Acharya Prashant responds to the questioner's statement, "God is true," by asserting that if the questioner truly knew this, the subsequent question about falsehood would not arise. He explains that the statement is merely hearsay for the questioner, who has no personal knowledge of either God or truth. For the questioner, God is just a name, and this name, along with its associated images, varies depending on one's religion, family traditions, caste, and geographical origin. The speaker emphasizes that God is unimportant; what is important is knowing. The discussion is then broadened to encompass life itself. The speaker points out that just as we have accepted ideas about God without any real knowing, we have done the same with everything else in life. We live without truly understanding the meaning of concepts like career, life, marriage, love, joy, freedom, truth, or even education. We have simply heard things about them and accepted them as true. God is just another one of these words about which we have no real understanding. The speaker describes this as living a pre-scripted life based on hearsay and tradition: completing school, pursuing a trendy degree like engineering, then getting a job, getting married, having children, and eventually dying. He questions where personal understanding fits into this pre-written script. In this scripted life, God is like a character actor who makes guest appearances during festivals, birthdays, or exams. This God is a product of one's own imagination, brought in when needed and dismissed otherwise. The speaker concludes that if one's life is based on borrowed knowledge and not personal understanding, then both the individual and their concept of God are fake. The real issue is the lack of understanding in one's own life, and until that is addressed, the truth about God or anything else cannot be known.
