Rig Veda were written before the Christian Era in the Vedic language. Vedic language is not Sanskrit. The truth is not limited to any particular language or religion.+*****

Vedas are in the Vedic language which was a high-class language. Rig Veda (excluding chapters II and X) were written before the Christian Era in Vedic language.  Vedic language is not Sanskrit.  It is the same language in which the Zoroastrian Scripture Zend Avesta is written – a form of Persian language.  All the other scriptures of India are written in Sanskrit.  

These include Rig Veda Chapter II and X and the Upanishads, Brahmanas, Puranas and the Vedanta.  These were written during the Christian Era after the Thomas ministry. 

As the use of this language diminished, it became a tough language for the commoners. The priests, who were supposed to be an expert of this language, translated it into Sanskrit language and manipulated the meanings in time and gradually, all the practices changed.

The truth is not limited to any particular language or religion. Those who are stuck with the idea the truth belongs to a particular religion and language will not be able to grasp the Advaitic wisdom, which is hidden by the illusory form, time and space. The truth is universal. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is for the whole of humanity. 

Many people believe by accumulating mastering the knowledge from the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the other scriptures and mastering the Sanskrit language makes one a Gnani.

The scholars who mastered the knowledge of the Vedas the Upanishads and the other scriptures and mastered the Sanskrit language looked upon other people as ignorant or as an illiterate. The religious scholars think people who have no knowledge of Vedas, the Upanishads, and the other scriptures and do not know the Sanskrit language are not qualified for higher truth. 

Mastering the Vedas the Upanishads and the other scriptures and mastering the Sanskrit language does not a qualifies one to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

These religious scholars immersed in ignorance in various ways, flatter themselves, saying: We have accomplished life's mission. Because these performers of karma do not know the Advaitic Gnana owing to their accumulated knowledge they will never be able to cross the ocean of dualistic illusion.

Sage Sri, Sankara says: ~ “VC~ 58 - Loud speech consisting of a shower of words, the skill in expounding the Scriptures, and likewise erudition - these merely bring on a little personal enjoyment to the scholar, but are no good for Liberation.

59. The study of the Scriptures is useless so long as the highest Truth is unknown, and it is equally useless when the highest Truth has already been known.

60. The Scriptures consisting of many words are a dense forest which merely causes the mind to ramble. Hence, men of wisdom should earnestly set about knowing the true nature of the Self.

Dattatreya's Song of the Avadhut 1.36-42:~ “Nonduality is taught by some; some others teach duality. They don't understand that the all-pervading Reality is beyond both duality and nonduality.

Mundaka Upanishad:~ “ The Para or Higher knowledge is the knowledge of the Supreme Being while the Apara or Lower Knowledge is that of following sacrificial rites and ceremonies. (1/2/ 1 – 6)

A Gnani may be illiterate in the dualistic world, a scholar as literate, as a well-educated person in the dualistic world. But of what value is the scholar’s knowledge is limited to the form, time and space but a Gnani even if he is illiterate his knowledge is of the beyond the form, time and space.

Remember:~ 

Bhagavan Buddha, Sage Sri, Sankara, and Sage Sri, Goudpada have declared non-dualistic truth centuries back, but one has to reach the destination with the scientific (rational) the investigation, not through punditry or intellectuality. 

Until one mentally reaches the conclusion, the conviction will not arise. Without the firm conviction, Advaitic wisdom will not dawn. Therefore, there is a need to know consciousness is real all else is a myth, which Sage Sri, Sankara declared as the world is myth Brahman alone is real.

It is no use arguing Buddha is wrong or Sage Sri Sankara is right, but where we are going wrong in our understanding the non-dualistic or Advaitic truth, propagated by the great sages of the past. Some say, that without the Sunyavada, Advaita philosophy could not have come into existence because Advaita starts from where Sunyavada ends. That is why they say it is the extension of Buddhism. 

If Advaita existed prior to Bhagavan Buddha, he would not have advocated Sunyavada at all because Advaita is the final and ultimate truth.

Since the Buddhist and the Vedic scriptures have been passed down by hearing, they were written down only relatively late so one wouldn't know whether to rely on the times they give. Also, a lot depends on the translation. Each 'Sloka' or sutta is open to many layers of interpretation.

That is why Sage Sri, 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 Sri, Sankara himself had often said that his philosophy was based on Sruti or revealed scripture. This may be because, Sage Sri, Sankara addressed the ordinary man, who finds security in the idea of causality and thus in the idea of God—and Revelation is indispensable to prove the latter. He believed that those of superior intelligence, have no need for this idea of divine causality, and can, therefore, dispense with Sruti and arrive at the truth of Non-Dualism by pure reason. 

Sage Sri, Sankara’s Supreme Brahman is Nirguna (without the Gunas), Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without attributes) and Akarta (non-agent). He is above all needs and desires. Sankara says, "This Atman is self-evident. This Atman or Self is not established by proofs of the existence of the Self. It is not possible to deny this Atman, for it is the very essence of he who denies it. Atman is the basis of all kinds of knowledge. 

The Self is within, the Self is without, the Self is before and the Self is behind. The Self is on the right hand, the Self is on the left, the Self is above and the Self is below".

Satyam-Jnanam-Anantam-Anandam is not a separate attribute. They form the very essence of Brahman. Brahman cannot be described because the description implies a distinction. Brahman cannot be distinguished from any other than He.

The objective world-the world of names and forms has no independent existence. The Atman alone has real existence. The world is only phenomenal.: ~ Santthosh Kumaar