Hinduism, is not a religion, rather it is a group of castes founded by different founders.+

The word Hindu was used initially to describe the people of India; it was never used to describe religion. Thus, Hinduism is not a religion it is the way of life of Indian people with different castes, creeds, cultures, traditions, and ideologies of different parts of India under a single roof.

Hinduism is not Santana Dharma or Vedic religion.  Hinduism is not a religion. Rather it is a group of castes founded by different founders at a different time within India that share common beliefs while still remaining very different. 

Many may even argue that it is not a religion but it is a group of different castes. The term "Hinduism" was not developed by the practitioners, but by groups outside of the religions as a means for labeling the entire Indian people.

The word 'Hinduism' has become a common word in the modern world. The real fact is that words like Hinduism, Hindu, etc. never appear in any of the ancient scriptures! So to know religion, the first step is to know what dharma means.

In Tattireya Upanishad:~ "satyaM vada. dharmaM cara ." Speak the truth, and practice dharma. Now if you want to practice dharma, you should first know what it means. (1.11.1)

The word, “dharma “is found in the karikas, which means Atma in Advaita Vedanta.

Hinduism is not a Vedic religion or Santana Dharma.    Hindus do idol worship, while Vedas bars idol worship.  God pervades everything and everywhere in all three states.

Remember:~

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 to be Veda. Thus we find that there is ample scope for different philosophies and practices under the very broad umbrella of Hinduism. Hindus indulge in non-Vedic beliefs such as idolatry, ancestor worship, pilgrimages, priestcraft, offerings made in temples, the caste system, untouchability, and child marriages. All these lack Vedic sanction, therefore, Hinduism is not an ancient Vedic religion or Santana Dharma.  

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. Thus to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, the seeker has to realize his inherited religion is adulterated in the past and it becomes a great obstacle is realizing the ultimate truth or Brahman.    

The Vedic system did not have a caste system.  The caste system was a fake created in the name of Hinduism. This non-Vedic belief system called Hinduism created hatred in the low-caste Hindus for the higher caste. 

Hindus assert their religion is monotheistic, even though they honor many Gods, including Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer.  Hindus claim these various Gods are all manifestations of the oneness of the universe.  Hindu religious practices vary from place to place, but they frequently include yoga, physical and mental discipline to harmonize the body and the Soul, and ritual bathing.

Belief in multiple Gods, The worship of idols; the worship of images that are not God in truth, The worship of sacred images, ancestor worship, pilgrimage, priestcraft, the belief in avatars or incarnations of God, the hereditary caste system because all these lacks Vedic sanction.

Hinduism indulges non-Vedic beliefs such as idolatry, ancestor worship, pilgrimages, priestcraft, offerings made in temples, the caste system, untouchability, and child marriages. All these lack Vedic sanction, therefore, Hinduism is not an ancient Vedic religion or Santana Dharma.

Realizing the universe is created out of single stuff and that single stuff is the Soul which is present in the form of consciousness leads to non-dualistic or Advaitic Self-awareness.  Self-awareness is freedom or Moksha. Moksha is unity in diversity in the midst of duality.

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It is very difficult to talk to people about the ultimate truth or Brahman because everyone thinks he knows the ultimate truth or Brahman. This I know business is dangerous.  And whatever his reached conclusion is second-hand stuff.  Therefore, accepting accumulated knowledge without verification will lead the seekers to hallucinated realization based on the ego.  One may have some flashes of truth when someone tries to indicate it through fewer words. But it takes nearer to the truth, not realization. 

The Santana Dharma was a pure Vedic religion prior to the existence of present-day Hinduism. Hinduism is not the pure Vedic religion; it is a hotchpotch mixture of many ideologies adopted by other ideologies, cultures, and traditions.

Most people from the West think that Hinduism is a religion but it is not so. The Indus (Sindhu) valley culture is called Hinduism by the Muslim invaders in the past. Muslim invaders who were not able to pronounce Sindhu they called Sindhu culture as Hindu culture. Thus name Hindu came into existence. Hinduism is merely culture, not religion. This Hindu culture consists of different castes, creeds, ideologies, beliefs, and ways of life in different regions of India.

Remember:~

Hinduism is not a religion. Rather it is a group of religions found within India that share common beliefs while still remaining very different. Many may even argue that it is not a religion but more a way of life. The term "Hinduism" was not developed by the practitioners, but by groups outside of the religions as a means for labeling the entire Indian people. thus Hindu means Indian. 

Many groups within Hinduism claim a sort of "going back to the Vedas". While these groups are attempting to create a bond with the Vedas, they will never be followers of the Vedic religion while they still hold their core ideals.

These core beliefs are at odds with those of the Vedas. Many followers of Hinduism translate the Vedas to fit into Hindu thought by changing the translation to reflect the beliefs of monism, reincarnation, the caste system, and the absence of animal and human sacrifice. 

As one goes deeper into the annals of history he becomes aware of the fact that the so-called present Hinduism has adopted many things from Buddhism, the religion of Abraham, Jainism, and Islam. If one goes deeper enough he will become aware everything is mixed up and messed up in time.

No one has taken pains to rectify it because; people have inherited them, from their ancestors and they think it is blasphemy even to hear anything against their inherited religion and belief. Once one gets involved with the religious class it is the end of the pursuit of truth.

J.K. and Osho went deep into it and exposed their fallacies to some extent, but it is only at the surface level. Maharishi, Dayananda in his book Satyarth Prakash clearly mentions what is Vedic and what is non-Vedic. But the orthodox class still wants to maintain the inherited fall legacy as supreme truth. Thus, there is no use in arguing or convincing the people who accepted their false legacy and propagated them as truth. Since the pursuit of truth is a very personal journey, and it is not the pursuit of an argument, there is no need to indulge in convincing others, the seeker of truth has to convince himself to drop all conditioning, that he has inherited from his belief system.

Prior to Sage  Sankara in the 8th century, there was no Advaita in Santana Dharma or Vedic religion no founders whereas Advaita and qualified Advaita and Dwaita and all other sects and castes identified as Hinduism are identified with their founders. All of them have non-Vedic rituals barred by the Vedas. The dualism came only in the 12th century. 

The orthodox Advaita and Dwaita are based on the Abrahamic framework. Both Advaita and Dvaita schools are based on Vedas and they condemn each other with Upanishads and Puranic citations and try to prove they are right and others are wrong. The orthodox Advaita has nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman because they worship idols, human worship, and symbol worship and indulge in non-Vedic rituals barred by Vedas.

Sage Sankara varied his practical advice and doctrinal teaching according to the people he was amongst. He never advised them to give up their particular religion or beliefs or metaphysics completely; he only told them to give up the worst features of abuse: at the same time, he showed just one step forward toward the truth.   Sage  Sankara was extremely precise and careful in his choice of words. 

That is what Yajurveda says: not to worship the things which are part of the falsehood.

Translation 1.

They enter darkness, those who worship natural things (for example air, water, sun, moon, animals, fire, stone, etc).

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

Translation 2.

"Deep into the shade of blinding gloom fall asambhuti's worshippers. They sink to darkness deeper yet who on sambhuti are intent." -(Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Giffith pg 538)

Translation 3.

"They are enveloped in darkness, in other words, are steeped in ignorance and sunk in the greatest depths of misery who worship the uncreated, eternal prakrti -- the material cause of the world -- in place of the All-pervading God, But those who worship visible things born of the prakrti, 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.)

So, Yajur Veda indicates that:~

They sink deeper in darkness than 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.)

The religion of the Veda knows no idols:

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."

Therefore, there was no individual god or temples and worship in the Vedic religion, which existed prior to Buddhism. Thus the individualized gods and temples must have been built later on when the worships of the idol were introduced. Thus the Vedic religion which existed in the past was free from idol and nature worship and idol worshiping rituals.

Thus, the present day’s worship of individual gods, created things, nature, and humans is against Vedic teachings, and it looks like it has been fabricated and introduced by priestcraft. Since it, has passed on from one generation to the next it is hard for people to believe the truth of their own religion because they are sentimentally and emotionally involved in it and they refuse to accept anything else other than their inherited beliefs. :~Santthosh Kumaar