Acharya Prashant addresses the question of why women are traditionally forbidden from going to cremation grounds by highlighting the patriarchal motives behind such customs. He sarcastically remarks that if women are forbidden from going to the cremation ground, then upon death, they should be taken to a beauty parlor instead. He points to other societal restrictions, such as a woman needing her husband's No-Objection Certificate (NOC) to change her name or the government's interference in the lives of consenting adults in a live-in relationship, as further evidence of a system designed to control women and prevent them from exercising their freedom. He asserts that the recent rise in religious fervor is an attempt to re-establish the same control over women that existed a hundred years ago. The speaker dismisses the common justifications for these prohibitions, such as women being affected by negative energy or their menstrual cycles being disturbed, as absurd and baseless. He sarcastically terms this flawed reasoning as "mythology is gynecology." He argues that the real reason women are kept away from places like cremation grounds is to prevent them from realizing the truth of life and death. By witnessing the body turn to ash, one can overcome body-identification, which is the root of enslavement. A man, he states, wants a woman to remain identified with her body, because one who remains a body will remain a slave. The constant praise of a woman's physical attributes is part of this conspiracy to keep her body-identified. Acharya Prashant emphasizes that a true friend is one who reminds you of death, as understanding death is crucial to understanding life and attaining liberation. He quotes Sant Kabir, who says, "Die, O Yogi, die! Death is sweet. Die the death that Gorakh died and saw," and "If you must die, then die in such a way that the ego is destroyed. Why die the death of the world, a hundred times a day?" The speaker explains that great literature and philosophy also revolve around the theme of death. He concludes that religion is the science of living a free life while alive, as liberation can only be achieved in this life. He criticizes the attachment to the body that leads people to refuse even organ donation, which is another form of bondage.
