Karma itself is based on ignorance, Only Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana will destroy ignorance.+

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 VC)

Karma (Action) will not dispel ignorance itself. Karma itself is based on ignorance, Only Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana will destroy ignorance.

Liberation cannot be the result of good works, for Sruti itself declares that there is no hope for immortality through wealth. (Verses -7 VC)

Actions help to purify the mind but they do not, by themselves, contribute to the attainment of reality. The attainment of reality is brought about only by Self-inquiry and not in the least by even ten million acts. (verses-11 VC)

The fear and sorrow created by the delusory serpent in the rope can be ended only after fully ascertaining the truth of the rope through steady and balanced thinking. (verses12 VC )

Neither sacred baths nor any amount of charity nor even Hundreds of pranayamas* can give us knowledge about our own Self. The firm experience of the nature of the Self is seen to proceed from inquiry along the lines of the salutary advice of the wise. (verses-13-VC)

Ultimate success in spiritual endeavors depends chiefly upon the qualifications of the seeker. Auxiliary conveniences such as time And place all have a place indeed, but they are essentially secondary. (verses-14-VC)

He alone is considered qualified to enquire after the supreme Reality, which has discrimination, detachment, qualities of Calmness, etc., and a burning desire for liberation. The four-fold qualifications.(verses 17 VC)

Great sages have spoken of four qualifications for attainment which, when present, succeed in the realization of Brahman and In the absence of which the goal is not attained. (verses-18 -VC)

(While enumerating the qualifications), first, we count the ability to discriminate between the Real and the unreal; next comes a spirit of detachment from the enjoyment of the fruits of actions here and hereafter; after that is the groups of six virtues beginning with Calmness, and the last is undoubtedly an intense desire for liberation. (verses-19 -VC)

A firm conviction that Brahman alone is real and the phenomenal world is unreal is known as discrimination between the Real and The unreal. (verses-20 -VC)

They have crossed the dreadful ocean of (embodied) existence through their own efforts and without any (personal) motives; they help others to cross it. (verses-37VC)

The ignorant think that the self is the waking entity (ego) and perceive the world without being aware that, the three states are mere illusory experiences created out of consciousness.

Thus they try to judge the truth on the false entity (waking entity or ego) within the false experience (waking).

Remember:~

Until one makes sure of the true Self, it is erroneous to judge and conclude the ultimate truth on mere intellectualism.

One has to make sure that the Self is neither the waking entity nor the Self is a dream entity but the Self is an invisible Soul, which witnesses the coming and going of the three states without the physical apparatus.

A Gnani has a firm conviction that the Self is definitely neither the waking entity nor the dream entity because the waking and dream both are illusory.

The invisible Soul is the real Self. Invisible Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness is the existence and knowledge.

Illusion’s "concealing power" merely means that when one looks at an ice block he thinks only of the ice block. But a Gnani will think of the substance of the ice block too. That is a wise man has the knowledge of the substance plus of the ice block. Similarly, a Gnani has the knowledge of the universe and its formless substance.

Consciousness is concealed because of ignorance. As a man, one is not aware that his body, ego, and his experience of the world are merely an illusion created out of consciousness.

When one becomes aware of the fact that, the universe is an illusion then there is no physical body no ego, and no world then there is only the formless Soul, the Self.

One has to get a firm conviction that, the Self is definitely not the waking entity because the waking experience itself is an illusion.

The Soul, the Self is the invisible substance and the witness of the three states. The invisible substance and witness is the Soul or consciousness.

The Soul, the Self is without change, without any form, without any blemish, and without any decay, without the disease, beyond all comprehension, beyond any change and consciousness is all-pervading.

The Soul the Self is without properties and without any activity; the Self is permanent, forever free, and imperishable.

The Soul, the Self is the subject. All three states are objecting to the formless subject. And the three states are but the transient experience. The invisible witness of the three states is the Soul, the Self.

The invisible witness is unaffected by the individual experiences happening within the waking or dream because it can never be lost or lose anything in itself.

Thus nothing is lost or gained because everything is consciousness. Gnani sees only consciousness in everything and everywhere in all three states.

Thus, for Gnani, there is no second thing that exists other than consciousness. :~Santthosh Kumaar