People and Society

Questioner (Q): Sir, as a woman, how should I perceive religion? Religion and culture are supposed to help, but I have practically seen that religion is associated with patriarchy and misogyny. Please tell me, as women how should I look at religion? Acharya Prashant (AP): See, the relationship…

What is the root cause of unhappiness? Why strength is necessary for liberation? Why ego can not reflect on itself?

किससे मिल रहे हो? किससे नहीं मिल रहे हो? कहाँ रोज़ पहुँच जाते हो? कहाँ से पैसे ला रहे हो? पहली बात – क्या ईमानदारी से काम रहे हो? दूसरी बात – जो कमा रहे हो, उसको खर्च कहाँ कर रहे हो? छः घण्टे से कोई खबरिया चैनल लगा कर…

Now, mind is movement, right? Why does the mind move at all? The mind wants to reach somewhere. Where does the mind want to reach? Is that place within the mind? The mind wants to reach somewhere. Every thought, every action, every motivation, every emotion rides on a desire, is

सङ्करो नरकायैव कुलघ्नानां कुलस्य च ।। पतन्ति पितरो ह्येषां लुप्तपिण्डोदकक्रिया: ।।1.42।।

You cannot love someone or something you know very little of. The nation at its root represents a community of people united through certain values. A nation does not become admirable or respectable or lovable just by the dint of being a nation.

If you are to fall in love…

There is nothing in spirituality that will ever violate science. It’s just that spirituality will venture into areas where science never goes at all. Spirituality, for example, will talk about you. Science never talks about you. That’s the difference—that’s the only difference.

It is very, very sad that 99%, I…

A woman is murdered—even that is just a two-inch thing in some newspaper. But if it is a sensational rape case, then the entire country joins in.

Why must man consume with careful consideration? It destroys your inner world. Inwardly it pushes you deeper into the belief that by means of more and more, increased and increased consumption, you will be able to get rid of your inner disquiet.

So, it is not good for you inwardly,…

I cannot tell you what Bharat is by referring to the etymology of the word. If you ask me what is love, it would be foolish of me to say, “L-O means this, V means this, E means this.” If you ask me what is love, I will wait for…

The movies tell us that unless there is a special person in your life, you are really missing out on something big, and then you are seized by FOMO. What is FOMO? Fear of missing out.

“Oh my God, everybody has that! I am the only one left behind! I…

The temperature of this city is already higher than what it should be. It won’t be higher in the next twenty years; it is already higher today. Read how many people are dying and by how many years has the average life expectancy already reduced—already reduced.

What do you mean…

This is the hallmark of gutter knowledge: it will have neither science nor spirituality. This is the hallmark of the gutter person: his words, his convictions, his values will correspond to neither science nor spirituality; it is coming from an altogether different place—the gutter.

He will talk unscientific and unspiritual…

Just watched this movie, Chichore. It is based on IIT Bombay. In the campus, there is one girl in a batch of forty boys. But the girl’s only contribution in the whole story is that she is extremely beautiful, and all the guys are after her. So, in the…

A fellow reproducing blindly is a threat to the entire humanity. How is his family his personal matter? Somebody sets a bomb inside his home, and the bomb is powerful enough to bring down the entire building, not merely his apartment. Will you say, “It is his private matter. How…

If Facebook is satisfying you, it is not called as time wasted. Full stop. If the purpose of time is your satisfaction, and if doing all kinds of nonsense on Facebook satisfies you, then you cannot call it as wasted of time.

The only thing that determines whether time or…

You must be wondering why I am speaking about this thing regarding procreation, regarding having kids. It is because this is the single most important issue facing you and me and the planet and the millions of species today. This is the one thing that man immediately, today, this moment,…

What does true nationalism mean in India’s case? Nationalism is founded on truly Indian values. What do I mean by Indian values? I am being very specific here. By Indian values I mean the values enshrined in Vedanta.

As long as the youth remains in touch with the essence of…

It is final that meat eating is stupid for all kinds of reasons, and they will not that final conclusion arrive soon. It will arrive, just as it arrived in the case of cigarette smoking, just as it finally had to be accepted by the tobacco industry that cigarette smoking…

Teach the kids that this planet cannot tolerate even one more human being now. We are already eight billion. At the current rate, we are projected to be eleven billion by 2050. We cannot even tolerate eight point one billion.

You do not merely want to have kids; you also…

“Why do you want to follow their science? We will follow our science!” This kind of thing too you are hearing these days, no? This science and that science, as if there are multiple sciences all opposed to each other. Spiritual sciences! What kind of foolishness is this? Pandit-ji is

People talk of being expressive as a great virtue, right? They say, “But I want to express myself!” What do you have to express? The gutter says, “I want to express myself”—so that we die of stink?

But the gutters of the world are the ones most eager to express…

You may celebrate Diwali, or you may celebrate Christmas—the weather would remain what it has to. Or is the weather exceptionally fine because today is Diwali? If it has to rain, it will rain. Life has nothing to do with your festivals or your sufferings.

Man was never so powerful with respect to his environment as he is today. No virus can harm you; no bacteria can harm you; there are no plagues, no black deaths. You can produce as many objects as you want, you can order them at the click of a button;…

You never take out a candlelight vigil on India Gate when a little girl is being badly conditioned by media, by society, by the school, by all the websites, by all the influences upon her. Have you ever seen a candlelight vigil against all the corrupting forces on the little…

Distinctions are a burden on the mind. If A is different from B, then one has to remember both A and B.

It is wonderful when A to Z are all one; then you can just remember A and forget everything else.

And if A to Z all are nothing,…

The teacher’s role is to show that a teacher is not needed. That is the rightful role of the teacher. I repeat, the teacher’s role is to show that you are unnecessarily coming to the teacher. You are self-sufficient.

Look at the way the world is—violent, chaotic, anarchic. Every thought…

I say, if you have lived up to Rama for 364 days, only then must you celebrate the festival of Rama-ness. How is it that for 364 days your life had nothing to do with Shri Rama, and on the 365th day you jump up and join the bandwagon, the

It is very well known that one tree over the course of forty years would absorb just one ton of carbon dioxide, and that is if that tree lives to get forty years old. How effective is that? Please. One tree over forty years absorbs one ton of carbon dioxide.…

Rama’s festival has become the festival of shopping, shoppers and shopkeepers—Rama, who never had anything to do with shops; Rama, who was never a buyer or a seller or a consumer; Shri Rama, who stands for that which can neither be bought nor be sold. This festival has turned into…

Once I said, your face is smeared with mud, and religion is like pure water meant to be thrown on your face so that you get cleaned up. But when that water hits your face, the water too gets muddy.

Falling on your face, the water has cleared away some…

If there is one thing that we must not talk of as something very beautiful, it is the coming of the next generation. It is not beautiful. It is not auspicious. It is not something to be talked of with a smile. It is something to be talked off with…

“I love my Xbox”—and it’s not illegal. But it is performing much the same function as banned narcotics. If we were a conscious society, then we would see that.

All kinds of substance abuse, psychedelics—that’s a temporary relief that returns with vengeance. It hits you, bites you, and makes you…

It is extremely important to see and realize that we are living in an extremely sick world. What you read in the newspapers is sick. What you see around yourself is sick. The markets are sick. The shopping malls are sick. The streets are bustling with sickness. Educational institutions, political…

Just think if Rama was there in his bodily shape, in his mortal life, and were to see you celebrating his festival. What would he say? He would call you, “Hey you! Yes, you! Come here. You just did something taking my name? All this tamasha (commotion) is in my…

Do you have kids? I don’t know whether you have. Do you know how they are being abused in their schools? And that does not mean that somebody is fondling them in the genitals. Have you looked at their teachers? Have you studied their curricula? Have you seen what is…

If there is one field from where the most overwhelming evidence in support of veganism comes, it is the medical field itself. Listen to medical science, and it is the medical science that tells you that veganism is the way. Every passing day, more and more, and stronger and stronger…

I say, if for 364 days you have really lived up to Rama, only then must you honestly celebrate the festival of ‘Rama-ness’. How is it that for 364 days your life really had nothing to do with Shri Rama, and on the 365th day you jump up and join…

Do not try to brand or categorize actions. Look at the actor.

Saying yes might be the holiest deed ever performed; saying no might be the holiest deed ever done. Saying A can be the holiest of actions; saying A can be the vilest of deeds. Going towards the left…

Disabling drugs need not be a chemical or weed; it could be something ostensibly as harmless as entertainment. “I love my Xbox”—and it is not illegal. But it is performing much the same function as banned narcotics. If we were a conscious society, we would see that.

Much of the…

A meat eater must not be able to hold a place of pride in popular culture. You need to have celebrities coming out and endorsing veganism, at least vegetarianism. You need to show the good guy in popular media, in the movies, as a vegan guy. It is very important.…

You might be an MBBS, or an MD, or a DM, but you could still be quite illiterate; you might still not have the basic knowledge regarding the nutritional value of various food products. You could have a quack graduating even from the best medical college. So many doctors just…

Diwali, for most people, must be a festival of austerity, of repentance. We must, on this day, offer our prayers to Shri Rama and say, “We are very sorry, O Holy One! We are extremely sorry. We couldn’t live by your life, your message, your teachings. We are very sorry.…

A temple must really be a university in the purest sense of the word. When people go to a temple, they must return enriched. You are able to listen to a profound lecture, or to an animated debate. You come to know of things that you otherwise do not know.…

The fellow’s name was Marthand. ‘Marthand’ means the son. Marthand Kumar became Martin Hawk. We think of this as some kind of a passing fad. No, it is not a passing fad; it points towards something deeper. The fellow is ashamed of his identity. He wants to wear a totally…

We need two things: less people and less consumption, and both of them together. Even if one of them is missing, you are gone.

The US has not too many people, just 32 crores are there, and yet they are the biggest carbon emitters in the world because they consume.…

Thousands are watching us on YouTube—is YouTube good or bad? Good or bad? Depends on what you are using it for; depends, therefore, on who you are.

Remaining who you are, if you deactivate your Facebook account, that would still not help you. Addicted to Facebook, you are a slave…

Law just says that there is a legal age—eighteen, twenty-one and such things. First of all, giving birth requires that there has to be mental maturity.

Unfortunately, 99% of the world’s population is not at all mentally mature enough to be parents. The funny thing is that the 1% who…