Hindus think Idol is not God but God is in idol also. But according to their own holy book bars the idol worship.+

Max Müller says: ~ "The religion of the Veda knows no idols; the worship of idols in India is a secondary formation, a degradation of the more primitive worship of ideal Gods."

Hindus think  Idol is not God but God is in idol also.  But according to their own holy book bars the idol worship.

The idols are symbols of personal Gods with form names and attributes. All idolized Gods are not God in truth. Worshipping such a God keeps one permanently in the prison of ignorance.

Yajurveda – chapter- 32: - God is Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions.

 Thus, Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

Yajur Veda says: ~

Translation 1

They enter darkness, those who worship natural things (for example air, water, sun, moon, animals, fire, stone, etc).

They sink deeper in darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example, table, chair, idol, etc.) (Yajurveda 40:9)

Translation 2

"Deep into the shade of blinding gloom fall asambhuti's worshippers. They sink to darkness deeper yet who on sambhuti are intent." (Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Griffith pg. 538)

Translation 3.

"They are enveloped in darkness, in other words, are steeped in ignorance and sunk in the greatest depths of misery who worship the uncreated, eternal Prakriti -- the material cause of the world -- in place of the All-pervading God, But those who worship visible things born of the Prakriti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like) in place of God is enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time." (Yajurveda 40:9.)

So, Yajur Veda indicates: ~

Those who worship visible things such as the earth, trees, and bodies (humans and the like) in place of God are enveloped in still greater ignorance. 

If so, then why worship and glorify the non-~Vedic Gods in place of Vedic God when Veda bars such activities and also warns people who indulge in such activities are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow and suffer terribly for a long time.

People are unaware that God in truth is not that which they believe and worship.

Hindus are idol worshipers of a large number of Gods and Goddesses whereas in Vedas the God has been described as: -

In Vedas, God has been described as: ~ 

Rig Veda: ~ 'Prajnanam Brahma'- Consciousness is the ultimate reality or Brahman or God in truth.

Do not accept any other God other than the Soul. The Soul is God in truth. Nothing is real but the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Nothing matters but realizing God in truth. God in truth, is everywhere and in everything. Let these words be inscribed in your subconscious.

God in truth, is hidden by the illusory universe. God in truth alone, is real and eternal, and all else is an illusion.

Brahman is merely a word to indicate the ultimate truth or God in truth. The ultimate truth itself is God in truth.

People are not aware that there is no individual God exists, apart from the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Rig Veda: ~ The Atman (Soul or Spirit) is the cause; Atman is the support of all that exists in this universe. May ye never turn away from the Atman the innermost ‘Self’. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)

The Vedas as a body of scripture contains many contradictions and they are fragmentary in nature. For Hindus, scriptures like the Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Puranas are more attractive and appealing than the Vedas. Also, the Gods and Goddesses they worship differ considerably from the Vedic ones. The collection of hymns called Vedas are written in praise of certain deities by poets over several centuries does not seem to have much significance for the Hindus.

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: ~ "He who worships the deities as entities entirely separate from the Self does not know the truth. For the Gods, he is like a pasu (beast)". (1.4.10)

Bhagavad Gita Chapter: ~ “All those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires, they worship many gods. (7- Verse -20)

Kena Upanishad 2-5 mentions that God can be realized in one life. If you do not realize in one life, you are a great loser.

It is necessary to realize what God is supposed to be to realize God in truth.

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.

Bhagavad Gita: ~ “All those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires, they worship many Gods. (7- Verse -20)

Swami Vivekananda: ~, “The masses in India cry to sixty million Gods and still die like dogs. Where are these Gods? (In San Francisco, on May 28, 1900, of swami Vivekananda/volume 1)

Religion breeds superstition because religion is based on blind belief. Whatever is based on blind belief is superstition.

God in truth is not a belief. One must know God in truth. Without knowing what God is supposed to be in actuality worshipping God based on blind belief is superstition.

Worshipping superstitious Gods barred by Vedas. Know what God is supposed to be according to the Vedas Upanishads Bhagavad Gita and the Bible.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: ~ Brahman (God) is in the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself.

Kena Upanishad (6) Chapter I: ~ “That which cannot be apprehended by the mind, but by which, they say, the mind is apprehended- That alone know as Brahman (God), and not that which people here worship.

Kena Upanishad (7) Chapter I: ~ “That which cannot be perceived by the eye, but by which the eye is perceived- That alone know as Brahman (God), and not that which people here worship.

Kena Upanishad (8) Chapter I: ~ “That which cannot be heard by the ear, but by which the hearing is perceived- That alone know as Brahman(God), and not that which people here worship.

Kena Upanishad (9)- Chapter I: ~ That which cannot be smelt by the breath, but by which the breath smells an object- That alone know as Brahman(God), and not that which people here worship.

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.

Bhagavad Gita says: ~ “Brahmano hi pratisthaham-  Brahman (God) is considered the all-pervading consciousness which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material.  (Gita 14.27)

When Bhagavad Gita says, God is considered the all-pervading consciousness which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material then nothing has to be accepted as God other than consciousness.

Vedas, Upanishad, and Bhagavad Gita confirm the Soul, the Self, is present in the form of the Spirit or consciousness.

Religion is regarded as sacred and real by the common people, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.

The Upanishad says: that the human goal is to acquire Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana and indicates the personal Gods, scriptures, worship, and rituals are not the means to Self –Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, so why anyone should indulge in it. 

The religion, concept of individualized god and scriptures are the greatest obstacles to realizing non-dual truth or Self-realization, because, they are based on false self. 

The seeker of truth has to search for the ultimate truth without losing himself in the labyrinths of philosophy, through deeper, inquiry, analysis, and reasoning, and assimilate and realize it.

That is why Sage Sankara, indicated in Bhaja Govindam says: ~ “One without knowledge does not obtain liberation even in a hundred births, no matter which religious faith he follows.

Then it is no use going roundabout way, trace the Brahman which is the formless substance and the witness of the universe. The universe is present in the form of the mind. By tracing the source of the mind (universe) one will be able to realize the Brahman or God in truth.

God has to be realized not worshipped. All beliefs and worship, rituals are meant for the ignorant populace. First, one has to realize what ‘God’ supposed to be is in actuality.

The Bhagavad Gita: ~ Brahmano hi pratisthaham ~ Brahman (God in truth) is considered the all-pervading consciousness, which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material. (14.27).

When Bhagavad Gita says, God is considered the all-pervading consciousness which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material then nothing has to be accepted as God other than consciousness.

The dualistic worship of "God” is only for the ignorant populace. The God in truth is only Atman, the ‘Self’. In reality, there is no duality, no differentiation. Only Atman exists.

God in truth is not a part but God in truth is whole. God in truth pervades everything and everywhere in the universe because the universe is nothing but an illusion created by God in truth. Seeing God as a part is 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

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says:~ "He who worships the deities as entities entirely separate from God does not know the truth. For the Gods, he is like a pasu (beast)".

Bhagavad Gita: 7: 19:~ "Such a man who has attained the knowledge of Self, the knowledge of Atman, worships ‘Self’ as~ Atman (God) alone exists~ everything is Atman, there exists nothing except Atman. Such a man is extremely rare." (1. 4. 10) : ~ Santthosh Kumaar