Acharya Prashant responds to a question from a young woman who feels he belittles physical beauty. She states that she is beautiful and attractive, and is proud of the attention she receives from men, but his words make her feel as if being beautiful is a crime. Acharya Prashant begins by questioning what is truly beautiful. When one says, "I am beautiful," who or what is this "I" that is beautiful? He clarifies that beauty is good at every level, but one must question which level of beauty is being discussed. To illustrate his point, he uses a series of analogies. He says that a well-formed, beautiful microphone is better than a crooked one, but if only the microphone is present without a speaker, it is of little use. Similarly, a beautiful shirt is good, but if the person wearing it is absent or silent, the shirt's beauty is secondary. Even if the face is beautiful, the voice is melodious, and the words are eloquent, if the content of the speech is foolish and pointless, it holds no real value. This leads to the question of what constitutes the beauty of the mind. The ultimate beauty, he explains, is the beauty of the mind, which in spirituality is called the Self (Atma). He refers to the adage, "Satyam Shivam Sundaram" (Truth is Auspiciousness, and that is Beauty), emphasizing that only Truth is truly beautiful, as nothing is gained from the beauty of anything else. Acharya Prashant clarifies that he is not against physical beauty; it is a good thing if one's body and face are beautiful, but one cannot live on that alone, as life is much bigger. The danger lies in becoming so engrossed in external beauty that one is deprived of internal beauty. He compares the value of external beauty to a 5-rupee coin and internal beauty to a 100-rupee note; while the coin has value, it is insignificant compared to the note. He is not against external beauty but highlights that it is a very small thing compared to internal beauty. The punishment for being obsessed with external beauty is that one gets attracted to superficial people, which leads to a life of hell. He asks the questioner whether she wants to be known for her physical appearance, which attracts lust, or for her inner qualities, which inspire others to achieve greatness. He concludes that while physical beauty is not a crime, it is not an important matter. The real issue is that in the pursuit of physical beauty, one forgets what is truly important: developing one's knowledge, skills, and character.
