A Gnani sees the reality hidden by the ignorance as it is in the midst of diversity (universe).+

A Gnani sees the reality hidden by ignorance as it is in the midst of diversity (universe). 

Manduka Upanishads: ~ It is very difficult to find out who is a Gnani because he bears no external mark. Neither nudity nor the religious robe has anything to do with him.

A Gnani cannot have the idea of giving up, or renouncing the world or some object or person in the world, because that would connote the idea of duality. Knowing no second thing at all there remains nothing to be given up. 

A Gnani, on attaining realization, will not give up his vocation in life but will continue it as before. If he was a billniore, he continues so, if a peasant, he will remain one. He still does his duty, but he is fully aware of the fact that his practical life within the practical world is merely an illusion.

Sage Sankara himself said: ~ A Gnani "bears no outward mark of a holy man."

Select Works of Sankara" also his commentary on Brihad: ~ “Though I wear these robes of a Sanyasin, it is only for the sake of bread."

So he wore a Guru's robe only for the sake of the ignorant. So he was identified as Guru with parampara by religious people. For the truth seekers, Sage Sankara is a Brahma Gnani.

Thus, it proves that the religious gurus and yogis are not Gnanis because they identified themselves as holy people. 

Thus it proves that Sage Sankara meant, taking sanyasa and wearing religious robes to earn bread. Sanyasa is not a qualification to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Exploring if an outside observer can, in all cases, determine if a person is Enlightened or not, the venerated Sage Sankara, in his work The Crest-Jewel of Discrimination (1) or as it is sometimes known, Viveka Chudamani (2), states that the Knower of the Atman (i.e., a Gnani) "bears no outward mark of a holy man." (Stanza 539).

Sage Sankara writes (on a Gnani): - “Sometimes he appears to be a Fool, sometimes a wise man. Sometimes he seems splendid as a king, sometimes feeble-minded. Sometimes he is calm and silent. Sometimes he draws men to him. Sometimes people honor him greatly, and sometimes they insult him. Sometimes they ignore him.

Sage Sankara:~ "The ignorant see the body of a knower of Brahman(Gnani)  and identify him with it. Actually, the Soul, the Self is free from the body and every other kind of bondage. To the Self, the body is merely a shadow."

Manduka Upanishads: ~ Even the Gods cannot find out who is a Gnani, because he bears no external mark. Neither nudity nor the yellow robe has anything to do with him.

A Gnani cannot have the idea of renouncing the world or giving up something of the practical world, because that would connote the idea of duality.  

Duality is merely an illusion from the ultimate standpoint. Knowing no second thing at all there remains nothing to be given up.

Self-Knowledge is only true knowledge not the absence of duality. Self -Knowledge cannot destroy the world but it eliminates ignorance and exposes the unreal nature of the mind or universe.

A Gnani is the one who has realized the universe in which he exists is nothing but consciousness.  Self-awareness is unique. It cannot be experienced because it is prior to any experience. It is possible only by the realization of the knowledge of the Infinite." 

A Gnani sees only unity in diversity, just like a goldsmith estimating the gold in various items of jewelry sees only gold. 

When one identifies the Self with the form then only the form, time and space are present. But when one transcends form, time, and space the duality never remains as reality. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar