with the sole idea of worldly happiness and carry on trade with the celestials by conducting sacrifices (offering them oblations and receiving benefits from them in return), we will never come face to face with the Truth. Even if we go to the world of the celestials, we will not be blessed with the ‘Self’-realization. Our residence in paradise is commensurate with the merit we earn here and is not permanent.

Sooner or later we will have to return to this world and be in the womb of a mother. The ritual worship and other sacraments of the Vedas are to some extent the result of making an adjustment to our present immature state of mind. But their real purpose is to take us forward gradually from this very immature state and illumine us within. It would be wrong to refuse to go beyond the stage of ritual worship.

If to begin with, it is not right to refuse all at once to perform Vedic rites, it would be equally not right, subsequently, to refuse to give them up. Nowadays, people are averse to ritual to start with itself’. "What?” they exclaim. "Who wants to perform sacrifices? Why should we chant the Vedas? Let us go directly to the Upanishads.

“Some of them can speak eloquently about the Upanishads from a mere intellectual understanding of them. But none has the inward conviction of the truths propounded in them and we do not see them emerging as men of detachment with a true awareness of the ‘Self’. The reason for this is that they have not prepared themselves for this higher state of perception through the performance of rituals. If this is wrong in one sense, refusal to take the path of jnana from that of karma is equally not justifiable.

Remember:~

First of all the Orthodox indulge in non-~Vedic rituals and worship.  Worship of the deities.

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.

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 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 create a barricade and hide the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

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

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.

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).  

When Upanishads and Vedas declare that, “God is 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.

One of Sage Sankara’s missions was to wean people away from a ritualistic approach advocated by Mimamsakas and to project wisdom (Gnana) as the means of liberation in the light of Upanishad teachings.

Sage Sankara criticized severely the ritualistic attitude and those who advocated such practices. However, the Orthodox texts that combined rituals with wisdom (jnana_karma_samucchaya) more in favor of the Mimamsaka position came into vogue, projecting Sage Sankara as the rallying force of the doctrine.

Sage Sankara:~ (11) As regards the rituals, Sage  Sankara says, the person who performs rituals and aspires for rewards will view himself in terms of the caste into which he is born, his age, and 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 a 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:~ (11.1) This ignorance (mistaking the body for Self) brings in its wake a desire for the well-being of the body, aversion for its disease or discomfort, fear of its destruction, and thus a host of miseries(anartha). This anartha is caused by projecting karthvya(“doer” sense) and bhokthavya (object) on the Atman. Sage Sankara calls this adhyasa. The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are, therefore, he says, addressed to an ignorant person. Adhyasa Bhashya

Sage Sankara:~ (11.2) In short, the 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: ~ (12) Sage Sankara affirming his belief in one eternal unchanging reality (Brahman) and the illusion of plurality, drives home the point that Upanishads deal not with rituals but with the knowledge of the Absolute (Brahma Vidya) and the Upanishads give us an insight into the essential nature of the Self which is identical with the Absolute, the Brahman. -Adhyasa Bhashya

No conceptual God can exist, apart from consciousness.  People are not aware of the fact that there is no individual God that can exist, apart from the Soul, which is in the form of consciousness. Thus the Soul or the consciousness is the  Self.   If there is no consciousness, then there is no physical body, no ego, no universe, no religion, and no conceptual God. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Sage Sankara’s missions was to wean people away from a ritualistic approach and to project wisdom (Gnana) as the means of liberation.+

One of Sage Sankara’s missions was to wean people away from a ritualistic approach advocated by Mimamsakas and to project wisdom (Gnana) as the means of liberation in the light of Upanishad teachings.

Sage Sankara criticized severely the ritualistic attitude and those who advocated such practices. However, the Orthodox texts that combined rituals with wisdom (jnana_karma_samucchaya) more in favor of the Mimamsaka position came into vogue, projecting favor of the Mimamsaka position came into vogue, projecting Sage  Sankara as the rallying force of the doctrine.

That is why Adhyasa Bhashya of Sage Sankara:~:~ (11) As regards the rituals, Sage  Sankara says, 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 a 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. 

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

This seems strange, the latter part of the Vedas contradicting the former part. The first part deals with karma, while the second or concluding part is all about jnana. Owing to this difference, people have gone so far as to divide our scripture into two sections: the Vedas (that is the first part) to mean the karmakanda and the Upanishads (Vedanta) to mean the jnanakanda.

 Lord Krishna teaches us in the Gita and in it, he lashes out against the karmakanda. It is generally believed that the Buddha and Mahavira were the first to attack the Vedas. It is not so. Lord Krishna himself’ spoke against them long before Bhagavan Buddha and Mahavira.

As indicated in 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 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 then why does one has to indulge in rituals and glorifying 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. 

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

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

That is why Lord Krishna says Ch ~V: ~ “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.

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

The Vedas do not talk about idol worship. In fact, till about 2000 years ago followers of Vedism never worshiped 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 in i.e. Atman or the Soul, but Hinduism indulges in worshiping 60 million Gods.

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

Those who worship visible things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, and 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.)

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

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 1-164-46 and Y.V 32-1 clearly mention that God is “One”.

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

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

When Upanishad itself declares: ~   Sarvam khalvidam brahma ~ all this (universe) is verily Brahman. By following back all of the relative appearances in the world, we eventually return to that from which it is all manifest – the non-dual reality (Chandogya Upanishad). 

Even 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 the description implies a distinction. Brahman cannot be distinguished from any other than It. In Brahman, there is not a 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.

Sage  Sankara: ~"That which permeates all, which nothing transcends and which, like the universal space around us, fills everything completely from within and without, that Supreme non-dual Brahman  (God) ~ that thou art."

Sage Sankara’s Nirguna Brahman is based on Vedas. The Saguna Brahman has no Vedic sanction.

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

On Vedic perspective, Lord Krishna is not Vedic God because Rig Veda says:- May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman.+

People all over the world think that Hinduism is a Religion. As one goes into the annals of the religious history one finds: - Hinduism has drifted miles away from the Vedic faith so that the two seem to be two distinct faiths. When we carefully examine the two faiths, it is not difficult to discover that there is no noticeable continuity between Hinduism from the Vedic religion or Santana Dharma. Hinduism of today cannot be traced to the Vedic literature.

 Although the Vedas are revered as sacred texts, many people in India do not know what ‘belief in the Vedas’ means. In most cases, the acquaintance of the Hindus with the Vedas is limited to the few hymns that are recited in temples and household liturgies.

The Vedas as a body of scripture contains many contradictions and they are fragmentary in nature. For Hindus of today, scriptures like the Bhagavad-Gita, Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Puranas are more attractive and appealing than the Vedas.

The Gods and Goddesses they worship differ considerably from the Vedic ones. The collection of hymns called Vedas are written in praise of certain deities by poets over several centuries does not seem to have much significance for the Hindus of today.

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.

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 merely belief. The belief creates a barricade and hides the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

Lord Krishna says ~ “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. (Ch~ V.)

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

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

God is the Supreme Being the One eternal homogeneous essence, indivisible consciousness and intelligence, which is beyond the form, time, and space. Which the Sages describe in a variety of ways through diverse words.

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

Only the path of wisdom leads the seeker of truth on his journey to the ultimate realization of the true nature of the Universal Essence, which is the Soul. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness.

Bhagavad Gita: 7: 19:~ "Such a man who has attained true knowledge, the knowledge of Self, the knowledge of Atman, worships ‘Self’ as~ Atman (God) alone exists~ everything is Atman, there exists nothing except Atman. Such a man is extremely rare."

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).

When Bhagavad Gita says, God is considered the all-pervading consciousness which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material then nothing has to be accepted as God other than consciousness.

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 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 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.

The Vedas do not talk about idol worship. In fact, till about 2000 years ago followers of Vedism never worshiped 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 in i.e. Atman or Soul but Hinduism indulges in worshiping 60 million Gods.

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

Those who worship visible things born of the Prakriti, such as the earth, trees, and 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.)

The Hindus 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.  

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. 

Hindus do idol worship while Vedas bars idol worship.   According to Vedas, God pervades everything and everywhere.

To be considered an orthodox Hindu one need only accept the authority of Shruti, however, there is no universal agreement among Hindus what constitutes Shruti. Vedantins consider the Vedanta, i.e., the Upanishads as Shruti, but also include the Bhagavad-Gita and Brahma Sutras as authoritative. For some Vaishnavas, the Bhagavata Purana is to be considered Veda. Some consider the Tantras are considered Veda. Thus, we find that there is ample scope for different philosophies and practices under the very broad umbrella of Hinduism. And all Hindus indulge in non-Vedic practices barred by the Vedas introduced by the different founders of the different sects of Hinduism.

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

Those who worship visible things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, and 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 have 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.).

Thus, Self-realization is God-realization. Self-realization itself is real worship. There is no other worship other than self-realization.:~Santthosh Kumaar