There are two kinds of audiences ~ the ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices, and the more advanced seeker who seeks to know the truth beyond form, time, and space. Bhakti yoga and Karma yoga is meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. The Gnana yoga, with its emphasis on Advaitic wisdom, is meant for those who wish to discover the truth hidden by the dualistic illusion (world).
That is why Sage Goudpada says: ~ “The merciful Veda teaches karma and Upasana to people of lower and middling intellect, while Jnana is taught to those of higher intellect.
It means the people who follow religion and worship of Guru and conceptual God are lower and middling intellect. But in this modern world, people are sharp enough to understand and assimilate the ultimate truth or Brahman or God. Thus it is high time to discard the lower knowledge and move ahead to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. The ultimate truth is beyond form, time, and space
Therefore, if one is seeking truth he has to know the innermost ‘Self’ is not physical but it is the Atman, which is present in the form of the consciousness.
Isa Upanishads indicate that: By worshipping Gods and Goddesses and going to the world of Gods after death is of no use. The time one spends in ritualistic practices is wasted; one can spend the same time moving forward toward Self-knowledge, which is the main goal. One cannot reach the nondual destination by glorifying God and Goddesses and by doing that, one goes deeper and deeper into darkness. It surely indicates the fact that the seeker of truth has to drop worshiping God and Goddess in order to get Self-knowledge.
It also indicates that Religious Rituals (Avidya) are Karma (action) and therefore a hindrance. Performing Agnihotra and other sacrifices (Avidya) is a roundabout way of purifying the mind, and it is also groping in the dark.
In addition, it indicates that karma is limited only to religious rituals, not to the whole human life. This karma theory based on human conduct must have been adopted from Buddhism and other theories based on human conduct.
When it says: Perform the obligatory karmas without any attachment to the fruits, and at the same time worship Gods and Goddesses, again without any desire to go to heaven - then you can get the benefit of both, liberation and bliss. This advice is for those who are not yet ready to renounce, this path is recommended, and it means that the religion and its idea of God and Goddesses and code of conduct, and its rituals are meant for the populace which is incapable of thinking beyond the form, time and space. In the path of wisdom the orthodoxy ideas of worship, rituals and karmas are a great obstacle.
In addition, it also speaks of heaven the abode of Gods, where one goes after death, and it speaks of rebirth, this contradiction, the seeker has to conclude that religion, rituals, and its code of conduct are meant for the mass that is not receptive to Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.
Mundaka Upanishad: ~ “The rituals and the sacrifices described in the Vedas deal with lower knowledge. The sages ignored these rituals and went in search of higher knowledge. ... Such rituals are unsafe rafts for crossing the sea of samsara, of birth and death. Doomed to shipwreck are those who try to cross the sea of samsara on these poor rafts. Ignorant of their own ignorance, yet wise In their own esteem, these deluded men Proud of their vain learning go round and round Like the blind led by the blind.
All the scriptures indicate that Atman is Brahman, and Brahman is the ultimate truth. Therefore the Soul, which is in the form of consciousness, is the ultimate truth. Thus realizing the ultimate truth is the prime goal. A well-directed inquiry, analysis, and reasoning will lead one to his nondual destination.
Sage Sankara said:~ Talk as much philosophy as you like, worship as many Gods as you please, observe ceremonies, and sing devotional hymns, but liberation will never come, even after a hundred aeons, without realizing the Oneness.
Self-Realization is the direct realization of the ultimate truth or real God, in contrast with traditional paths, which are indirect. And the other paths cannot lead to the ultimate destination because they are based on the false Self, which they hold as the real Self, and false experience as reality. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar
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