From the Vedic perspective, mythological Gods are is not Vedic Gods because Rig Veda says: May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman.+

The seekers of truth have to follow the Atmic path to realize the Athma the ‘Self’ is the real God. The Atmic path is the Vedic path because Vedic God is Athma.

The Vedic religion or Santana Dharma emphasizes Self-realization.  Self-realization is God-realization.   God- realization itself is real worship.

The Vedas do not talk about idol worship; the followers of Vedic Religion or Santana Dharma never worshipped idols. Thus all the Puranic Gods which are of the form and attributes are not Vedic Gods.

Max Müller says ~ "The religion of the Veda knows no idols; the worship of idols in India is a secondary formation, a degradation of the more primitive worship of idolized  Gods."

Hinduism is not Vedic religion or Santana Dharma.  Hindus do idol worship, while Vedas bar idol worship. 

The Vedas do not talk about idol worship. In fact, till about 2000 years ago followers of Vedism never worshipped idols. Idol worship was started by the followers of Buddhism and Jainism. 

There is logic to idol worship. Vedas speak of one God that is the supreme ‘Self’ i.e. Atman or Soul but Hinduism indulges in worshiping 60 million Gods. All these 60 million Gods are non-Vedic Gods based on their beliefs.

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

The Vedas confirm God is Atman (Spirit), the ‘Self’.

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)

Rig-Veda 1-164-46 and Y.V 32-1 clearly mention that God is “One”.

Rig Veda declares God is ‘ONE’ and God is Atman, then why believe and worship in place of the real God.

Brihad Upanishad: ~ “If you think there is another entity, whether man or God there is no truth."

When Upanishad itself’ says: ~   Sarvam khalvidam brahma ~ all this (universe) is verily Brahman. By following back all of the relative appearances in the world, we eventually return to that from which it is all manifest – the non-dual reality (Chandogya Upanishad). 

The Bhagavad Gita: ~ 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. 

Bhagavad Gita Chapter:~ “All those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires, they worship many Gods. (7- Verse -20)

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.

From the Vedic perspective, mythological Gods are not Vedic God because Rig Veda says:   May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman."

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.

All Hindus indulge in non-Vedic practices barred by the Vedas introduced by the different founders of the different sects of Hinduism at different times, whereas the Vedic religion, or Santana Dharma is ancient and has no founder.

Hinduism is not Vedic religion or Santana Dharma.  Hindus do idol worship, while Vedas bar idol worship.

Yajur Veda indicates that: ~

They sink deeper in darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example, table, chair, idol, etc (Yajurveda 40:9)

Those who worship visible things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, and bodies (human and the like) in place of God are 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." (Yajur Veda 40:9.)

Then why worship and glorify the non-~Vedic Gods in place of  Vedic God when Veda bars such activities and also warns people who indulge in such activities are 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.

Sage Sankara: ~"That which permeates all, which nothing transcends and which, like the universal space around us, fills everything completely from within and without, that Supreme non-dual Brahman  (God in truth)."

One must remember that for all periods the Vedas are the final goal and authority, and if the Puranas differ in any respect from the Vedas, the Puranas are to be rejected without mercy.

If you feel the Puranas say something and the Vedas say something else, reject the Puranas and believe in the Vedas.  The Puranas are just a myth.

Even Sage Sankara says: ~ Supreme Brahman (God) is impersonal, Nirguna (without Gunas or attributes), Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without special characteristics), immutable, eternal and Akarta (non-agent). It is above all needs and desires. It is always the Witnessing Subject. It can never become an object as it is beyond the reach of the senses. Brahman is non-dual, one without a second. It has no other besides it. It is destitute of difference, either external or internal. Brahman cannot be described, because description implies a distinction. Brahman cannot be distinguished from any other than It. In Brahman, there is not distinction between substance and attribute. Sat-Chit-Ananda constitutes the very essence or Svarupa of Brahman, and not just its attributes. The nirguna Brahman of Sage Sankara is impersonal.  

God is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. Thus according to the Vedas God neither has any image nor God resides in any particular idol or statue. God cannot be seen directly by anyone.

From the Vedic perspective, Lord Krishna has been just a Mahan yogi and not God himself. Because in the Bhagavad Gita says:  Brahman (God in truth) is considered the all-pervading consciousness. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Without realizing what God suppose to be in actuality what is the use of the praying and worshiping God.+

If people have believed a false thing over millions of years, the length of time does not prove it true. Without realizing what God suppose to be in actuality what is the use of praying and worshiping God.

God in truth is not what you believe and worship. Worshiping inherited belief is ignorance. If people have believed a false thing over millions of years, the length of time does not prove it true.
Prayers and sacrifices belong to a premature stage of development. However, when no answers come to prayers, the struggle for existence presses man, and doubt arises again. Faith in religion weakens as man pays more attention to the facts of life and this world. 

The reason is the common ground for whole humanity in the modern age, whereas the appeal to scriptural relations reaches only the sects. Those who argue that truth is only in their religion are vain logicians, depending on mere ideas, speculations, and imaginations. 

Search for truth is searching to know God in truth. If you search for the ‘Self’  then you will find only the Soul. If you search for truth then you will find only the Soul. If you search for God you will find only the Soul. If you search for love you will find only the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Thus, the Soul is the Goal. The Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God.

God is not he or she God is the Spirit. Do not physicalize God's worship. Such worships of non-Vedic Gods are barred by Vedas. All God with forms and attributes are not 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.

Bhagavad Gita: ~ 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.

Bhagavad Gita Chapter: ~ “All those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires, they worship many God s. (7- Verse -20)

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

Max Müller says: ~ “The religion of the Veda knows no idols; the worship of idols in India is a secondary formation, a degradation of the more primitive worship of ideal Gods."

Hindus are idol worshipers of the large numbers of Gods and Goddesses whereas Vedas declares God is ‘ONE’ and that God is Atman.

In Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~ It has been said that God Supreme or Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions. Thus, Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

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)

Rig-Veda 1-164-46 and Y.V 32-1 clearly mention that God is “One”.

Rig Veda declares God is ‘ONE’ and that God is Atman, then why believe and worship anything else in place of real God.

Thus, Atman the Self is God. Thus, Self-realization itself is real worship. ‘Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is necessary to get realization.

Hindus are idol worshipers of the large numbers of Gods and Goddesses whereas Vedas declares God is ‘ONE’ and that God is Atman.

Chandogya Upanishad Chapter: ~ ekam evadvitiyam ~ God is only one without a second. (6- Section- 2- Verse- 1)

According to Vedas the Atman the Self is God.

Shiv is not Vedic God. All the Gods and Goddesses with form, name, and attributes belong to Hinduism, not of the Vedic religion or Santana Dharma.

God and Goddesses are religious concepts. Whatever is seen, known, believed, and experienced as a person within the dualistic illusion (world) is a falsehood.

Thus, it refers to formless and attributeless God, which is the Atman (Soul), the innermost ‘‘Self’’ within the false experience. Thus, it indicates clearly all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imaginations based on the false ‘‘Self’’. Thus, Atman or the Soul, the ’Self’’ is God.

The Vedas do not talk about idol worship. In fact, till about 2000 years ago followers of Vedism never worshiped idols. Idol worship was started by the followers of Buddhism and Jains. There is logic to idol worship. Vedas speak of one God that is the supreme ‘‘Self’’ in i.e. Atman or Soul but Hinduism indulges in worshiping 60 million Gods.

It indicates clearly all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imagination based on the false self.

The Vedas as a body of scripture contains many contradictions and they are fragmentary in nature. For Hindus, scriptures like the Bhagavad-Gita, Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Puranas are more attractive and appealing than the Vedas. And also the Gods and Goddesses they worship differ considerably from the Vedic ones. The collection of hymns called Vedas is written in praise of certain deities by poets over several centuries does not seem to have much significance for the Hindus.

Yajur Veda says: ~

Translation 1
They enter darkness, those who worship natural things (for example air, water, sun, moon, animals, fire, stone, etc).

They sink deeper in darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example, table, chair, idol, etc.) (Yajurveda 40:9)

Translation 2

Deep into the shade of blinding gloom fall asambhuti's worshipers. They sink to darkness deeper yet who on sambhuti are intent." (Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Griffith pg 538)

Translation 3

"They are enveloped in darkness, in other words, are steeped in ignorance and sunk in the greatest depths of misery who worship the uncreated, eternal prakrti -- the material cause of the world -- in place of the All-pervading God, But those who worship visible things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like) in place of God are 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." (Yajurveda 40:9.)

So, Yajur Veda indicates: ~

They sink deeper in darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example, table, chair, idol, etc. (Yajurveda 40:9)

Those who worship visible things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like) in place of God are 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." (Yajurveda 40:9.)

Rig-Veda 1-164-46 and Y.V 32-1 clearly mention that God is “One”.

Rig Veda declares God is ‘ONE’ and that God is Atman, then why believe and worship anything else in place of real God.

Thus, Atman the Self is God. Thus, ‘‘Self’’-realization is real worship. ‘‘Self’’-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is necessary to get realization.

To acquire  Self -knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, the seeker has to realize his inherited religion is adulterated in the past and it becomes a great obstacle is realizing the ultimate truth or Brahman.

The seeker's aim is the search for the Ultimate Truth or Brahman. The search to find the non-dualistic or Advaitic truth that in actuality never was lost, only hidden.

Upanishad aspiration is best expressed in the following sutra: ~

OM Asato ma sad gaMaya, tamaso ma jyotir gaMaya, mrityor ma aamritaam gaMaya. Shanti, Shanti, Shanti

"OM Lead me from ignorance to truth, from darkness to light, from death to immortality. Peace, Peace, Peace" (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (1/3/28)).

The belief system was coherent because they had a transcendent individualized God as a central doctrine, whereas in the realm of truth individualized God cannot be considered as the center. After all, the Soul and the Self is the center of all that exists.

First, one should not hold a God as the center of existence without verification. Both the theist and atheist are theories, nothing to do with ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. 

Remember:~

Swami Vivekananda:- The masses in India cry to sixty million Gods and still die like dogs. Where are these Gods?

 If you seeking the truth then you must set yourself free of all backgrounds, of all cultures, of all patterns of thinking and feeling. Even the idea of being a man or woman or even human should be discarded because the Self is not you but the Soul. 

All the attributes are merely an illusion. It is the Self that is in illusion and it is the self that has to gets free from the bondage of the illusion. The illusion is present in the form of the mind. The mind is in the form of the universe. The universe appears as waking or dream and disappears as deep sleep. The individual experiences of birth, life, death and the world are within the waking experience. The dream is a parallel waking experience and waking is a parallel dream. 

Deeper self-search reveals the fact that the Self is neither the waking entity nor the Self is the dream entity but the Self is formless Soul, which witnesses the coming and going of the three states in succession without the physical apparatus. This has to be mentally grasped and assimilated to realize the formless Soul, the Self is nothing to do with the three states. From the standpoint of the three states, the three states are merely an illusion. 

The practical life within the practical world, which is present as the waking experience, is merely an illusion. If waking experience is merely an illusion then the individual experience of birth, life, death, and the world is merely an illusion. 

If the experience of birth, life, death, and the world are merely an illusion, it means the form; time, and space are mere illusion. 

If form, time and space are mere illusion, it means the past, present, and future is merely an illusion. 

Thus the seeker must realize the fact that form, time, and space are one, in essence, to realize the three states are one in essence. That essence is consciousness. Thus all the diversity is created out of formless consciousness. Thus no second thing exists other than the Soul, the Self. 

The seeker of truth has to constantly reflect on the subject to get a firm conviction of the truth. The seeker has to reflect on the same truth again and again until it becomes reality. One needs to constantly reflect on the subject until he gets a firm conviction of what is what.:~Santthosh Kumaar 

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