Acharya Prashant addresses the conflict between personal exploration and societal expectations, particularly for women in India. He explains that fear and desire are deeply interconnected, where desire often acts as a poor cover-up for underlying fear. He argues that most desires arise from a sense of incompleteness and insecurity, and that actions taken from a center of ignorance or fear—whether choosing to marry or choosing not to—remain fundamentally flawed. He emphasizes that true consciousness is characterized by expansion and freedom, whereas fear leads to a shrinking and armoring of the self. He critiques the cultural conditioning that pressures women to prioritize marriage and domesticity over personal growth and professional empowerment. Acharya Prashant points out the irony of educating women only to have them drop out of the workforce for household chores, noting that the world primarily respects power and financial independence. He advises the questioner to focus on building her own strength and authority to gain the leverage needed to live on her own terms. He warns that without this empowerment, individuals often succumb to oppressive systems and eventually internalize their own subjugation as a defense mechanism.
