The seeker of truth must know the difference between the mythological Gods and the Vedic God.+

Vedic worshippers did not use temples and idols as Hindus of today do. For them, the sacrificial rituals were more important than the temple or idol worship the major Hindu feasts of today are based on the epic feats of Rama and Krishna and the Puranic lore pertaining to Shiva and the Goddess.

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.

The seeker of truth must know the difference between the mythological Gods and the Vedic God.

Hindus are idol worshipers of a large number of Gods and Goddesses whereas in Vedas the God has been described as:~

Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~ God is Supreme Spirit.

Vedas and Upanishad confirm the Soul, the innermost Self, is present in the form of the Spirit or the consciousness.

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 innermost self. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)

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

Knowing this, stand up and fight! Not one step back that is the idea. ... Fight it out, whatever comes. Let the stars move from the sphere! Let the whole world stand against us! Death means only a change of garment. What of it? Thus, fight! You gain nothing by becoming cowards. ... Taking a step backward, you do not avoid any misfortune. You have cried to all the gods in the world. Has misery ceased? The masses in India cry to sixty million gods and still die like dogs. Where are these gods? ... The gods come to help you when you have succeeded. So what is the use? Die game. ... This bending the knee to superstitions, this selling yourself to your own mind does not befit you, my soul. You are infinite, deathless, birthless. Because you are the infinite Spirit, it does not befit you to be a slave. ... Arise! Awake! Stand up and fight! Die if you must. There is none to help you. You are the entire world. Who can help you? ~ Swami Vivekananda (Delivered In San Francisco, on May 28, 1900) -The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 1/Lectures And Discourses/The Gita II

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)

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 (Gita 14.27)

Remember:~

The seeker of truth must know the difference between the ordinary concept of God and the truth about God.

Religious people believe the stories of Jesus who raised the dead and Krishna who picked a mountain as a reality but Jesus who raised the dead and Krishna who picked a mountain within the dualistic illusion. Whatever belongs to dualistic illusion is bound to be an illusion.

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 Puranas say something and the Vedas say something else, reject the Puranas and believe in the Vedas. The Puranas are just myths.

India takes pride in being the descendants of the Sages of truth who gave the Advaita the ultimate truth. The Advaitic truth is the truth beyond form, time, and space.

All the mythological Gods' existence is a myth. Such Gods can exist only within the dualistic illusion. Thus, the existence of such Gods is illusory.

Mythological gods and Goddesses are based on blind belief. The blind belief-based Gods are not God in truth. The belief implies duality. From the ultimate standpoint, the duality is merely an illusion. Thus, whatever one sees, knows, believes, and experiences within the dualistic illusion are bound to be an illusion.

Mythological stories are a myth. Whatever is based on myth is merely a superstition. Mythology was introduced in the past for the ignorant masses. It has to be discarded as one progresses in his spiritual advancement.

Swami Vivekananda:~ “This bending the knee to superstitions, this selling yourself to your own mind does not befit you, the Soul. Self is infinite, deathless, and birthless. Because the Self is infinite Spirit, it does not befit you to be a slave. ... Arise! Awake! Stand up and fight! Die if you must. There is none to help you. Self is the entire world. Who can help you? -

Mythology breeds superstition, blind belief, and senseless rituals, and most irrational and gives them a divine outlook.

Swami Vivekananda: ~ “If superstition enters, the brain is gone. Superstition is our great enemy, but bigotry is worse.

Mythological contains stories of people with 10 with seven heads, etc., which are fables, yet are taken seriously by pundits. All these stories are a reality within the dualistic illusion. The waking experience is a dualistic illusion. Thus, whatever belongs to the dualistic illusion is bound to be a falsehood. In reality, there is no duality because there is only Oneness.

That the ancient sages had miraculous occult power and books relate stories of their feats, are fairy tales were meant for children, women and those whose minds had not developed.

When ‘Self’ is not ‘you’ then whatever you have seen, known believed, and experienced as reality is bound to be an illusion. Thus, self-realization is necessary to realize your present the world in which you exist is merely an illusion.

If the present world in which you exist is merely an illusion, then whatever you believed as a reality with the world in which you exist is bound to be an illusion.

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.

Religious Gods are not God in truth. One must realize 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 are no dualities, no differentiation. Only Atman exists.

Vedas and Upanishad confirm the Soul, the Self, is present in the form of the Spirit or consciousness.

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 innermost self. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)

The Spirit is the root element of the universe. The Spirit is present in the form of the Soul, the Self. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. From the Spirit, the universe comes into existence. In the Spirit, the universe resides. And into the Spirit, the universe is dissolved. The Spirit is the parent of all that is there is.

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

There is a clear-cut idea of God in the Vedas, Upanishad, and Bhagavad Gita. And also there is a clear-cut idea of what not to worship as God in place of real God. Thus, it proves from the Vedic perspective the Puranic Gods are not Vedic Gods.

Vedas says never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman.

That is why Sage Sankara said:~ Talk as much philosophy as you like, worship as many gods as you please, observe ceremonies, and sing devotional hymns, but liberation will never come, even after a hundred aeons, without realizing the Oneness. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar