Why Swami Vivekananda said:~The masses in India cry to sixty million gods, and still die like dogs. Where are these gods?+

     

    The real God is stolen by ignorance and people worship ignorance as God.

Why Swami Vivekananda said:~The masses in India cry to sixty million Gods, and still die like dogs. Where are these gods?

Knowing this, stand up and fight! Not one step back that is the idea. ... Fight it out, whatever comes. Let the stars move from the sphere! Let the whole world stand against us! Death means only a change of garment. What of it? Thus fight! You gain nothing by becoming cowards. ... Taking a step backward, you do not avoid any misfortune. You have cried to all the gods in the world. Has misery ceased? The masses in India cry to sixty million Gods and still die like dogs. Where are these gods? ... The gods come to help you when you have succeeded. So what is the use? Die game. ... This bending the knee to superstitions, this selling yourself to your own mind does not befit you, my soul. You are infinite, deathless, birthless. Because you are the infinite spirit, it does not befit you to be a slave. ... Arise! Awake! Stand up and fight! Die if you must. There is none to help you. You are the entire world. Who can help you? - Swami Vivekananda  (Delivered In San Francisco, on May 28, 1900)The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 1/Lectures And Discourses/The Gita II

Swami Vivekananda was fully aware of the fact that the Gods worshipped in India by the populace are not God in truth.  

Swami Vivekananda was very sure of the fact that liberation comes only through the realization that Atman and Brahman are one in no other way.

That is why Swami Vivekananda said:~ “You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own Soul.”

Swami Vivekananda:~ “Stick to the truth”

Religion preaches that God is one and the ways to God are many. It simply tries to lead them to darkness with its dogma and idea of many Gods, which is apart from the ‘Self’. 

The religion is based on the false self (ego) and false experience (world) thus; all religion-based beliefs are a falsehood.

Without the Soul the world in which you exist ceases to exist, it means the religious God is dependent on the Soul for his existence. God in truth is only the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Even Bhagavad Gita says: ~ “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).

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.

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

Religious Gods are based on blind belief. Religious God cannot be considered as the cause of existence because the Soul and the Self is the cause of all that exists. Without the Soul the world in which you exist ceases to exist, it means the religious God is dependent on the Soul for his existence.

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)

No mantras help to get rid of ignorance. All the mantras and rituals are meant for the ignorant populace, which strongly believes, the world in which he exists as a reality. For one who wants to acquire ‘Self’-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, the mantas will not help to realize the truth, which is beyond the form, time and space.

That is why Sage Sankara:~ VC~.61. For one who has been bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is the knowledge of Brahman. Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures, Mantras (sacred formulae) and medicines to such a one?

VC- v6~ Let erudite scholars quote all the scripture, let Gods be invoked through sacrifices, let elaborate rituals be performed, let personal Gods be propitiated---yet, without the realization of one‘s identity with the ‘Self’, there shall be no liberation for the individual, not even in the lifetimes of a hundred Brahmas put together

Sage Sankara goes on to say: ~A sickness is  not cured by saying the word “medicine.” You must take the medicine. Liberation does not come by merely saying the word “Brahman.” Brahman must be experienced. Until you allow this apparent universe to dissolve from your consciousness until you have realized Brahman, how can you find liberation just by saying the word Brahman? The result is merely noise. Until a man has destroyed his enemies and taken possession of the splendor and wealth of the kingdom, he cannot become a king by simply saying “I am a king.”

A buried treasure is not uncovered by merely uttering the words: “Come forth.” You must follow the right directions, dig, remove the stones and earth from above it, and then make it your own. In the same way, the pure truth of the Atman, which is buried under Maya and the effects of Maya, can be reached by meditation, contemplation, and other spiritual disciplines but never by subtle arguments.

As indicated in ISH Upanishads: ~ “By worshiping 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 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.

Remember:~

The Vedas confirm God is Atman (Spirit), the Self.

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

God in truth is the Atman, the Self. Atman is present in the form of consciousness.

Do not accept any other God other than Atman not worship other than Atman.

Let these words be inscribed in your subconscious.

Nothing is real but God. Nothing Matters but love for God in truth. God in truth is everywhere and in everything.

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

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)

How can you worship God? That implies two ~ the worshipper and the worshipped, whereas God is non-dual. One can worship his idea of God only or realize his unity with it when he can’t worship it as a part.

The Vedas talk about Brahman which refers to the ultimate truth or ultimate reality. The consciousness is the ultimate truth, therefore, the consciousness is Brahman and Brahman is God in truth.

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.

Vedas do not permit idol worship. All the idols are of the Puranic Gods priests are referring to the Puranic Brahma as God they are ignorant of the God in Vedas even though they speak of Vedas.

Priests do not who understands the meaning of the Brahman, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Vedic Gods, hardly have any significance in 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.

Yajur Veda indicates that:~

They sink deeper into darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things -that is the matter.  

Those who worship matter in place of Spirit, which is  God in truth are enveloped in still greater ignorance, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly. 

Why to worship and glorify the non-~Vedic Gods in place of Vedic God when Veda bars such activities and it also warns people who indulge in such activities 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.

God exists prior to the form, time, and space. The form, time, and space cease to exist as a reality when wisdom dawns. Thus, the Gods and Gurus have no place in the domain of the Advaitic reality. Advaita is the nature of the Soul, which is the real God. Thus, Self-realization is the only way to God-realization.

Bhagavad Gita itself says: ~ 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).

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.

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.

The dualistic worship of "God” is only for the ignorant populace. The God in truth is only Atman, the innermost Self. In reality, there is no duality, no differentiation. Only Atman exists.

Bhagavad Gita Chapter:~ “All those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires, they worship many Gods. (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 known 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 is known 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.

Even in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: ~ Brahman (God in truth) 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. The real God is stolen by ignorance and people worship ignorance as God.

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