A questioner, an architect, observes a lack of excellence in himself and in Indian society in general, especially when compared to developed nations. He asks why there is such a variation and why the drive for excellence is missing in India. Acharya Prashant agrees with the observation, stating that this lack of worldly excellence is visible in many areas. He elaborates that Indian films, on the levels of plot, technology, music, and originality, often lag behind foreign films. Our technology does not stand up to foreign technology, and our businesses do not compete well. In the Olympics, a country of 1.42 billion people considers it a big deal to win a single medal. Our cities are dirty, polluted, and unplanned compared to theirs. Excellence is not visible. The speaker explains that the reason for this is a misunderstanding of spiritual teachings. The West, not having received Vedanta, saw the world as real and strived to improve it, resulting in better cities, technology, and so on. In India, a misfortune occurred where some extraordinary people, the rishis and sages, realized that this world is illusory (Jagat Mithya) and the body-mind is not the ultimate truth. Out of their knowledge and compassion, they spread this message to the masses. However, the common people, being incapable successors, grasped only the first part of the message: that the world is an illusion. They used this as an excuse for inaction, thinking, "What's the point? This world is transient." This misinterpretation has led to a culture of mediocrity and avoidance of struggle. The speaker gives an example: if you scold someone for having a dirty room, they might philosophize back, "One day you too will be dust, why are you so proud?" This thinking is a perversion of the original teaching. The sages taught that the world is not the ultimate goal, but it must be used as a resource, a battlefield, to attain liberation. This is Nishkam Karma (action without attachment to results). India, however, has refused to fight, instead choosing to surrender. The saying "Hare ko Harinaam" (God's name for the defeated) has been twisted to mean one must be defeated to find God. The speaker concludes that spirituality is not for the defeated and weak; it demands courage, labor, and struggle. Until India understands that religion means fighting the right battle with utmost excellence, it will not awaken.