Acharya Prashant states that there is no religion more clean, beautiful, free from superstition, and full of facts and truth than Vedic Dharma. However, this same Hindu Dharma has been turned into a stronghold of superstitions, evil practices, and a reprehensible culture. He emphasizes that he is speaking of Vedanta, which should not be taken lightly. If one believes in the Vedas, then Vedanta is their pinnacle. One should not have the audacity to say, "So what if it's not written in the Upanishads?" The Upanishads are the main scripture, the central pillar of the religion. If something is not written there, then it is not written. He questions how people can live by random beliefs and superstitions, especially when the Upanishads do not say that women should be suppressed or live in a certain way. The speaker asks where this fabricated definition of being a Hindu comes from, as the Vedas did not provide it. He notes that everyone, including Hindus, is afraid to go to the Upanishads because they contain truth. The Rishis would have been deeply saddened to see the current plight of women. He points out that India ranks very low on the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM), and the Rishis would shed tears over this. They taught that you are not the body and that being a living entity is an illusion. Yet, people have associated themselves so strongly with the body that men and women are considered separate, with different rules and arrangements. He highlights that the highest rates of female feticide, malnutrition among girls, and lack of freedom for women occur in India. He includes Pakistan and Bangladesh in this assessment, as the culture is the same even if the religion is different. He asserts that these issues are caused by culture, not by religion. Vedic Dharma is a pillar of light, a shining sun, so how can there be so much darkness under it? He questions how superstition can exist in a religion that explicitly states the mind itself is an illusion and all beliefs should be renounced. Vedanta teaches that even one's core beliefs are false, yet people have created numerous beliefs and labeled them as religion. Acharya Prashant explains that today's feminism can, at most, speak of equality and justice. The Rishis, however, spoke not of equality but of irrelevance. They did not say gender equality, but gender irrelevance. The real Hindu Dharma says that gender is irrelevant; the Self is the truth. Whether one is a man or a woman is of no consequence. He refutes the idea that a woman is incomplete without marriage and motherhood, arguing that the real incompleteness lies in identifying oneself as a woman or a man. If completeness is achieved through marriage and motherhood, then spirituality, knowledge, and devotion become unnecessary. He suggests this cultural mess is why the Indian subcontinent has such a high birth rate and has led to the severe exploitation of women, who are trapped in various bondages.
