Atheism in Yoga Vasishtyam?

Sage Vasishta in Book 5, Chapter 13, Verse 9-10:

They who place their reliance upon faith in gods and depend upon them to fulfill their desires and future rewards are perverted in their understanding and cannot be heirs to immortality.

He is saved from misery in this ocean of the world by reliance on his own reasoning and resignation, and by his spiritual vision of the Supreme Spirit.

The above verses clearly are advocating atheism. Assuming these are translations from Sanskrit, we can blame it on the author. The larger point most people miss is Sanskrit is prone to serious misunderstandings with its complex grammar. I am not a scholar, but let's say in the last century when messages called telegrams were sent with Morse code, we received a message "Sita vets Rama". On the first glance it is clear to us the verb "vet" doesn't apply here as neither of them is a veteran nor a veterinarian. How about "wet"? Plausible but there is no need for urgency in communicating an ordinary occurrence. So we think "weds" is the proper meaning of the message with some degree of probability.

Applied to our scripture, many Sanskrit verses are like Morse code messages. The founder of an online Applied Vedic Sciences university claimed millions of interpretations for a single vedic verse. Even befuddled Sanskrit scholars while reading vedas, use a guide-book called Niruktam written by Sayana Maharshi, for arriving at proper interpretation. So a case can be made that there is no atheism in Yoga Vasishtyam in particular. So what is the correct interpretation?

Lord Krishna said in Bhagavad Gita many times that he is not a demi-god but won't condemn demi-god worship (verses at the end) or vedic rituals. Notice the difference between Lord Rama, to whom Sage Vasishta was teaching in the above verses eons ago, and Krishna who was addressing Arjuna in MahaBharata. It is possible that there were no demi-gods like Indra, Varuna, etc. in Treta yuga when Ramayana took place millions of years ago. Nor even vedas that are as young as 5000 years (though smriti could be much older) and came into existence with Sage Vyasa's compilation.

Now a few words about the economy of gods. Lord Krishna basically said "You worship any demi-god you want but I am the one granting you the karma phala". Let's say you spend a hundred rupees to travel to Tirupati mainly as a pleasure trip and to visit Lord Venkateswara's temple in Tirumala. On the way you visit Kanipakam Vighneswara, Kalahasti Isvara, etc. If you think each of the deities grants you hundred rupees, then an economist would say "Since you increased the velocity of money you deserve a larger return, but can't tell you how much". Lord Krishna, on the other hand, might have contracts with each of the deities thereby granting you a pre-destined result that is net positive in your account.

All this temple business makes an atheist leap up and say "See I told you this is a racket and exists only to make money by the temple trustees, purohits and management". I think Sage Vasishta would agree and Lord Krishna would claim even an atheist following "swadharma" comes under his patronage.

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita: 10.2) “I alone am the origin of all those celestial beings (demigods) and sages.”

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita: 3.10-11) “In the beginning (of creation), (by My arrangement) Lord Brahma manifested the progeny of the world, along with sacrifices. He instructed them thus: ‘Take shelter of this religious principle of sacrifice (yajna); prosper and flourish. May such sacrifice be the granter of all the things you desire. Satisfy the demigods by sacrifices, and may they satisfy you by bestowing upon you your desired ends. In this way, by mutually satisfying one another, you will be the gainers of great auspiciousness.’”

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita: 3.12-13) “Satisfied by sacrifices, the demigods (My worldly representatives, the limbs of My universal form) will bestow upon you the ends you desire to enjoy. One who (selfishly) enjoys what is granted by the demigods without making (corresponding) offerings to them, is a thief. Virtuous persons are liberated from all sins arising from exploitation of other living entities by subsisting (solely) upon the remnants of sacrifices (that they make to the demigods). Yet those who prepare food (partake of the fruits of their actions) for their own selfish pleasure (alone) partake only of sin.”

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita: 7.21) “I (as the Supersoul dwelling within their heart) make firm the faith of any devotee who desires to faithfully worship any of the demigods (as all demigods are forms of Myself).”

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita: 7.22) “Being endowed with firm faith (by My grace), such devotees worship the demigods (of their choice) and obtain all their desired ends (from those demigods) by My arrangement (as I am also situated as the Supersoul within the hearts of the demigods).”

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita: 7.23) “Those who devote themselves to the demigods have only meagre intelligence and obtain (only) fruits that are temporary (invariably subject to destruction). The worshippers of the demigods go the (abode of) the demigods, but My devotees come to Me (My supra-mundane abode).”

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita: 7.20) “Persons whose conscience (jnanah) is stolen away (hrita) by material desires (kama) worship various demigods (gods other than Myself) and follow the particular rules and regulations (niyamas) of worship which correspond to the ends they desire, being governed by their own (conditioned) natures (prakriti).”

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita: 4.12) “In the human world, persons who desire the fruits of their actions worship the various demigods (by making sacrifices unto them). (This is because) within the human world fruits produced by actions (such as enjoyment, entrance into heaven and so forth) materialize very quickly.”

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita: 9.25) “The worshipers of the demigods go to (the planet of) the demigods, the worshipers of the ancestors go to (the planet of) the ancestors, the worshipers of ghosts go to (the plane of) the ghosts and those who worship Me come to Me (My supra-mundane abode)”

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita: 9.20) “Persons who perform sacrifices described in the three Vedas (the Rig, Sama and Yajur Vedas) worship Me (in My forms as the various demigods). They drink soma after completing their sacrifices, become purified of sin and pray to ascend to the heavenly planets (the abodes of the demigods—svarga-loka). As a result of their piety, they reach the abode of Indra and the other demigods (surendra-loka) and enjoy all the wonderful pleasures of the demigods in heaven (divya deva-bhoga).”

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita: 9.21) “After enjoying the vast heavenly plane (svarga-loka), upon the exhaustion of their pious merits (punya) they return to the human plane (the mortal world—martya-loka) In this way, persons desiring material enjoyment who follow the Vedic rituals for demigod worship (simply) come and go—they achieve nothing more than continuing to revolve through the cycle of birth and death in this material world”

Regards