Acharya Prashant begins by refuting the common notion that all scriptures convey the same message, calling it completely wrong. He explains that most scriptures are based on stories, beliefs, and faith, which often contain contradictory ideas. These inherent contradictions, he argues, are the reason why fights and conflicts are inevitable. He illustrates this with examples of differing religious practices, such as people praying while facing different directions or using prayer beads in opposite ways. This desire to establish one's own story by negating others is the root of conflict, which he likens to a filmmaker wanting all other movies banned for his own to become a superhit. In response to a question comparing the 'Dharma Yudh' (righteous war) in the Gita to the indoctrination of militants, Acharya Prashant distinguishes between Dharma and belief. He states that there is no such thing as 'one's own Dharma' and that Dharma is not the same as a set of beliefs or stories. He quotes the Gita to explain that the ego, in its delusion, considers itself the doer and lives in beliefs, which are not Dharma. True Dharma, he asserts, arises from inquiry (jigyasa). He elaborates that religions based on stories are inherently divisive because one person's story will inevitably clash with another's, leading to conflict when one is considered true and the other false. What is commonly called religion, he says, consists of a founder, a belief system, a holy book, and rituals—all of which are divisive elements. Dharma can only be a source of unity when it leads an individual beyond all divisions of Prakriti (nature) to the Atman (Self). Acharya Prashant posits that Vedanta is perhaps the only great unifier because it is not a personality cult and has no founder. He points out that even the scriptures of Vedanta, the Upanishads, advocate for their own transcendence once their message is understood, referring to themselves as being as useless as 'crow's droppings' after enlightenment. Therefore, Vedanta is about complete freedom from all beliefs, persons, and rituals; otherwise, Dharma itself becomes a form of bondage.
