Vedas are not the important sacred scriptures for the Hindus.+

People from all over the world come to India in search of the truth and are caught up with the diverse beliefs and practices of Hinduism thinking Hinduism is the means for Self-realization.   

Hinduism is not the means to Self-realization. The goal of Vedic religion or Sanatana Dharma is Self-realization. Vedic religion or Sanatana Dharma is not Hinduism. The seeker of truth must know the difference between Hinduism and Vedic religion or Sanatan Dharma.  

Maharishi Dayananda Saraswati founder of Arya Samaj was the first thinker and reformer to emphasize the importance of ‘going back to the Vedas’ to bring about social reforms in society and to purify Hinduism of its many aberrations

Hinduism is ‘Puranic based’. The Puranic Gods are not Vedic God.  Vedic Gods like Indra, Varuna, Agni, Soma, and the like, whom the Vedic people worshipped, hardly have any significance in Hinduism.

Reincarnation was not a Vedic belief.  Belief in reincarnation which is central to Hinduism of today is not really attested to in the Vedas, though they hint at life after death. The doctrine of transmigration, as elaborated in Hinduism has no place in the Vedic hymns”. In the early Vedic literature, there is no express mention of the doctrine of transmigration.

It is in the Upanishads that it appears for the first time. The Rig Veda speaks of two paths for the Souls of the deceased, namely, the path of the Gods (devayana) and the path of the fathers (pitriyana). Those, who go by the former enjoy immortality and there is no return to physical life after that.

In fact, the Vedic man longed for this state of life. Whereas those who go by the latter path, unite with the Father and then return to the earth, after having enjoyed the fruits of his deeds.

Rig Veda consists of about 10,500 verses ― there is only one occasion where there is mention of a return to this world after death. What is implied here is that it cannot be taken as an important teaching of the Rig Veda.

Hinduism is the beliefs of the Indus Valley peoples blending over time with the religion of the foreign invaders.  Hinduism is not a single religion but a group of castes, creeds, sects, and ideas of different ideologies introduced from time to time by different founders of caste, creed sects, and ideas. As we investigate deeper into the annals of religious history we find: ~  

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 collection of hymns called Vedas written in praise of certain deities by poets over several centuries does not seem to have much significance for the Hindus of today. Most Vedic Gods do not find a place in Hinduism.

Vedic religion or Santana Dharma is distinct from Hinduism. The Vedic religion or Santana Dharma deserves to be treated on its own as a distinct religion with its own sacred texts, rites, rules of social life, beliefs, and practices without interlinking it with Hinduism. Perhaps it is right to maintain that the Mimamsa School which is concerned with the investigation of the Vedic texts, their correct interpretation, and the meticulous performance of the Vedic rituals and ceremonies has preserved and defended a part of the heritage of the Vedic tradition.

The Vedanta school also may have received a part of the inspiration from the Vedas. For the rest of the Hindu philosophical schools and religious sects, the influence of the Vedas is nominal. However, in as much as elements from the Vedas have influenced some aspects of Hinduism, it may be considered as one of the many factors influencing modern Hinduism.

But by no means can it be maintained that Hinduism has its direct ancestry in the Vedic religion or Santana Dharma. Therefore, Hinduism of Vedic times is an imagined community. Hinduism is of a much later origin, and a historical view of Indian religions would endorse a dichotomy between Vedic religion or Santana Dharma and contemporary Hinduism.

Hinduism does not have a long ancestry as is often presumed or propagated by the Hindu ideologues. In fact, historically, religions like Buddhism and Jainism can claim greater antiquity than the Hinduism of today. Hinduism began to take a systematic form from the time of Sage Sri, Sankara (8^th century A.D). In this sense, he may be considered as the ‘founder’ of Hinduism.

Thus, Hinduism came into existence with its own code of conduct beliefs, and rituals after the 8^th century.    Hinduism as one knows it today is of recent origin. He states: “Hinduism did not really achieve its status as a coherent, though still baffling, religious complex until after the establishment of the British rule in indie.

In discussing the Vedic religion, it is also to be remembered that in the course of history, many non-Aryan elements entered into the Vedic religion. The Vedic Aryans freely borrowed elements from the culture and the society around them. But we cannot say with precision, which are the non-Aryan elements in the Vedic religion. Therefore, the thesis of the direct ancestry of Hinduism of today from the Vedic religion is to be considered as a myth purported by orthodoxy.

Temple worship, pilgrimages, the Gods, and Goddesses are important to the Hindus. Hindu Gods are Sri, Rama, Sri, Krishna, Sri, Kali, Sri, Ganesh, Sri, 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. 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 very many recent times.

Originally Shiva and the cult of the Mother Goddess belonged to the religion of the Indus Valley people. As one goes deeper into the annals of Indian religious history  Vishnu and Shiva 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 outcastes.

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.

Hindus are idol worshipers of a large number of Gods and Goddesses whereas in Vedas the God is ONE. God is the Supreme Spirit

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 the Vedas. It is impossible to accept and believe that Veda Vyasa authored and introduced the Puranas which have all conceptual Gods because:-

Hinduism is ‘Puranic based’. The Puranic Gods are not Vedic God.  The Vedic God  Athma hardly has any significance in Hinduism because Hinduism believes in many souls.  

In Vedas, God has been described as ~

Yajurveda – 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: ~ May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman

So, it clearly indicates that God is Supreme or Supreme Spirit has no form. God cannot be seen directly by anyone because God is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.  thus there is no scope for the form-based God. The religion and its ideas of Gods, and its theories of karma, heaven, hell, papa, Punya, rebirth, and reincarnation are based on the false Self (ego), within the false experience (waking). Therefore, they are meant for a lower mindset, they are of no use for those who are seeking higher truth as indicated in the scriptures.

Sage Sri, Sankara says: ~ Ataman is Brahman. Thus, the Soul the innermost Self is God. Therefore,    all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imaginations based on the false self.  Thus, there is adulteration and add-ons in the past, which have to be bifurcated if one wants pure Vedic essence.  

When there is a clear-cut idea of what is supposed to be God then why worship which is not God. :~ Santthosh Kumaar