Acharya Prashant addresses a question from a 29-year-old man who feels embarrassed when people judge him based on his ordinary salary. The speaker identifies two separate issues: first, that there are people who are judging him, and second, that he is getting hurt by their attitude. He clarifies that the pain is not merely because they judged him based on his income, but because they judged him as "less" due to his "low" income. The speaker notes that the questioner himself mentioned his specific monthly income, which shows that he too is caught up in the world of numbers. The speaker explains that the questioner's problem is not that someone is judging another person based on a number, but that he is hurt because he is being judged as small. This hurt arises because he continues to associate with these very friends and relatives, indicating a shared mindset. Both the questioner and his relatives give great importance to money and evaluate a person's worth based on it. This shared value system is the reason for their relationship and also the source of his pain when they don't give him respect. He respects them and their perspective, which is why their judgment affects him. Acharya Prashant points out that both the questioner and his relatives are "players of numbers." If he truly understood that all numbers related to a person—be it weight, date of birth, caste, income, or educational qualifications—are external and have no connection to the heart, soul, or truth, he would not be bothered. He would simply smile and move on, recognizing that their words lack substance. The problem is not that he earns less, but that he associates with people who measure life on the scale of income, and he does so because he himself, somewhere, uses the same scale. The speaker concludes by advising the questioner to change his own mentality instead of blaming others. If he is genuinely satisfied with his income, he should disregard what others say. If, however, he is dissatisfied and believes he needs to earn more, then he should stop grieving and work hard to achieve it. The core issue is that he is unhappy with himself and disrespects himself, yet desires respect from others. The speaker asks, "The one who is fallen in his own eyes, how can he get respect in the eyes of others?" He emphasizes that when someone's words hurt you, it's because you agree with what they are saying.