Going beyond the Vedas, religion and personal Gods means, going beyond the illusion means is the end of Vedas (Veda-antha).+

One has to go beyond Vedas means to go beyond religion. Go beyond religion means, go beyond the belief of God.

Going beyond the Vedas, religion and personal Gods means ~ going beyond the illusion, that is the end of Vedas (Veda-antha).

In Vedanta it is that Lord teaches us in the Gita and in it,  he lashes out against the karmakanda. It is generally believed that the Buddha and Mahavira were the first to attack the Vedas.

It is not so. Lord Krishna himself’ spoke against them long before these two religious leaders. At one place in the Gita, he says to Arjuna:: "The Vedas are associated with the three qualities of sattva, rajas, and tamas.

You must transcend these three qualities. Full of desire, they (the practitioners of Vedic rituals) long for paradise and keep thinking of pleasures and material prosperity. They are born again and again and their minds are never fixed in samadhi, these men clinging to Vedic rituals.

“In another passage, Krishna declares: "Not by the Vedas is ‘Self’ to be realized, nor by sacrifices nor by much study.

Lord Krishna himself’ declares the ‘‘Self’-realization is not possible by neither by the study of the Vedas nor by sacrifices nor by many studies. Then why you are still thinking, by studying Vedas you get ‘Self’-realization.

Bhagavad- d Gita 2:46:~ "A man of true knowledge who has attained enlightenment, has the same use for all the scriptures as one has for a small reservoir of water in a place flooded on all sides.

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.

Know the Self in truth means Know God in truth. That is God without the form, time, and space. The Soul, the  ‘Self’, is God in truth. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. The Soul is the cause; the Soul is the support of all that exists in this universe. May ye never turn away from the Soul the Self. Never accept another God in place of the Soul nor worship other than the Soul.

When one goes into the annals of history it looks like the true Advaita expounded by Sage Sankara and Sage Goudpada was lost or mutilated by the orthodoxy.

The Advaitic wisdom is nothing to do with orthodox preaching and practice because Advaitic orthodoxy is dogmatism. If you are the Advaitic orthodoxy has to be discarded if one wants to acquire ‘Self’-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Sage Sankara and Sage Goudpada are independent thinkers other schools of Indian philosophy are mere theologies. Advaitic philosophy is real philosophy. The dualistic philosophy cannot escape the charge of dogmatism.

Sage Sankara was an independent thinker. His wisdom has not been taken seriously by many in India because most of the followers of Sage Sankara are religious orthodoxy.

Yoga Vasistha:~ "Teachers, interpretations of sacred texts, the force of religious merit--none of these lead to the realization of that Ultimate Truth which is revealed in the clear reflection of the heart, engendered from contact with the good."

Anybody can write a commentary on the Upanishads and other great philosophic texts, all they need to do to pour out words. Some westerners along with some orthodox pundits translated and published books. The influence of Sage Sankara’s wisdom is nothing to do with orthodox belief systems.

The seeker must do his homework, and verify the validity of all the claims, rather than blindly believe, what orthodox pundits expound as knowledge, till; the un-contradicted truth is obtained.

Self- Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is only being true knowledge not the absence of duality. ’Self’ -Knowledge cannot destroy the world but it eliminates ignorance and exposes the unreal nature of the mind or the universe.

Sage Sankara:~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.

Sage Sankara:~ VC- 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?

How does one get knowledge? What is meant for knowledge? What is true knowledge? –All this of which must be dealt with by the seeker of truth to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

The Self -knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana does not destroy the world but it exposes the unreal nature of the world which appears as waking and experienced as reality by the person within the waking. The same way the unreality of the dream was exposed when waking took place. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar