A questioner asks about the concept of bondage as described in the Upanishads. She notes that many aspects of life, including the sense of doership, the feeling of 'mine', desires, resolutions, rituals, and even the wish for liberation, are considered bonds. Seeing that her entire life is filled with these, she asks what would remain if all these bonds were to be cut. Acharya Prashant responds by reframing the question. He states that the question is not 'what remains?' but rather 'who is it that needs something to remain?' and 'who is asking for something to be left over?'. He explains that the very entity that is worried about what will be left is the same one that has accumulated all these bonds. Using the analogy of a child who collects various toys and then worries about what will be left if they are taken away, he illustrates that the one who collects is the one who fears the loss. The mistake lies in assuming that the collector will remain unchanged even after the collection is gone. He elaborates on the Vedantic principle that the subject (the 'I') and the object (the world of bonds) are not separate; the objects are merely a shadow of the subject. When the bonds are removed, the one who was bound also transforms. He uses another analogy of a prisoner who is so accustomed to his prison routine that he fears freedom, wondering what he will do once released. The actions performed in bondage are not true actions but compulsions. The prisoner is not the doer; the actions are being done through him by his conditioning. Similarly, our current actions are not our own but are dictated by our bonds. Acharya Prashant concludes that when the bonds are cut, the doer itself changes. It is not that action ceases, but the one who acts is now free. The fear of losing everything is a trick of the ego to preserve itself and its attachments. He explains that our preferences and worries are transient. The person you are today is not the same as you were ten years ago, and you will not be the same in the future. Therefore, the worry about what will happen if you let go of your current attachments is based on the false premise that you will remain the same person. True freedom brings a new kind of action, performed by a new, liberated self.
