Acharya Prashant responds to a question about Indian youth adopting Western culture and leaving behind Indian traditions. He begins by clarifying that there is a conflation of concepts. He explains that Vedanta, which includes the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Brahma Sutras, does not teach tradition, culture, or values. Instead, Vedanta's purpose is to bring one to the essential, unchanging Truth of one's being. He contrasts this with culture, tradition, and values, which he describes as being very different things. These are products of the human mind and society, and therefore are always changing with time. Bringing you to the essential truth of your being is not the same as teaching you tradition, culture, or values. Acharya Prashant elaborates that culture is something that is constantly changing. He gives examples such as clothing, food, language, and even values, which are all part of culture and are subject to change over time. He points out that much of what is considered traditional Indian culture today has been influenced by various external contacts throughout history, such as the Greeks, Arabs, and Turks. For instance, the 'kurta' and the 'ghoonghat' (veil) are not originally from an indigenous Indian culture. Similarly, food items like potatoes and tomatoes are not indigenous to India. He argues that if one wants to adhere to a purely indigenous culture, they would have to go back to a time before these influences, which is impractical and arbitrary. He quotes a Hindi couplet, which translates to, "Take from the past only that which is nourishing; attachment to the old and decayed is a sign of death." The speaker asserts that the purpose of spirituality, or Vedanta, is to provide the deepest inner assurance and peace by connecting one to that which is timeless and unchangeable. This timeless truth is what the heart truly longs for. He criticizes the two extreme views: one that dismisses everything from India's past as junk, and the other that venerates everything old simply because it is old. The truth, he says, lies at neither extreme. The real concern should not be about youth adopting Western culture, but about them losing touch with the timeless wisdom literature like the Gita and the Upanishads. If one loses their connection to this timeless truth, that is a genuine cause for alarm, regardless of their external lifestyle or location.
