If you are in charge of a kid, then you have to be very sensitive, very careful, and loving. Just being with the kid in a loving way, not even having planned what to teach him, is sufficient. Instead of teaching kids, I have been learning from them, and they have given my ego great lessons by exposing me. No kid needs any training; we need de-training.
Acharya Prashant: Have you seen how much of the parents’ time, especially the mother’s time, gets spent on the kid? It has to be done; it is a thing of justice. It is not a favor to the kid; the parents owe it to the kid. And the kid is
Questioner: You know, I would just cite this example of people from happy families or normal families, seemingly happy families, whatever, and people who have a bona fide past of a trauma like, you know, domestic violence and abuse and mind games and a lot of lowly things that do
Questioner (Q): If my parents tell me to concentrate on my studies but I fail to do so, does it mean that I don’t find it worth concentrating on or interesting enough?
If the kid has observed half an hour of a fight at home, then he has probably absorbed more than what he would usually absorb in a week’s time. The fights are usually not in the service of divine matters, are they? You fight for the sake of money, or…
If it were a perfect world, kids would be born only to Buddhas because only they know what parenting is. Only they, in the real sense, deserve to be parents. But we do beget kids. And if you are a father or a mother—could be any reason, random chance of
Does a kid realize why he is being attracted to the butterfly, to the toy, to the rainbow, to the mother’s breast, to anything? Does the kid realize? Like an animal he is just pulled along by his deep tendencies. He is an animal, and that is why education is
Acharya Prashant (AP): Tell me, why does a small child get corrupted? The small child has—to begin with—no social influence upon him. He is like a little one emerging straight from the bathroom. With just the body and no influence upon the body. Right? Then why does he get conditioned
Questioner (Q): My question is about parenting. What can we do as parents to raise a child in a way that the child has an understanding of the illusory nature of the world, and at the same time nurture her urge to know the Truth? My four-year-old daughter asks me,
Questioner (Q): My question is regarding coaching institutes. In recent years, coaching for competitive exams has certainly become more popular, and students are enrolled in it from a very young age, like sixth or seventh grade. This has happened in my family as well. Some of my cousins were forced…
When the woman is fighting the man or vice versa, then it becomes very immaterial to both of them what is happening to the child. In the process of winning that petty battle, what is happening to the kid becomes insignificant. Not only is the kid in bad company, he
If the kid has observed half an hour of a fight at home, then he has probably absorbed more than what he would usually absorb in a week’s time. The fights are usually not in the service of divine matters, are they? You fight for the sake of money, or…
Questioner 1 (Q1): I’m a single parent and I have a son. He gets a lot of homework from school, but instead of doing it he likes to just play around. Next day, when his teacher tells me that he hasn’t done anything, how should I react?
Question: Dear Acharya Ji Pranaam! After watching a few videos on conditioning, I understood a few methods to work on conditioning. I still have one doubt. Why must one work on conditioning in the first place? Is it not natural to have conditioning, including social conditioning? Does it not serve
Do you never wonder that, in spite of being told all these so-called virtuous things in childhood, from where do these criminals come? After all, every criminal was a child once, and every child is told of all these so-called moral and immoral things. Then why do people grow up
Questioner (Q): I am a single parent in a difficult situation. I have a four-year-old kid with me but I have no source of income. I have to look after my child and find a source of income also. I am unable to understand how to manage both.
Take care of yourself, and you have taken care of the kids. When the kids see a radiant mother, a radiant father, their darkness disappears. Be first of all concerned about discovering your own radiance. If you have nothing but darkness, all that your kids would get from you is
In fact, if there is one unpardonable crime, it is bad parenting. You are not even killing someone, you are disfiguring someone and sentencing him to live an entire life. How does that sound? It’s like chopping off somebody’s limbs but ensuring that he lives—and he lives an entire life
Question: Acharya Ji, if a child goes and asks his parents, because of his suffering, that – “Why did you both give me birth?” – then should the parents answer?
Detachment and ambition are not opposites. Both arise from clear insight into what is truly valuable. Detachment means naturally dropping what is seen as false, futile, or harmful, while ambition means pursuing the highest and most meaningful truth with complete intensity. Spiritual surrender is continuous: as understanding deepens, false attachments are repeatedly abandoned, until renunciation becomes natural and almost choiceless.
You can tell someone, “Kid, this is the path of destruction. Leave it!” But you cannot forcefully pick the kid up and take her away. You know something is not right for the other person, and yet you can’t help her from doing it. You can’t give up, you can’t get angry, and you can’t stop what is happening. Great powerlessness. That’s how a Teacher feels.
One attractive and glitzy role model can influence your daughter toward the wrong attitudes, lifestyle, and ultimately, wrong life decisions. Just give your daughter the right role models. Give her great books; take her to the right documentaries, the right movies. Introduce her to glorious women in history. Once she’s spent a week reading the life story of Marie Curie, how will she respect Pari, who is admired because of her style and dressing? Education is the real thing.
The role of the parents is to give birth — to not only give the body, but also then unburden the child of the body. When parents operate through their conditioned patterns, those kids turn violent, loveless, and insecure when they become adults. Your relationship with the kid cannot change till you continue to be what you are.
Please be an observer and a compassionate witness. Keep watching, watch from a distance. Meddling is not needed. Being a parent of a girl child today is a humongous opportunity. You have the chance to give rise to a new world—if you can truly raise one girl as a free girl.
प्रश्नकर्ता: आचार्य जी प्रणाम। मेरा सवाल ये है कि मेरी दो बेटियाँ हैं, एक तेरह वर्ष की है और एक ग्यारह वर्ष की है। आचार्य जी, अभी तो मुझे ही चीज़ें स्पष्ट नहीं हुई हैं, न ही अपने बारे में, और न ही समाज से सम्बन्धित चीज़ों के बारे में।…
Excerpts from Articles
You Don't Understand the Bhagvad Gita, But You Still Claim That You Love Krishna?
The Bhagavad Gita deserves reverence not because of inherited beliefs about its author, but because of its power to dissolve falsehood and reveal Truth. Real devotion is not ritual or blind faith—it is understanding, inquiry, and living the wisdom of the Gita. Through sincere study, one discovers the true meaning of Krishna, making the Gita the most authentic path to knowing and worshipping Him.
Victory is not decided by the trophy you hold but by the battle you choose to fight. Real strength lies in making the right decisions, staying true to your deepest values, and refusing to be ruled by fear or circumstances. When your actions arise from clarity rather than ambition, the outcome loses its power over you. The moment you choose the right path, you have already won.
ज्योतिष कितना सच है? कुंडली, ग्रह-नक्षत्र: इनका क्या अर्थ है?
वेदांत को केवल इसलिए सही या श्रेष्ठ नहीं माना जा सकता कि वह किसी विशेष परंपरा से आता है। विज्ञान जहाँ भौतिक जगत की वस्तुनिष्ठ जाँच करता है, वहीं अद्वैत वेदांत सीधे मनुष्य के ‘मैं’, उसके दुख, बंधन और मुक्ति की पड़ताल करता है। इसकी कसौटी वैज्ञानिक प्रमाण नहीं, बल्कि अपने जीवन में इसकी सच्चाई को देख पाना है। किसी दर्शन को मान लेना नहीं, बल्कि उससे स्वयं को मुक्त करना ही उसका वास्तविक उद्देश्य है।
Struggling to choose between a secure job and the path you actually feel drawn to? This isn't really a question about careers. It's about why other people's opinions have so much power over you in the first place. Real clarity doesn't come from finding the 'right' choice. It comes from honestly looking at your own fear, again and again, until it stops running the decision for you.
कई तरह के डर—अकेले पड़ने, छवि खोने या छोटा समझे जाने—की जड़ अक्सर अतीत में बनी पहचान और कहानियों में होती है। शरीर की हाइट जैसी चीज़ों को समस्या मानकर उनसे जूझने के बजाय उनकी अप्रासंगिकता को समझकर आगे बढ़ना चाहिए। अतीत को दबाने से मुक्ति नहीं मिलती; उसके करीब जाकर अपनी स्मृतियों, धारणाओं और पुराने पैटर्न को निष्पक्षता से देखना ज़रूरी है।
Climate change is more than an environmental crisis—it is a crisis of human choices. Our patterns of consumption, consumerism and endless pursuit of more are putting increasing pressure on the planet. But meaningful change does not necessarily begin with new technology or stricter policies. It begins with a deeper question: what are we willing to change within ourselves?
Animal cruelty: Who deserves mercy, and who doesn’t?
Violence begins long before the knife or the slaughterhouse—it begins with the ego, the one that draws boundaries, seeks justification, and decides who deserves compassion. Laws and reforms may reduce suffering, but they cannot end violence while the ego remains intact. When the ego dissolves, exploitation ends naturally, and compassion no longer depends on regulation or moral boundaries.
Questioner: If a child, because of his suffering, asks his parents, “Why did you give me birth?” then what should the parents answer? Giving birth to the child is easy, but dying and mukti (liberation) is difficult.
Acharya Prashant: First of all, if the child says, “Why did you bring…
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Acharya Prashant: Parents have first of all committed the mistake of bringing another person into this world of agony, longing, and suffering that they compensate for by investing themselves in raising the kid. That is why it is imperative for parents to bring education to the kids, give food to…
The child is a reflection of who the parent is. The growth of the child, is the barometer of the growth of parents. The state of the child is the litmus test on the state of the parents and the teachers.
Question: Acharya ji, what happens when parents are in conflict? What happens to the child? How can two people, the husband and the wife, love the child very much, but between them there is a lot of conflict?
What is the impact on the child? And how can the parent…
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Not only is the kid in bad company, he is deeply identified with these two quarreling people. One is his or her mother, the other is his or her father. And what does identification mean? “I am that.” This is what identification says, right? “That am I.” In the heated moment of the quarrel, what is the mother? The mother is pure aggression. What is the father? The father is pure hatred. And the kid is saying, “That am I” because the kid is identified with the father and the mother. So, what does the kid become? Aggression and hatred. And the mother and the father will not even realize it. They will say, “We were fighting; we didn’t do anything to the kid as such.” You did do, and you did a lot. You destroyed the kid
I find so many limitations in every relationship which I make. What to do in such situations where my parents do not understand me? What to do to have them understand me?”
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Acharya Prashant (AP): The question that I must first of all address is, why must a twenty-two or…
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Questioner (Q): Acharya Ji, should one not leave money for his children? Is that not my responsibility towards my family?
Acharya Prashant (AP): By giving them X or Y tangible things, would you really be able to do them some good? You have a son, and that son becomes an…
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Acharya Prashant…
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Taking birth for the child is easy, but dying and mukti (liberation) is difficult.
Acharya Prashant Ji: First of all,…
A modern woman calls herself liberated, yet lives anxious — anxious about age, desirability, marriage, motherhood. Acharya Prashant exposes this anxiety as proof that feminism never touched the real wound: centuries of conditioning that reduced women to bodies for pleasure and reproduction. External equality isn't enough. True freedom demands she reject the entire inheritance of tradition and simply become human — not woman, not wife, not mother by decree, but free.
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Feeling lonely on campus after being disappointed by friends? Acharya Prashant explains why loneliness should not push you into accepting the wrong company or remaining attached to relationships that pull you away from what is right. One person’s wrongdoing does not justify condemning everyone, nor does friendship mean supporting a friend in what is wrong.
Learn why the right company is the company that helps you move toward truth rather than merely giving you temporary relief from loneliness.
Reaction is an instinctive, unconscious response rooted in ancient survival mechanisms, while response arises from consciousness and understanding. Our biological instincts evolved for survival, but modern life demands that we move beyond them. Emotional reactivity makes us predictable and controllable, allowing others to manipulate our emotional triggers. True freedom lies in pausing before reacting, examining emotions, thinking deeply, and responding consciously rather than living as slaves to instinct.
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Bullying hurts deeply only when it is allowed to define one's inner identity. External abuse may wound the body, but lasting psychological wounds require inner participation. While OCD, anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, and other mental health conditions deserve proper treatment through psychiatry, lasting freedom demands self-knowledge.
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The Bhagavad Gita is often accused of supporting caste and misogyny through selective quotations that ignore context, grammar, and the text's central teachings. A closer reading shows that its emphasis is on inner qualities, conscious action, and spiritual equality rather than birth-based hierarchy or gender discrimination. Misinterpretations arise when isolated verses are detached from their broader meaning, while the Gita consistently points toward self-knowledge, freedom from ego, and the universal possibility of liberation for every human being.
The climate crisis is not merely an external environmental problem but a reflection of inner human greed, desire, and psychological disorder. Drawing from the Gita’s idea of yagya as desireless action, it says real ecological healing requires inner transformation. Outer pollution, exploitation, and destruction mirror the ego’s inner confusion, making personal consciousness and planetary health deeply inseparable.
It’s far easier to sit on a greatly decorated stage and talk about the virtues of Rudrākṣa, and what kind of water to drink, and why copper is useful; and all kinds of pseudo-scientific nonsense. But to really speak upon a Kabir or an Ashtavakra requires a tremendous understanding which does not come to everybody. If you are a spiritual teacher and you are saying you have not read any scripture, that raises questions on your love for the Truth.
Superficiality offers pleasures. Superficiality offers cheap salvation. Therefore, it is easy to be attracted to superficiality. On the other hand, true spirituality challenges you to pay a heavy price. So, you see, all this knowledge has existed since antiquity. Yet there are people who do not want to read the Gita.
All of us want a new future. But the brain cannot want anything new. How many of you would want to taste a dish like Kakatua? Forget about tasting it, you haven’t even heard the name before. So, there is a golden rule: all desire is nothing but a stale repetition of memories. Ambition is nothing but a repetition of the past. What you didn’t know in the past, you can’t want in the future. New is new only when it is totally unrelated to the past. The truly new comes as a surprise.
There is no revolution possible without the Gita. That’s the reason why even those who are not remembered particularly for their spiritual inclination, people like Subhash Chandra Bose, even they founded their core on Gita. What kind of revolution can you do if it’s the body that’s always at the top of your mind? You require a Gita to tell you that this body is perishable and would anyway go. Gita only teaches you, "Endure and fight."
You have to get into your own life, thoughts, feelings, actions, decisions, and see what holds you back. And freedom from what holds you back is the most important. That is what is most important. And then you can accept whatever price you have to pay for that most important thing. So it all starts from you. what is really important is a subjective thing. It depends on you. Nobody else can tell it.
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Shri Krishna is saying: the mind is conditioned to move towards objects and perceive only their surface, periphery, or form. Develop the practice of penetrating further. Let Truth be your practice. The moment you would look at something, and you are in no position not to look at things being embodied, you would look at things. Nobody said that you have to practice lust. Lust just comes. You might be a total fool, an utter retard, and still you will find yourself getting sexually excited once you reach a particular age. Did you need some practice? No, you didn’t. It just happened. But if you are to understand lust, if you are to cross over, if you are to be a master of your body, then it will require a lot of practice, and that will necessarily and obviously tell you about your predicament.
We keep carrying the unexamined burden of the past all our life. That’s a great problem that we have. If you want to carry something from the past, if you want to remain related to it even today, then you have to ask: how does it benefit you? Because it’s an expensive decision to make. The purpose of life is to unburden yourself. Relate to something or somebody in a way that will help you clear away a lot of useless relationships.
Women, the way they are brought up in our country, anyway do not have much to lose. If I do not have much in life, and then there arrives a person who is attractive, earns well, is strong, then why, as a woman, will I not go for him? Your body is impelling you to take a particular decision, and you don't even know that it's coming from the body. The only solution is understanding, real, deep, honest observation of life. And this you could also call spirituality.
Creativity is, first of all, to realize that we are uncreative people. We are puppets with strings in the past or in the hands of others. You know noodles, your mother knows noodles, even your grandmother may know noodles. So noodles are very well known. But all the other things will require a question mark; otherwise, you cannot know. So creativity begins with that question mark. Creativity begins with stepping outside your known zone.
"As long as you are giving me pleasure and satisfying my needs, there will be peace. The day you stop, there will be war.” This is the usual social contract in which we exchange pleasures and dependencies. This is why there is a lot of violence. But there can be another way of relating to the other, where you are existentially complete within. There can now be beautiful, loving, compassionate relationships because you are not looking to be a parasite or a commander.
The fellow is the worst kind of human being possible. But you will not accuse him of disloyalty, infidelity, or cheating, because he still reserved his body for you. This simply tells that the relationship is founded on the body. The woman has been trained to consider herself the body, and so has the man. Why don't we broaden our definition of loyalty? Please ask, “You couldn’t be loyal to any kind of virtue. How will you ever be loyal to me?”
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Drop the center of confusion, come to the center of clarity. Drop what the masses practice, come to the direct route of self-realization. That’s what it means.
