Upanishad says: the human goal is to acquire Self-Knowledge or Bramha Gnana or Atma Gnana and they indicate the personal gods, scriptures, worship and rituals are not the means to Self –Knowledge or Bramha Gnana or Atma Gnana, then why anyone should indulge in it.

One has to overcome the physical shackle by realizing the fact that the self is not form but the self is formless soul,  then only it is possible to understand , assimilate and realize  the non-dualistic  truth, which is beyond the form, time and space. Soul or Consciousness itself is lord of itself though not of the universe. And having nothing it has all.

When the Sri, Sankara says  VC 63: - Without causing the objective universe to vanish and without knowing the truth of the Self, how is one to achieve Liberation by the mere utterance of the word Brahman? — It would result merely in an effort of speech.

The pundits do not even bother to go deeper into self-search what really Sri, Sankara declared because there can be no correct exposition in the Upanishads unless the guru has had realized of the truth. Otherwise it is merely adding words to words. 

That is why Sri, Sankara says in  :- 58. Loud speech consisting of a shower of words, the skill in expounding the Scriptures, and likewise erudition - these merely bring on a little personal enjoyment to the scholar, but are no good for Liberation.


59. The study of the Scriptures is useless so long as the highest Truth is unknown, and it is equally useless when the highest Truth has already been known.
60. The Scriptures consisting of many words are a dense forest which merely causes the mind to ramble. Hence men of wisdom should earnestly set about knowing the true nature of the Self.


61. For one who has been bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is the knowledge of Brahman. Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures, Mantras (sacred formulae) and medicines to such a one?


62. A disease does not leave off if one simply utters the name of the medicine, without taking it; (similarly) without direct realization one cannot be liberated by the mere utterance of the word Brahman.

Thus what is the use of holding the scriptures as proof or pramaana or source of knowledge? When Sri, Sankara instructed clear cut message it is foolish to hold scriptures as authenticated authority.

Thus Sankara clearly suggests a direct realization of truth is not possible through punditry or orthodoxy.  Why to follow the traditional path, which does not yield any fruit.  Therefore, Seeker of truth has to take the direct path and avoid losing precious time and effort loosing himself in philosophical studies and traditional path. 

All the religious believers   believe in god and goddesses (vidya) and performing rituals  and other sacrifices[Avidya] both are hindrance to self-knowledge according to Ish Upanishds,  then why the seeker of truth needs worshipping of  god and goddesses, when essence of Adavita  is Ataman is Brahman (soul or self as ultimate reality). 

Therefore, if one is seeking truth he has to know his true self is not physical but it is the Ataman, which is in the form of consciousness. 

Isa Upanishads indicates 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 same time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is the main goal. One cannot reach the non-dual 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 the worshiping god and goddess in order to get self-knowledge or Bramha Gnan or Atma Gnana.

It also indicates that, Religious Rituals (Avidya) is Karma (action)and therefore a hindrance. By 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 the karma is limited only to the religious rituals, not on the whole human life. This karma theory based on the human conduct must have been adopted from Buddhism and other theories based on human conducts. 

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. For those who are not yet ready to renounce, this path is recommended, it means that the religion and its  idea of god and goddesses and code of conduct, and its rituals are meant for the mass who are incapable of thinking of the beyond.

In addition, it also speaks of heaven the abode of gods, where one goes after death, and it speaks of rebirth, this contradiction, seeker has to conclude that religion, rituals god and its code of conducts are meant for the mass that is not receptive to self-knowledge. 

When the self is not the form but self is formless soul, which is in the form of consciousness than how the physical conduct oriented orthodoxy can get self-knowledge.   

Sri, Sankara declares: - the world is a myth and Brahman alone is real then why to worship the gurus and Gods based on the ego, which is false self of this   false world.

 All the karmas performed by the orthodoxy are non-Vedic and barred by the Vedas. That is why Veda bars such worships and people who indulge in such activities will suffer and sink into darkness.  And Upanishads says self-realization is the human goal. Therefore, one has to strive only for self-realization or truth realization.      

 That is why Gaudapada says that: - The merciful Veda teaches karma and Upaasana to people of lower and middling intellect, while Jnana is taught to those of higher intellect.

Thus Goudapada suggest that the religious paths and worship of the 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 people who want higher truth then it is high time to discard the lower knowledge and move ahead to realize the ultimate truth, which is Brahman or God.  

The Upanishads declares:-

 Katha Upanishad declares:- This Ataman cannot be attained by the study of the Vedas, or by intelligence, or by much hearing of sacred books. It is attained by him alone whom It chooses. To such a one Ataman reveals Its own form. (Katha Upanishad Ch-II -23-P-20)

Mundaka Upanishad  :-

This Ataman cannot be attained through the study of the Vedas, nor through intelligence, nor through much learning. He who chooses Ataman—by him alone is Ataman attained. It is Ataman that reveals to the seeker Its true nature.(3 page70upanhsds by Nikilananda)

Upanishad says:  the human goal is to acquire Self-Knowledge or Bramha Gnana or Atma Gnana and they indicate the personal gods, scriptures, worship and rituals are not the means to Self –Knowledge or Bramha Gnana or Atma Gnana, then why anyone should indulge in it. The religion, concept of individualized God and scriptures are greatest obstacle to realize non-dualistc or Advaitic  truth , because they are based on ego, which is the false self.  Therefore, one has to search the ultimate truth without losing himself in the labyrinths of philosophy, he should indulge in deeper, inquiry, analysis and reasoning and assimilate and realize it.