Sage Sankara gave religious, ritual, and dogmatic instruction to the populace, but Advaitic wisdom only to the few who could rise to it.
Thus, they may assert that ritual is a means of realizing Brahman, which is absurd.
Indulging in Non-Vedic rituals(Puranic Rituals) in place of Vedic rituals is enveloped in still greater darkness; in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time."
Thus, Puranic karmas are not Vedic karmas as per the Yajur Veda.
The Puranic karmas are introduced to suit the mass mindset of that time by the founders of present-day Hinduism, keeping the Vedas as their base. They also introduced a new modified belief system on Puranic Gods with a new code of conduct to revive the Vedic religion, which was in ruins in the hands of Buddhism and Jainism.
Thus, the present-day Hinduism with diverse beliefs is not a pure Vedic religion.
Thus, this hotchpotch ideology is the greatest obstacle to the realization of the ultimate truth. That is why Buddha rejected the Vedas.
Sage Sankara says: ~ 11. As regards the rituals, 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, his standing in society, etc. In addition, he is required to perform rituals throughout 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 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. (Adhyasa Bhashya)
Sage Sankara says:~ 11.1 ~The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc., are, therefore, he says, addressed to an ignorant person. (Adhyasa Bhashya)
Sage Sankara:~ 11.2. In short, a person who engages in rituals with the notion “I am an agent, doer, thinker”, according to Sage Sri, Sankara, is ignorant, as his behavior implies a distinct, separate doer/agent/knower; and an object that is to be done/achieved/known. That duality is Avidya, an error that can be removed by Vidya. (Adhyasa Bhashya)
Sage Sankara viewed this as a distortion of the Upanishad ideals. To play down the prominence given to rituals by the Mimamsakas, Sage Sankara relied on the idea of Avidya. He bracketed the ritualistic approach with Avidya and called it an “error”.
Thus, Advaitic orthodoxy has to be discarded to realize the ‘Self’ hidden by the ‘I’, which is ignorance.
Sage Sankara states that wisdom (Vidya) can eliminate ignorance (Avidya), but the ignorance it eliminates is not real, because it has no existence of its own. Once the error is removed, the Brahman (God) will reveal itself of its own accord.
Remember:~
Religious rites and ceremonies, yagnas and homa-havans, or any other forms of ritual, are meant for the ignorant populace. In the Atmic path, the seeker has to discard.
All worship and the ceremonial rituals performed on the base of non-~Vedic Gods will not yield any fruits. Deeper self-search reveals that the worshiper, the worship, and the worshiper and the world are merely an illusion created out of consciousness.
Religious rites and ceremonies, yagnas and homa-havans, or any other forms of ritual formal observance have long since set in.
Sage Sankara says: ~ The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards are therefore addressed to an ignorant person.
The orthodox Advaitins consider birth, life, death, rebirth, heaven, hell, sin, karma, and the world as a reality, whereas Sage Sankara declares the world in which we exist is merely an illusion. If the world is an illusion, then birth, life, death, rebirth, heaven, hell, sin, karma, and the world are bound to be an illusion.
Without Sage Sankara, there is no Advaita (non-duality). Since it was mixed up with orthodoxy, there is a lot of confusion.
Sage Sankara’s quotes (selected verified) are quoted in my blogs and postings to show what Sage Sankara meant, and what is blocking the seekers from realizing the ultimate truth or Brahman. There are so many non-dualistic masters of the East and also from the West who expound Advaitic or non-dualistic knowledge, but none of them are helpful in reaching the ultimate end.
According to Advaita Vedanta, the Veda addresses itself to two kinds of audiences - the ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices, and the most advanced seeker who seeks to know Brahman. Thus, the Purva mimam. sa, with its emphasis on the karma kanda of the Vedas, is meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. However, the Vedanta, with its emphasis on the jnana kanda, is meant for those who wish to go beyond such transient pleasures.
Sage Sankara's commentary to Brahma Sutras (Chap. 3.4.50) shows that the Gnani "should pass through life", not run away from life, and should take a middle course between seeking worldly honor and worldly abasement.
Sage Sankara varied his practical advice and doctrinal teaching according to the people he was amongst. He never advised them to give up their particular religion or beliefs or metaphysics completely; he only told them to give up the worst features of abuse: at the same time, he showed just one step forward towards the truth.
Sage Sankara was extremely precise and careful in his choice of words. Sage Sankara gave religious, ritual, or dogmatic instruction to the masses, but pure philosophy only to the few who could rise to it. Hence, the interpretation of his writings by commentators is often confusing because they mix up the two viewpoints. Thus, they may assert that ritual is a means of realizing Brahman, which is absurd.
Sage Sankara says in the commentary on the Vedanta Sutra that what is accepted without a proper inquiry will not lead a person to the final goal. On the contrary, such acceptance will result only in evil, in something detrimental to our spiritual progress.
Seekers of truth should not believe blindly in traditional orthodox Advaita without verifying all the facts from every angle.
Orthodoxy has nothing to do with spirituality, which is based on the Soul or spirit. One has to reflect through reasoning over and over again without getting tired of the process: ~Santthosh Kumaar
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