Acharya Prashant addresses the question of purpose and its relationship with culture and truth. He begins by stating that if one's purpose comes from beliefs and not from the Truth, then that purpose is of no good. He extends this argument to cultural practices, explaining that just because certain practices have been followed for a long time does not make them equivalent to or a substitute for the Truth. He then deconstructs the notion of 'your culture,' pointing out its fluid and inconsistent nature. He argues that what people call their culture varies from city to city and is often just the culture of the last 50 to 100 years. He questions the selective reverence for the past, asking why one doesn't go back five or ten centuries if the past is so valuable. He provides several examples to illustrate this, noting that the clothes, language (English), and even the posture of the questioner are not from his traditional culture. He further points out that many common food items like potatoes, tomatoes, and even dishes like kurta-pajama and pulao were brought by invaders. Similarly, fireworks in Diwali and the practice of women covering their heads are also foreign imprints, often from the very invaders that cultural purists claim to oppose. Acharya Prashant highlights the irony in what is selectively upheld as culture. He mentions that while today's culturalists condemn alcohol, 'Soma' (an alcoholic beverage) was a praised and integral part of Vedic culture, even used in religious offerings by the Rishis. He explains that the aversion to alcohol is a more recent development influenced by Islamic morality. This demonstrates that what is defended as 'our culture' is often a confused mix of various influences, including those from invaders. He posits that a man of Truth is devoted to liberation (Mukti) and Truth (Satya), not to culture (Sanskriti). He uses the Bhagavad Gita as an example of the struggle between liberation and culture, where Arjun represents adherence to cultural duties and Shri Krishna represents the Truth, urging Arjun to discard this 'trash' for the sake of liberation. The real man is devoted to what is timeless (Sanatan), which is Truth, not culture, which is time-bound. Culture is man-made and must be continuously refined and reformed in light of the Truth. Traditions are valuable only when they have real meaning and point towards the Truth; otherwise, they are a dead load and should be dropped. New, sacred traditions can and should be started, but they too must eventually be reformed or discarded as times change.
