The idols are symbols of personal Gods with form and name and attributes. All idolized Gods are not God in truth.+

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.

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.

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

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

God in truth is the Atman, the Self. Atman is present in the form of consciousness.

Do not accept any other God other than Atman not worship other than Atman. Let these words be inscribed in your subconscious.

Nothing is real but God. Nothing Matters but love for God in truth. God in truth is everywhere and in everything.

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

Rig-Veda 1-164-46 and Y.V 32-1 clearly mention that God is “One”.

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

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.

Thus, it refers to a formless and attriubuteless God, which is the Atman (Soul), the Self within the false experience. Thus, it indicates clearly all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imaginations based on the false Self. Thus, Atman or Soul, the ‘Self’ is God in truth.

The Vedas do not talk about idol worship. In fact, till about 2000 years ago followers of Vedism never worshipped idols. Idol worship was started by the followers of Buddhism and Jains.

There is logic to idol worship. Vedas speak of one God that is the supreme Self i.e. Atman or Soul but Hinduism indulges in worshiping 60 million Gods.:~

Yajur Veda indicates: ~

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

Those who worship visible things born of the Prakriti, such as the earth, trees, and bodies (human and the like) in place of God 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." (Yajur Veda 40:9.)

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 the material then nothing has to be accepted as God other than consciousness.

Lord Krishna says Ch ~V: ~ “Those who know ‘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.

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 is not a part but God is whole. God pervades everything and everywhere in the universe because the universe is nothing but an illusion. 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: ~ "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)". (1. 4. 10) : ~ Santthosh Kumaar