Acharya Prashant explains that the worth of any subject or action is determined by whether it leads to Ram, which he defines as liberation (Mukti). If a path leads to Ram, one should embrace it completely, breaking all other bonds. Ram is the ultimate measure, the standard, and the touchstone. This principle can be applied to everyday life, including earthly love. By infusing our worldly love with the colors of Ram, it transforms into a path of devotion, giving rise to profound love stories like those of Heer-Ranjha and Soni-Mahiwal. Citing Kabir Saheb, he states that true love is the path that leads to the master, and anything that unites one with Ram is love, while everything else is meaningless. The speaker further elaborates on one's relationship with oneself, suggesting that the body and mind should be viewed as a medium to attain Ram. Just as the world is a path to liberation, so is one's own existence. Therefore, one should treat oneself as a mediumโneither rejecting it nor making it the final destination. This concept is illustrated through the idea of 'adornment' (shringar). Quoting Kabir, "I am mad for my husband Ram, for that reason I adorn myself," he explains that any action, whether it is adorning oneself, becoming rich, or being poor, is justified if it is done for the sake of Ram. The touchstone for all actions is whether they lead to liberation. This perspective is contrasted with the conventional worldly and religious mindsets. The worldly person's cunning intellect postpones spirituality, believing one should indulge first and renounce later. This creates a false dichotomy that a spiritual person must renounce and a worldly person must indulge. The speaker refutes this, stating that a spiritual person can be more worldly than a worldly person, provided it is for the sake of liberation. He uses the story of Siddhartha from Hermann Hesse's novel as an example of someone who experiments with all paths, including extreme asceticism and worldly indulgence, for the sake of Truth. Acharya Prashant explains that saints have brought high philosophical principles down to the level of everyday life, using worldly metaphors to express the relationship between the ego (Aham) and the Self (Atma). The ego is often depicted as the pining female lover, and the Self as the beloved. This is why in spiritual literature, the Truth is addressed with such intimate terms. He cites the example of Meera Bai, whose radical devotion to Shri Krishna as her husband defied all social norms. The core idea is that the purpose of any action or state of being must be evaluated against the ultimate goal of liberation.
