The fundamental mistake we make || Acharya Prashant, with BITS Pilani (2022)

Questioner: We recently celebrated our 75th Republic Day. In this context, I would like to know what were the mistakes made by our ancestors that led to the invasions and colonial rule by the Mughals, the British, and other foreign powers in the past thousand years. What can we learn from those mistakes so that the same thing does not happen again? Is it true that presently we are still under their rule in a different sense?

Acharya Prashant: You see, there is only one mistake for a human being: to not realize your internal stuff and remain a slave to it. That is where all weakness comes from, that is why we were defeated in most of the battles we fought over the last ten centuries, and that is also the reason why, as people, we are not progressing fast enough even today.

Man is nothing without wisdom. Weapons don’t win wars; even if weapons manage to win you a few battles, it is wisdom that wins wars. And wisdom wins wars in very subtle ways. You lose wisdom and somebody might declare you a world winner, but you will still be a loser. The tragedy first takes place internally, and then its effects manifest themselves externally in all ways possible.

See, because man is special, because man is not like any other animal—when I say man I mean human beings, not excluding women—therefore man needs spirituality. I could have said religion, but ‘religion’ has become a very abused word today, so I would rather say spirituality or wisdom.

So, we need spirituality. That is the center of our existence—our religiosity, our wisdom. It has to be. If we lack that then we lack a center itself, and if there is no center, there is no power because you are scattered. What would you say about a motorcycle rim that has no axis at all, no center at all? Would the spokes offer any strength? The center is needed to keep the thing intact and strong.