Sage Sankara says the transparent truth of the ‘Self’, which is hidden by the illusion, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman, (Gnani).+

Sage Sankara says the transparent truth of the ‘Self’, which is hidden by the illusion, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman, (Gnani)

Sage Sankara clearly indicates in Viveka Chudamani (2) that the Knower of the Atman (A Gnani) "bears no outward mark of a holy man" (Stanza 539).

Vedas say not to accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman but people are unaware of their own sacred Vedas and worship non-Vedic Gods as real Gods.

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

Even Bhagavad Gita says: ~ Brahmano hi pratisthaham ~ Brahman (God) 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 based on blind faith or belief. Religious God cannot be considered as a center because, the Soul, the innermost ‘‘Self’’ is the center of all that exists. Without the Soul the world in which you exist ceases to exist, which means the religious God is dependent on the Soul for his existence.

Even 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)

God is the Soul, the ‘Self’. God becomes the universe (duality) in waking and the universe becomes God in deep sleep (nonduality). The universe is nothing but an illusion created out of God. 

When you realize the ‘‘Self’’ not but the ‘‘Self’’ is the Soul, the God then there is no second thing that exists other than God, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Only when you realize God in truth you will realize the universe is nothing but God because the universe is an illusion created out of consciousness, which is God in truth.

Rig Veda 1/164/46: ~ “They call him Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni, or the heavenly sunbird Garutmat. The seers call in many ways that which is One; they speak of Agni, Yama, Matarishvan.

Rig Veda 8/58/2: Only One is the Fire, enkindled in numerous ways; only One is the Sun, pervading this whole universe; only One is the Dawn, illuminating all things. In very truth, the One has become the whole world.

That is why 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.

Lord Sri Krishna himself says that he can do nothing to make a man intelligent straight away. The adepts give Prasad, blessing, initiations, mantrams, etc. only to confer temporary peace of mind, to help one to get rid of worries, but not to confer Gnana. The capacity to receive it must first be inborn in man by evolutionary degree.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad declares: "He who worships the deities as entities entirely separate from the Self does not know the truth. For the Gods, he is like a pasu (beast)". (1. 4. 10)

The Gods worshiped in India today are not God in truth. Believing and worshipping in non-Vedic Gods barred by Vedas.

That is why Swami Vivekananda: ~ “The masses in India cry to sixty million gods, and still die like dogs. Where are these gods?:~Santthosh Kumaar