Mastering the Vedas the Upanishads and mastering the Sanskrit language does not qualify one to acquire Self-knowledge.+

Many people believe that accumulating and mastering 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 from the Vedas the Upanishads and the other scriptures and mastered the Sanskrit language looked upon other people as ignorant, as illiterate people who had no knowledge of the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the other scriptures and did not know the Sanskrit language.

Mastering the Vedas the Upanishads and the other scriptures and mastering the Sanskrit language does not qualify 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 the Advaitic Gnana owing to their accumulated knowledge they will never be able to cross the ocean of dualistic illusion.

Sage 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 that 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:~ “Non-duality is taught by some; some others teach duality. They don't understand that the all-pervading Reality is beyond both duality and non-duality.

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, or 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’s even if he is illiterate his knowledge is of the beyond the form, time, and space.

Sage Sankara: ~ On Gnani: "The knower of Brahman wears no signs. Gives up the insignia of a monk's life…his signs are not manifest, nor his behavior."

When the knower of Brahman wears no signs ~ it means he does not identify himself as a Guru a teacher or a yogi.

A scholar will go on and on about the immortality of the Soul but when death approaches he will be trembling and weeping and wailing. Scholars, interpretations of sacred texts, the force of religious merit--none of these lead to the realization of that Ultimate Truth or Brahman. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is the knowledge of the immortal Soul, the one and only ‘Self’ of all that exists as an illusion.

All this talk of immortality will crumble into nothingness because he has not known the knowledge of the Soul, which is immortal.

A Gnani knows what he is talking about is not an explanation, what he is talking about is the realization of the truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space.

A Gnani shares his joy by sharing his wisdom; he is singing the song about the unsung truth. Remember whenever a Gnani speaks about God it is not a belief; he knows it, it is his realization. He is talking out of his realization; hence he can be of immense help to the whole humanity.

A Gnani always sees the world in which he exists as the Soul without any division of form, time, and space. And a Gnani watches his own actions as if they were another's. he is never puffed up by the praise or disturbed by blame.

As for Gnani, his individuality is dead. It is merged in the Soul like waves in the ocean A Gnani living in freedom has gone beyond the dualities of life.

A Gnani is not competing with anyone, he is alike in success and failure and content with whatever comes to him. He is e free, without Selfish attachments; his attention is fixed on the awareness of the Soul.

A Gnani performs all practical duties of the practical world like others and he helps other seekers to get rid of the ignorance of their true existence. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar