"Janmashtami carries two Krishnas. One is the fashioned Krishna: the butter-thief on his swing, dancing among the gopis, easy to remember because he asks nothing of you. The other is the Krishna of the Gita, dangerous, asking for everything. Janmashtami remembers the first and forgets the second. Why? Because remembering the second costs something, and the whole art of the ego is to avoid that cost."

“There is one Krishna that we have fabricated for ourselves: the butter-thief, sitting on a swing, reveling in Raas with the Gopis. It’s easy to remember this Krishna, because he doesn’t demand anything from us. On the other hand, there is the Krishna of the Gita. In his life you will see nothing but apparent contradictions, because advaita itself means that all dualities are contained within it. The otherworldly image of Krishna that we created has, in fact, taken the Gita away from us.”

In this special Janmashtami feature published in Rajasthan Patrika, philosopher and author Acharya Prashant explains why the true Krishna is not an idol to be worshipped from a distance, but Truth, the Self, and Realization (Satya, Atma, Bodh) itself.

"The case for treating yoga as primarily a physical correction was always weak. Arjuna stood on the battlefield of Kurukshetra as one of the most physically accomplished warriors of his age, trained since childhood in archery and combat, his body in no need of correction. Yet it was to him, not to some unfit or unwell bystander, that Krishna delivered eighteen chapters on yoga. Whatever yoga is, it was never primarily about the body, and a tradition that arrives there has mistaken the address for the resident."

Every year Holi comes, every year Holika is burned, And every year, colors fill the air, friends meet, and there is joy. All this is fine, all this should happen. But along with all this, something else also happens that should not happen

"To honour Shri Ram is to cultivate the same grace, doing what is right without bitterness and staying steady in the storm. The lamp outside is just a symbol; the real light has to come from within. When the mind is still, and when truth is more important than comfort, Diwali is no longer a date; it becomes the measure of one’s living."

Freedom is not a gift, but an achievement that each individual must earn. Political independence can be inherited, but mental freedom and freedom from the false self require constant effort.

Raksha Bandhan can be a reminder to collectively safeguard the Discretion and Compassion that give life its true meaning. Let this festival transcend the mere exchange of gifts and become an Intent—where we protect each other’s Sovereignty and the dissolution of the false.

Guru Purnima is not a celebration of any individual or tradition. It is a tribute to the one who gave us the vision to see, and left us when we learned to see. It is a tribute to the word that taught us to love the truth. The one who came close so that we could learn to walk alone without bowing.

"Every era produces a few who seem not to belong to it. For their contemporaries, their being and expression seems overly bold, too inconvenient, too unsettling. Still, their words transcend centuries, like a wildfire that refuses to be put out."

"With Mahashivratri around the corner, many of us find ourselves struggling to discover the actual and deeper meaning of the festival. We wonder: surely there has to be something beyond the rituals and performances. More importantly, it strikes us when we are contemplative: who is Shiv?"

"Amrit—that is at the essence of the story behind the Kumbh festival. Where does the Amrit come from? It comes through self-reflection."

"Another Kumbh festival is here. There are several ancient stories behind Kumbh. If the stories are taken merely as tales or folklore, then religion risks becoming merely traditional ritualism."

आचार्य प्रशांत ने राष्ट्रीय सहारा में लिखा है कि नवरात्रि का समय शक्ति की समझ के लिए उपयुक्त है। वे बताते हैं कि शिव केंद्र और शिव सत्य का मतलब है कि शिव शाश्वत सत्य और शांति का प्रतीक हैं। वहीं, शक्ति जीवन का प्रतीक है, जो जीवन को ऊर्जा और गति प्रदान करती है। आचार्य प्रशांत के अनुसार, नवरात्रि के अवसर पर हमें शक्ति की इस महत्वपूर्ण भूमिका को समझना चाहिए और इसे अपनी जीवन यात्रा में एक मार्गदर्शक के रूप में स्वीकार करना चाहिए।

आचार्य प्रशांत द्वारा लोकदेश में लिखा यह लेख शिवलिंग की पूजा के पीछे के आध्यात्मिक महत्व को स्पष्ट करता है। शिवलिंग चेतना का प्रतीक है। वे बताते हैं कि शिवलिंग की पूजा न केवल पौराणिक कथाओं में बल्कि हमारे जीवन के विभिन्न पहलुओं में भी गहरी अर्थवत्ता रखती है। शिवलिंग को चेतना और सृजनात्मक शक्ति के प्रतीक के रूप में देखा जाता है।