Acharya Prashant explains that punishment must be productive, effective, and corrective in nature. He states that we do not punish ourselves or others merely to satisfy a revenge lust, as that would be senseless. If one finds themselves repeatedly punishing themselves for the same issue, it indicates that the concept of punishment is not working for them. Such punishment might only be serving to placate a sense of guilt. When one feels guilty for doing a bad thing, they punish themselves to get rid of the guilt, but this cycle does not lead to becoming a better person and is hardly helpful. The speaker clarifies that while punishment can be a great thing if one is honest enough to use it for self-correction, it's crucial to understand its quality and dimension. Real punishment is not about punishing the action, the moment, or the event. Instead, it is about punishing the "doer herself"—the "doing tendency." The ultimate punishment to be meted out is "non-existence" or "change." This means resolving not to remain the same person who keeps delivering unwanted results. The ego, however, does not want to change, so the most useful punishment is change itself. Acharya Prashant further elaborates on the ego's role, describing it as a strange entity that wants to do what it does and then wants to be punished. The more you punish it, the fatter it becomes. He likens the ego to a cat that gets fat with punishment. The normal kinds of punishments we inflict are superficial and actually feed the ego. The truly "exquisite punishment" is change or non-existence, which means resolving not to remain the same person who is lazy, careless, unconscious, or inattentive. To achieve this, he advises against being too quick to condemn oneself, as this prevents an objective approach. Instead, one should investigate the origin of their misplaced actions. What is often called a "mistake" is not an isolated incident but part of one's normal algorithm or pattern of functioning. It is essential to trace the action back to its root. This root gives rise to both the so-called bad things and the good things. Therefore, to get rid of the mistakes, one might first have to let go of the good things that come from the same source. This deep inner overhaul is the real punishment.