Sage Sankara:~ Neither sacred baths nor any amount of charity nor even Hundreds of pranayamas* can give us the Self -knowledge.+

The seeker of truth should not become attached to words as being in perfect conformity with meaning because Truth is not in the letters.

The words and their discrimination bind one to the duality; meaning stands alone and is a guide to non-dual awareness. Meaning is attained by much learning, and much learning is attained by becoming conversant with meaning and not with words; therefore, seekers of truth have to avoid the sticklers for particular words.

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 present in the form of consciousness. Nothing Matters but realize  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. 

The path of wisdom is divided into three parts:~

First: hearing the truth--that the consciousness is the only reality and that the universe along with you merely an illusion or Maya. 

Second: reasoning upon these words of wisdom of Sage Sankara from all points of view. 

Third: giving up all further argumentation and realizing the truth. This realization comes from being certain that consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. 

Philosophers have made philosophy very complicated with their excessive analysis.

You are being conditioned by the religious myth which has made you a non-thinker. Come out of the religious myth by realizing God in truth. 

Remember:~

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)

Sage Sankara says: ~ The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards are therefore addressed to an ignorant person.

Sage Sankara:~ (11) As regards the rituals, Sage Sankara says, the person who performs rituals and aspires for rewards will view himself in terms of the caste into which he is born, his age, the stage of his life, his standing in society, etc. Also, he is required to perform rituals all through his life. However, the 'Self' has none of those attributes or tags. Hence, the person who superimposes all those attributes on the changeless, eternal Self and identifies Self with the body is confusing one for the other; and is, therefore, an ignorant person. The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are therefore addressed to an ignorant person. Adhyasa Bhashya

Sage Sankara:~ Neither sacred baths nor any amount of charity nor even Hundreds of pranayamas* can give us the Self -knowledge. 

Sage Gaudapada says: - The merciful Veda teaches karma and Upaasana to people of lower and middling intellect, while jnana is taught to those of higher intellect.

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 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 Gnana. 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. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar