Advaitic orthodoxy strongly believes and worships in personal Gods whereas Sage Sankara himself says Supreme Brahman or God is impersonal.+

Advaitic orthodoxy strongly believes and worships in personal Gods whereas Sage  Sankara himself says Supreme Brahman or God is impersonal.

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). God is above all needs and desires. God is always the Witnessing Subject. God can never become an object as God is beyond the reach of the senses. God is non-dual, one without a second. God has no other besides it. God is destitute of difference, either external or internal. God cannot be described because the description implies a distinction. God cannot be distinguished from any other than God. In God, the is not a distinction between substance and attribute. Sat-Chit-Ananda constituted the very essence or Svarupa of God, and not just God's attributes. The Nirguna Brahman of Sage  Sankara is impersonal.

Personal Gods worshipped by the orthodox Advaitins have no value according to Sage Sankara.

Sage Sankara said: ~ Talk as much philosophy as you like, worship as many gods as you please, observe ceremonies, and sing devotional hymns, but the liberation will never come, even after a hundred aeons, without realizing the Oneness.

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, and his standing in society, etc. Also, 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 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.- (11- Adhyasa Bhashya)

Advaitic Orthodoxy misinterpreted Sage Sankara and presented only the religious side of his teaching as the highest doctrine. Thus, people are misled.  The orthodoxy is based on rituals and mythical Gods and Karma. Advaitic wisdom of Sage  Sankara is nothing to with Advaitic orthodoxy.

Remember: ~

All the orthodox ideas were rejected by Sage Sankara. There is no need to indulge in rituals, to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman. There is no need to study philosophy, to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman then why you indulge in studying philosophy. 

 Sage Sankara pokes fun at ascetics and points out that all their austerities do not cause desires to go.  (Altar Flowers" Page 205, v.2 P.207 v.4)

 Sage Sankara pointed out those rituals could in no way bring about wisdom, much less moksha.

 Sage Sankara says the rewards of the rituals are not a matter of direct realization. Advaitic wisdom is based on personal realization.

If you cannot see God through your physical eyes then why do you waste your time debating about your personal Gods with forms and names?

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.

Sage Sankara’s wisdom is nothing to do with the orthodox sect. Sage Sankara is the only sage who has final authority on the Advaitic truth. The Advaitic truth is rational truth and scientific truth without dogma.

The Advaitic orthodoxy is not the means to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Advaitic orthodoxy is meant for the ignorant populace that is unfit to grasp the highest truth. The Advaitic orthodoxy is nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman.

All sect-based beliefs are dualistic and unphilosophical nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman. In spirituality, the ultimate truth is God. Thus, the Advaitic orthodoxy is a sect is nothing to do with the Advaitic wisdom of the Sage Sri, Sankara. The Advaitic orthodox sect is meant for the ignorant populace.

All the personal Gods with form and names are based on blind belief within the domain of the illusory form, time, and space. Whatever belongs to form, time and a space are the dualistic illusion. Thus, the Gods with forms and names are bound to be a falsehood.

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).

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.

Religious Gods are not real Gods are based on blind belief. One must know God in truth.

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.

Vedas and Upanishad confirm the Soul, the  Self, is present in the form of the Spirit or consciousness.

Rig Veda: ~ The Atman (Soul or Spirit) 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)

Bible says: ~ “God is a Spirit, and they that worship God must worship God in spirit and in truth.-(John 4:24)

The Spirit is the root element of the universe. The Spirit is present in the form of the Soul, the Self. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. From the Spirit, the universe comes into existence. In the Spirit, the universe resides. And into the Spirit, the universe is dissolved. The Spirit is the parent of all that is there.

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

There is a clear-cut idea of God in the Vedas, Upanishads, and Bhagavad Gita. And also there is a clear-cut idea of what not to worship as God in place of real God. Thus, it proves from the Vedic perspective the Puranic Gods are not Vedic Gods.

Vedas say never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman.

The Soul is the real God, which is the cause of the dualistic illusion and it itself is uncaused.

The Soul is the ultimate truth or Brahman. The Soul is in the form of consciousness. The Soul is Self -evident. It is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny the Soul because it is the very essence of the one who denies it. 

The Soul is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs. The Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness (Spirit), is the ultimate truth or Brahman. The Brahman is God. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar