"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.+"

Orthodox claim that idolatry in India does not mean anything horrible. Idolatry in no way helps undeveloped minds to grasp the spiritual truth.

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." 

In the Vedas, God has been described as:-

Yajur Veda – Chapter- 32: - God is Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. He cannot be seen directly by anyone. He pervades all beings and all directions.

Thus, Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

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 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. Also, the Gods and Goddesses they worship differ considerably from the Vedic ones. The collection of hymns called Vedas are 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 than 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 worshippers. 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." (Yajur Veda 40:9.)

So, Yajur Veda indicates that:~

They sink deeper in darkness than 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

It is the ignorant people who indulge in idolatry and rituals even though they are highly qualified with university degrees.

The seeker must remember once and for all that, if he is serious in his quest for truth he should drop all his accumulated knowledge and learn to observe the reality as it is without the illusory form, time, and space.

Not only the Advaitic wisdom is the ultimate wisdom but the Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara is the greatest invention even science never discovered to date.

Swami Vivekananda: ~ “Advaita encompasses everything. Since Advaita requires heavy-duty intellectualism, it had to be progressively simplified. (From 'The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda)

In one word, the ideal of Advaita is to realize the Soul, the 'Self' as it really is. If you are unaware of what is the 'Self' in actuality how can you realize God in truth?

The seeker 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.

The Soul the ‘Self’ alone is real. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. Consciousness pervades all the animate and inanimate things in the world as they thread through a string of pearls.

Religious Gurus and yogis are the theologians, the Gurus and yogis are religious heads, and these people are not Gnanis. Some great scientists and professors claim themselves who have mastered Vedas and Upanishad and these people are not Gnanis but intellectuals.

These people dominate the ignorant populace, and they are not the Gnanis ~ they are not Gnanis because they have accumulated bookish knowledge. All their accumulated knowledge is second-hand. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar