Acharya Prashant addresses a question about the belief behind religious rituals, such as installing a temple of Hanuman, performing a fire ceremony (havan), and reciting the Sundarkand. He explains that we require both inquiry and faith. Using an analogy, he compares the spiritual search to gathering diamonds from a field full of stones. First, one must inquire to distinguish the precious diamonds from ordinary stones, rejecting what is not valuable. This process of inquiry is essential. Once the diamond is found, one must secure and preserve it, which represents faith or devotion. You keep the one thing you get and want to secure it, preserve it, and be in constant touch with it unquestionably. In the spiritual process, these two things are necessary. Firstly, there is inquiry: one must question what they are believing in and whether it truly has value. Secondly, there is faith. Once you have discovered through inquiry that something has value, you must remain devoted to it, protecting it from distractions and unnecessary things. The relationship is that inquiry comes before devotion. You remain devoted to the one thing that you get through inquiry. You don't just remain devoted to any random thing or something you don't know about. Devotion without knowledge is blind belief or superstition. When you are devoted to something you don't know, you are devoted to your own blind belief, your own ego. While the intention to be faithful is present in people, that alone is not sufficient. One must also have the discretion and inquiry to figure out what to be devoted to. Devotion is great, but devotion without knowledge is blind belief and superstition. The Hindu stream is lavish with potent symbols that, if rightly decoded, can be helpful. However, one cannot start worshipping these symbols without knowing what they stand for. There is a lot of devotion but no realization, a lot of faith but no inquiry, and that does not help. Mere devotion is not proof of sacredness or spiritual excellence. You have to be devoted to the right thing. When the speaker says, "Excellence is Krishnahood," he means that one must first choose the right thing and then be excellent in it. The love for the right thing will compel you towards excellence. It is better to be an underperformer doing the right thing than a great achiever in a nonsensical area. The first thing is the choice of the right road and the right goal.