Sage Sankara pointed out those rituals could in no way bring about wisdom, much less moksha.
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.
Sage Sankara pokes fun at ascetics and points out that all their austerities do not cause desires to go. (Altar Flowers" Page 205, v.2 P.207 v.4)
The rituals mentioned in the karmakanda of the Vedas are sought to be negated in the jnanakanda which is also part of the same scripture. While the karmakanda enjoins upon you the worship of various deities and lays down rules for the same, the jnanakanda constituted by the Upanishads ridicules the worshipper of deities as a dim-witted person no better than a beast.
This seems strange, the latter part of the Vedas contradicting the former part. The first part deals throughout with karma while the second or concluding part is all about jnana. Owing to this difference, people have gone so far as to divide our scripture into two sections: the Vedas (that is the first part) to mean the karmakanda and the Upanishads (Vedanta) to mean the jnanakanda.
Sage Sankara:~ VC Let erudite scholars quote all the scripture, let Gods be invoked through sacrifices, let elaborate rituals be performed, let personal Gods be propitiated---yet, without the realization of one‘s identity With the Self, there shall be no liberation for the individual, not even in the lifetimes of a hundred Brahmas put together (verses-6)
It is clear that liberation cannot be the result of good works, for Sruti itself declares that there is no hope for immortality by means of wealth. (Verses -7)
Religious rites and rigid ceremonies were passed down from one generation to the next as a practice or set customs and tradition and performed automatically with blind faith. Such worship based on the belief of God does not reach God.
Remember:~
Sage Gaudapada says: ~“The merciful Veda teaches karma and Upasana to people of lower and middling intellect, while Jnana is taught to those of higher intellect.
Mundaka Upanishad says: ~ “The rituals and the sacrifices described in the Vedas deal with lower knowledge. The sages ignored these rituals and went in search of higher knowledge. ... Such rituals are unsafe rafts for crossing The sea of samsara, of birth and death. Doomed to shipwreck are those who try to cross The sea of samsara on these poor rafts. Ignorant of their own ignorance, yet wise In their own esteem, these deluded men Proud of their vain learning go round and round Like the blind led by the blind.
When sages themselves found rituals are unsafe rafts for crossing The sea of samsara, of birth and death and ignored them and they the Mundaka Upanishad further suggest that such rituals are unsafe rafts for crossing the realm of duality those who try to cross The realm of duality on these poor rafts are Doomed to shipwreck are. Ignorant of their own ignorance, yet wise in their own esteem, these deluded people (pundits) proud of their vain learning go round and round like the blind led by the blind.
Therefore, if one wants to acquire Atma Jnana or Brahma Jnana or ‘Self’- Knowledge or knowledge of consciousness one has to drop all ritualistic and orthodox baggage to move forward in their pursuit of truth.
First Mundaka - Chapter 2 (10):~ ‘Ignorant fools, regarding sacrifices and humanitarian works as the highest, do not know any higher good. Having enjoyed their reward on the heights of heaven, gained by good works, they enter again this world or a lower one.
Remember:~
It is high time to stop judging who is right and who is wrong in this unreal world instead spend the same time to acquire ‘Self’-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana to realize the world (Samsara) is unreal the Brahman alone is real.
According to Advaita Vedanta, the Veda addresses itself’ to 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 Brahman. Thus, the purva mimam. sa, with its emphasis on the karma kanda of the Vedas, is meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. However, the Vedanta, with its emphasis on the jnana kanda, is meant for those who wish to go beyond such transient pleasures.
The orthodox people are ordinary people. Thus the ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices. The karma kanda of the Vedas is meant for the ordinary audience, to help lead its followers along the way.
The modern mindset is more advanced and capable of reasoning and discriminating. Thus modern mindset is the more advanced which seeks to know the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.
It is high time for the orthodox highly educated noble Advaitins to realize their religious-based orthodox path was meant for the ignorant in the past, therefore, it is outdated not suited to the modern mindset.
The right path for the modern mindset is the path of the wisdom or reason of Sage Sankara. The orthodox religious Advaitic path is nothing to do with ultimate truth or Brahman.
Thus, getting stuck with the religious path is getting stuck with duality. Getting stuck with duality is getting stuck with the falsehood. Getting stuck with the falsehood is accepting the experience of birth, life, death, and the world as reality.
Thus the people who want freedom or Moksha right here right now must that is in this very life and in this very world must follow the path of wisdom or Soulcentric reason.
The orthodoxy is the path of ignorance because it recognized the experience of birth, life, death, and the world as reality.
It is high time to stop judging who is right and who is wrong in this unreal world instead one has to spend the same time acquiring Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.:~Santthosh Kumaar
