The Bhagavad Gita, in essence, is a struggle of mukti (liberation) against sanskriti (culture). Shri Krishna urges Arjun to discard misogyny and cultural superstitions; the only thing that matters is mukti — liberation. Culture and traditions are time-bound; they hold meaning only when they point towards Truth — timeless, Sanatan. Have great traditions, and always be careful that your traditions are pointing towards the Truth. Only then do the traditions have life.
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Acharya Prashant: If your purpose is coming from your beliefs and not the Truth, what good is the purpose? Just because you have been following certain practices since long, do those practices become equivalent to the Truth or a substitute for the Truth?
Also, what you call your culture varies from city to city. I'm not even talking about north and south. I'm saying it varies from city to city. Also, what you call your current culture is simply the culture you have been following since the last 1500 years. Before that, the culture was very different. And if you go five centuries back, the culture was entirely different. So what do you mean by your culture? You mean the culture of the 19th and the 20th century, right? Believe me, you don't follow the culture of the 17th, 18th century. Why don't you follow that culture? If value lies in everything that is in the past, why don't you go further back in the past? Why go back only one century? Why not ten centuries?
The clothing, for example, is a part of culture. Look at the stuff you are wearing. Where did it come from? It is not in your culture. Why are you wearing this? The language we are talking in is not a part of your culture. Why are you communicating to me in this alien language? In fact, even the pose you are sitting in is not coming from your culture. It is very western. Why are you sitting in that pose?
