A Gnani is not a monk or sanyasi or Sadhu or swami. Religion is nothing to with the Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara.
By becoming a sanyasi or monk one will not get Self-realization or truth realization or God realization.
What is the use of becoming a sanyasi or monk when the ‘Self ‘is not you? You are the false ‘Self’ within the dualistic illusion.
Sage Sankara VC- (2), states that the Knower of the Atman (i.e., a Gnani) "bears no outward mark of a holy man" (Stanza 539).
Select Works of Sage Sankara" also his commentary on Brihad: ~ “Though I wear these robes of a Sanyasin, it is only for the sake of bread."
All those who have taken sanyasa and monkhood belong to religion and yoga, not Gnanis because they identify themselves as holy people.
Manduka Upanishads: ~ Even the Gods cannot 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, 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 billionaire, 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.
It is not correct to say that, a Gnani sees only good everywhere and never evil. He is fully aware of the evil things, he knows then he is being taken for a ride, but he remains unperturbed though acting as required. He recognizes what is bad and what is good from the practical point of view and what is real? And what is an illusion? - from the ultimate standpoint.
Self-knowledge cannot be attained by taking sanyasa, by the study of the scriptures and intellectual understanding, or by bookish knowledge. Therefore there is no use in studying the scriptures and other scriptures in order to acquire non-dual wisdom. That is why Buddha rejected the scriptures, and even Sage Sankara indicated that the ultimate truth lies beyond religion, the concept of God, and the scriptures.
There is only one Reality to be known, the same for all seekers, but the ways to it, are hidden by religion. Self-discovery is the only way, toward a non-dual Absolute without any religious doctrines, which will help the seekers to unfold the mystery of the illusion in which we all are searching for the truth of our true existence. : ~Santthosh Kumaar
