Sage Sankara pointed out that those rituals could in no way bring about wisdom, much less Moksha.+

Sage Sankara pointed out that those rituals could in no way bring about wisdom, much less Moksha.

Isa Upanishad:- The time one spends in ritualistic practices is wasted; one can spend the same time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is the main goal.

Sage Goudpada says:~ The merciful Veda teaches karma and Upasana to people of lower and middling intellect, while Jnana is taught to those of higher intellect. The karma based on the false self is not a qualification for Self-realization.

Thus, it proves that the Advaitic wisdom is kept away from religious people who are of lower and middling intellect and makes them indulge in karma and Upasana. All the religious prescription is not meant for Self-realization.

There are two kinds of audiences - the ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices, and the more advanced seeker who seeks to know the truth beyond form, time, and space.

The religious orthodoxy is meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. The Atmic path, emphasizing the Advaitic wisdom, is meant for those who wish to go beyond form, time, and space.

The conduct-oriented religious orthodoxy is not the means to Self-Realization because all the orthodox theories are based on the experience of birth, life, death, and the world as a reality, whereas the world in which birth, life, and death take place is an illusion.

Religion is for the lower intellect, and Advaitic wisdom is for those who are capable of inquiring into their own existence to know and realize the ultimate truth, which is consciousness.:

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 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”.

Advaitic orthodoxy has to be discarded to realize the ‘Self’ hidden by the ‘I’, which is ignorance.

Sage Sankara states 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.:~Santthosh Kumaar