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Acharya Prashant
Indian spiritual educator and social activist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Acharya Prashant (born Prashant Tripathi; 7 March 1978) is an Indian spiritual teacher,[12] philosopher, author,[13][14] poet, and public speaker who brings the essence of Advaita Vedanta into everyday life, expressing it in a language that resonates with the modern mind.[15]
He founded the PrashantAdvait Foundation in 2015, which serves as the main platform for his work.[16]
Acharya Prashant is also actively engaged in addressing and raising awareness about pressing global issues like climate crisis[17], animal cruelty[18], women’s empowerment[19] and superstition[20]. He sees social reform as a natural extension of inner clarity and wisdom.
He has been honoured by the IIT Delhi Alumni Association for Outstanding Contribution to National Development[21], by PETA as the Most Influential Vegan[7], and by the Green Society of India as the Most Impactful Environmentalist[22].
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Early life and education
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Prashant was born on 7 March 1978 in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, the eldest of three siblings. His father served as a bureaucrat, and his mother was a homemaker. He spent his childhood in various parts of Uttar Pradesh, where he completed his primary and secondary schooling.
Early influences and formative years
An introvert by nature, Prashant preferred to seek counsel primarily from his father, absorbing other observations and ideas through personal reflection rather than discussion. He has described his youth as characterized by sustained curiosity and a deliberate lack of long‑term planning, focused instead on "continuously trying to understand" life's complexities without a predetermined blueprint. His father took special efforts to ensure Prashant's access to books by organizing trips to larger cities when local bookstores were unavailable. Prashant later attributed his wide-ranging intellectual interests—from comics to academic theses—to this unstructured, exploratory reading habit.[15]
Schooling
Prashant developed a passion for reading at an early age, consistently excelling in academics. Even as a child, he displayed a wide-ranging temperament—from playful mischief to deep contemplation—and consistently excelled scholastically, topping his classes in both sciences and humanities. He was recognized as an ICSE board topper and an NTSE scholar, and teachers noted his proficiency in mathematics, languages, English, and Hindi.[20] Parents and teachers found him to be a child who could often be quite mischievous, on occasions, and then suddenly, deeply contemplative. Friends too recall him as having an unfathomable temperament, often not really sure whether he was joking or serious. A brilliant student, he consistently topped his class and received the highest commendations and prizes possible to a student. His mother fondly remembers how she was honoured several times as ‘Mother Queen’ for the academic performance of her child. Teachers would say that never before had they seen a student who was as brilliant in Science as in Humanities, as adept in Mathematics as in languages, and as proficient in English as in Hindi. The then Governor of the state felicitated him in a public function for setting a new benchmark in the Board examinations, and for being an NTSE scholar.[23]
Higher education
Raised in a family familiar with the Indian civil services, Prashant initially viewed that career as a clear path to social impact. His decision to attend the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi was influenced less by a specific interest in engineering and more by the practical consideration that many top UPSC candidates hailed from IIT backgrounds. He later explained that he saw IIT admission as a strategic choice while he continued to seek clarity on his ultimate vocation.[15]
In 1999, Prashant graduated from IIT Delhi with a B.Tech in Textile Technology. In the years at the IIT Delhi, he'd go on to learn how a prime institution of academic rigor operates, involve himself in the labyrinth of college politics, deepen his reading, and establish himself in debating, dramatics, creative writing, hockey, and table tennis.
During his final year, he attempted both the Common Admission Test (CAT) for entry to the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) where he was ranked among the top scorers in the test and the Union Public Service Commission Civil Services Examination (UPSC CSE) where he was ranked 184th in 2000.[24] He initially joined the Indian Civil Services training, but resigned later in 2000 to devote himself full‑time to the study and teaching of Advaita Vedanta.[25] He says that the service allotted based on his rank didn't turn out to be the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the only one he thought of as useful for his purpose. So he turned to head toward IIM Ahmedabad to continue his journey.
In 2003, he earned an Master of Business Administration (PGDM) in General Management from IIM Ahmedabad, where he continued his engagement with campus activities, notably participating in dramatics, Theatre Acting, debating, creative writing, and student activism.[26]
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Corporate and early career
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After completing his MBA in 2003, Prashant entered the corporate sector. He joined GE Capital as an Assistant Manager in July 2003 and remained there until August 2004.[27] From July 2004 to September 2005, he worked as a Senior Consultant at ECS Private Limited, based in Gurgaon.[27] He then served as Senior Manager at Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd. (Times Group) in New Delhi from September 2005 to October 2006.[27]
During this period, Prashant also began engaging with educational institutions, delivering weekend lectures that integrated classical texts with modern leadership principles. He would "pick up books that I especially loved, and figure out how they could be used to deliver leadership concepts," then travel to institutes like IIT Delhi, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Symbiosis, and the Institute of Management Technology to pilot a weekend course blending wisdom literature with modern management. One batch of executive‑education participants even turned out to be older than their 26‑year‑old instructor—"I found I was younger than the youngest student in that class," he recalled with a laugh. According to published interviews, this phase marked the beginning of his transition from the corporate world to a full-time focus on spiritual education and public speaking.[15]
Rather than a single "Eureka" moment, Prashant later explained, his shift away from corporate life was a slow, organic process: "We have this picture where a special moment upends a person’s life. Actually it doesn’t happen that way. Behind every Eureka moment is a long continuous unspectacular period of attentive work."[15]
Prashant has described how, during these years, he was already "seeing for myself where all the suffering comes from," teaching "practical experiments" in the classroom on how "the monster of misplaced confidence and ignorant ambition" arises—and how spiritual self‑knowledge actively combats it. By late 2006, having cleared his student loans and tried three very different industries, he felt he had "done what I needed to do" in the corporate sector: "Once my dues were cleared, I said, ‘I’m out.’"[15]
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Advait Life‑Education and PrashantAdvait Foundation
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Advait Life‑Education
In 2006, Prashant founded Advait Life‑Education[28] to give his emerging leadership and self‑awareness curriculum an organizational framework. The centerpiece offering, renamed the Holistic Individual Development Program (HIDP), was designed as a long‑duration course aimed primarily at school, undergraduate, and postgraduate students—over 90 percent of whom hailed from engineering (B.Tech) programs.[15] The HIDP combined experiential activities drawn from classical wisdom literature with modern management principles to foster personal insight and self‑awareness.
Within two years of its launch, Advait Life‑Education had recruited approximately 100 instructors and delivered the HIDP to more than 20,000 students across over 50 educational institutes nationwide.[15] Although initially structured as an in‑person weekend program, the logistical complexity of coordinating multiple campuses tested the organization’s operational capacities and honed Prashant's management skills.
By 2008, on turning 30, Prashant shifted the HIDP’s emphasis from leadership training toward deeper spiritual engagement. He introduced large‑scale, dialectical seminars under the banner "Samvaad", and rolled out two thematic modules—"Kabir on Campus", based on the poetry of the saint‑poet Kabir, and "So Said the Sages", drawn from Upanishadic verses.[15] These more overtly spiritual elements generated pushback from some host institutions, parents, and faculty, who questioned the programs’ practical benefits for conventional academic and career outcomes. Nevertheless, continued positive feedback from participants ensured the seminars remained in place and eventually gained acceptance.
PrashantAdvait Foundation
In 2015, Prashant founded PrashantAdvait Foundation,[16][28] which is a non-profit organization. The foundation characterizes itself as a self‑clarity movement, aiming to integrate ancient and contemporary wisdom literature to promote clarity, integrity, and self‑knowledge. As of 2025, the foundation conducts programs both online and in person. On June 24, 2024, the PrashantAdvait Foundation set a historic record with the Largest Gita Exam, in which 7,314 students of the Bhagavad Gita sessions (led by Acharya Prashant) appeared for the examination. [29] [9]
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Teachings and Philosophy
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Acharya Prashant’s core teachings centre on inner clarity, self-awareness, and liberation from suffering. Deeply rooted in Advaita Vedanta, his philosophy emphasises the need to see through the illusions of ego, desire, and conditioning. [30]
Drawing from the Upanishads,[31] he repeatedly points to the ‘I’ (Aham) as the centre of one’s world and the root of all suffering. His approach involves relentless inquiry into the false beliefs held by the ‘I’ — beliefs about oneself, one's relationships, traditions, desires, fears, strengths, and even one’s very identity. He teaches that by negating the false and impure, one naturally moves toward purity and truth.[32] This method of continual negation aligns with the Vedantic principle of Neti-Neti (not this, not this).
In his commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita, Acharya Prashant shifts the focus from actions to the actor. He urges seekers to understand and purify the ‘I’ — the doer — asserting that when the actor is free from illusion, right action follows effortlessly.[33]
The influence of Saint Kabir and other Bhakti saints is evident in his call for a direct and unmediated relationship with truth — one that transcends rituals, traditions, and institutions. Like Kabir Sahab, he challenges blind belief and superficial religiosity, advocating for a radical inner revolution.[34]
At its core, his work brings timeless spiritual wisdom into the context of modern life [35], encouraging the seeker to live with strength, freedom, and deep understanding[36] — here and now. [34]
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Social and Environmental Impact
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Acharya Prashant's work to bring inner clarity is manifesting on many social and environmental fronts.
Animal Rights
Acharya Prashant’s advocacy has inspired millions to adopt a life free from animal products and cruelty. He teaches that ignorance is the root of all forms of violence, and that only self-education can make one truly non-violent.[37] Awarded Most Influential Vegan by PETA, he has voiced against mass animal slaughter events like Gadhimai festival in Nepal.[7][18] Through PrashantAdvait Foundation, over 50,000 families have shifted to animal-free diets, saving more than 1 million animals.[38]
Women Empowerment
Acharya Prashant’s work on women’s empowerment focuses on fostering inner independence and dismantling internalized limitations. He urges women to move beyond societal conditioning and physical identity.[39]
He actively encourages women to step out of domestic comfort, reclaim their autonomy, and participate fully in public and professional life. His books, including Women’s Revolution, Maa, the best-selling title Stree, and his YouTube channel Shakti, are dedicated to the cause of women’s liberation.[19]
AIIMS and the Boxing Federation of India have invited Acharya Prashant as chief guest at their Women’s Day event and the Women’s Boxing National Championship, recognizing his consistent work for women’s upliftment—an uncommon honor for a male spiritual leader.[40][41][42]
Climate Change Awareness
Acharya Prashant promotes climate awareness by addressing the inner drivers of environmental harm, such as the tendency toward endless consumerism and the pursuit of fulfillment through external means.[43]
His teachings in his long-running Gita Program encourage introspection, helping participants examine motives, attachments, and lifestyle choices that affect both individual well-being and the planet.[8][44]
In 2025, through the PrashantAdvait Foundation, he launched Operation 2030, a climate-awareness campaign that frames environmental responsibility as a product of inner transformation.[17] The initiative urges self-reflection on decisions related to having more children, dietary choices, and patterns of consumption.[45]
Acharya Prashant repeatedly points to the prominent reports that raising animals for meat and dairy generates more greenhouse gases than the entire global transport sector.[46] His work not only promotes the protection of millions of animals but also addresses one of the most significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions.[45]
He advocates voluntary and lasting change rather than prescriptive mandates. Delivered through campus engagements, online talks, and digital outreach, the campaign has reached millions and has received recognition, including the “Most Impactful Environmentalist Award” from the Green Society of India.[5]
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Awards, honours and records
- 8 June 2025 – Prashant Advait Foundation honoured with "Best Animal Welfare Organisation" Award[47]
- 5 June 2025 – Acharya Prashant receives "Most Impactful Environmentalist" award on World Environment Day[48][49]
- 26 April 2025 – Outstanding Contribution to National Development Award, IIT Delhi[50]
- 5 February 2025 – Longest discourse hours on Vedanta (India Book of Records)[8]
- 13 August 2024 – Largest online examination on the Bhagavad Gita (India Book of Records)[9]
- 17 February 2023 – PETA India's "Most Influential Vegan" Award[7][51]
- 28 August 2022 – IIT Delhi Alumni Association Award[52]
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Works
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Books
The following is a selection of major works by Acharya Prashant:
Other works include books on relationships (e.g. Sambandh), leadership, self-awareness, poetry (e.g. Raat Aur Chaand), and children's stories. His publishers note that Karma, Ananda, and Maya form a widely read Vedanta trilogy that distills key aspects of his teachings.[13]
A more complete bibliography is available on the author's official website and on publishing platforms.
Poetry
Acharya Prashant's poetic work is expressed through his Bhagavad Gita course, where he shares simple poetic translations of each Gita verse. These short, wisdom-filled poems are also easy to sing.[73] He has also written poems on deep and sensitive aspects of life, compiled in a book called "Raat Aur Chaand" (Night and the Moon).
A few poems from the book "Raat Aur Chaand":
- Sone Ka Haq
- Jab Geet Na Arpit Kar Pao
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Reception
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The Times of India, in their review of Acharya's Karma: Why Everything You Know About It Is Wrong, remarked that while the book "presents the cryptic teachings of the Upanishads in a contemporary and relatable manner", its usage of terms from Advaita Vedanta makes it a difficult read for a layman.[74] The Financial Express wrote that the four sections of Karma mirror the four stages in the life of a seeker, and that the book "is not a classic case of prolific and bestselling authors in self-help segment repackaging and remarketing their existing body of work."[75] A "micro review" of Karma in The Times of India called it a book which helped the reader understand their Karma better.[76] In August 2021, the book topped the Nielsen Bookscan's bestseller list,[75] and in October 2021, secured eighth position in the bestseller list released by The Asian Age.[77]
Dainik Jagran wrote about Acharya's Sambandh that "the best part about the book is that it has been written in the everyday spoken language and contains examples that are easy to understand. It is, however, difficult to keep pace with his [author's] thoughts and writings."[78] Punjab Kesari called Sambandh "a mirror to human relationships"; and highlighted the need for better structuring of the book.[79]
In an article titled New Light on Ancient Texts: Illumination or Nebulation published in The North East Times, Acharya Prashant was criticized for his interpretation of some central Indic concepts like reincarnation (punarjanma), enlightenment (moksha), liberation (mukti) and action (karma). Some of his interpretations were reported to be strikingly at odds with the ones provided by some of the ancient and acclaimed commentators, forming the core of the common Indic identity. Shubham Ahuja concluded his article by the comment, "It is hard to believe that many of the well-known gurus and commentators whose interpretations are openly and strongly refuted by Acharya were fundamentally mistaken."[80]
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Media and public engagement
Spotlight
- 15 July 2025 – "Climate Crisis: A Mirror to Our Inner State"[81]
Acharya Prashant argues that climate change is not just technical, but reflects the confusion in the human mind driven by unexamined wants and fears.
- 13 July 2025 – "Does Mankind Deserve Religion?"[82]
He proposes that true religion arises not from tradition but from an inward question—why am I not at peace?—as an honest response to suffering.
- 7 July 2025 – "Operation 2030: Acharya Prashant’s Bold Climate Campaign Challenging Global Consumption"[45]
Introduces Operation 2030 as a call to inner clarity, asserting that wiser choices follow once we understand our own wants rather than imposing more rules.
- 1 July 2025 – "Acharya Prashant: The Spiritual Leader Women Admire For His Powerful Voice On Women’s Rights"[19]
Describes how his Vedantic teaching—"you are not the body at all"—offers women freedom beyond social roles and labels.
- 10 July 2025 – "गुरु पूर्णिमा पर आचार्य प्रशांत का संदेश" (Lokmat News)[83]
Recasts Guru Purnima as homage to the inner vision‑giver rather than to any person or institution.
- 28 June 2025 – "The Crisis Within: When Clarity is Replaced by Content"[84]
Warns that our culture of instant outrage and reaction has turned even grave events into mere noise, making true understanding optional.
- 21 June 2025 – Yoga Day messages featured in The Hindu, News Nation and The Week, restoring yoga to a state of poise and lived truth rather than mere postures.[85]
Podcasts
- 20 September 2024 – In Conversation with Prakhar[86]
- 20 February 2025 – Neeraj Chopra's Questions, Acharya Prashant's Guidance – Aim for the Sky[87]
- 31 May 2023 – Does God Exist? with Dhruv Rathee[88]
- 16 December 2022 – Acharya Prashant on The Ranveer Show[89]
- 26 March 2025 – Unfiltered Chat with Dr Sid Warrier[90]
- 7 November 2024 – On Parenting, Marriage & More with Bharti[91]
- 28 May 2025 – Conversation with Dr Tanu Jain on women's empowerment[92]
- 5 February 2025 – Acharya Prashant in Conversation with Sarthak Goswami[93]
- 9 June 2025 – Conversation with Vijendar Chauhan on service and purpose[94]
- 23 September 2024 – Science of the Bhagavad Gita with Dr Sid Warrier[95]
- 28 August 22 – Acharya Prashant on Israel‑Palestine, Identity & Diet | Lallantop Interview[96]
- 9 July 24 – Acharya Prashant in Exclusive Interview with Dainik Jagran[97]
- 25 June 2024 – Acharya Prashant in Coversation with Kunal Kamra and Prof Dilip Mandal[98]
- 14 May 2023 – Acharya Prashant in Coversation with Poorva Joshipura, PETA India CEO
TV appearances
- 20 June 2025 – Special interview on Bharat Express: "True Meaning of Yoga"[99]
- 19 June 2025 – ABP Live exclusive on the Ahmedabad plane crash: "Crashes happen in our consciousness"[100]
- 15 June 2025 – NDTV India special: "Can the Bhagavad Gita uproot the caste system?"[101]
- 5 June 2025 – Deccan Herald feature on Most Impactful Environmentalist award[102]
- 6 June 2025 – Punjab Kesari special on animal sacrifice and Eid[103]
- 21 May 2025 – NDTV interview at IIT Delhi on Outstanding Contribution to National Development award[104]
Institutional sessions
- 31 March 2025 – IIT Delhi Samvaad: "Curious Minds" discussion on AI, free speech, climate and delimitation[105]
- 10 November 2022 – IIT Bombay session: "And still not happy?"[106]
- 2 April 2023 – IIT Guwahati campus talk on real-world challenges[107]
- 9 April 2025 – BITS Dubai open session on Vedanta in everyday living[108]
- 21 April 2025 – MANIT Bhopal Q&A on life's central questions[109]
- 9 June 2025 – Kirori Mal College, DU: "Gandhi, Ambedkar and the debate between reform and rebellion"[110]
- 20 March 2025 – SRCC, DU: "Curious Minds" open discussion[111]
- 22 February 2025 – University of California, Berkeley: entrepreneurship and purpose[112]
- 11 March 2025 – IISc Bangalore interactive session on science and spirituality[113]
- 10 March 2025 – IIM Bangalore round-table on leadership and Dharma[114]
Media articles
- 29 May 2025 – "Confluence of Wisdom: The Living Voice of the Great Masters in Acharya Prashant" (News24)[32]
- 3 May 2025 – "आचार्य प्रशांत ने जाति जनगणना पर दिया क्लियर मैसेज" (Navbharat)[115]
- 2 May 2025 – "Use Caste Census for Affirmative Action" (The Print)[116]
- 27 April 2025 – "Acharya Prashant Receives ‘Outstanding Contribution to National Development’ Award"[50]
- 25 May 2025 – "Operation 2030: Confronting the climate crisis within"[117]
- 18 April 2025 – "Dr B.R. Ambedkar: A Visionary Beyond Politics"[118]
- 21 April 2025 – "Acharya Prashant Live at PVR INOX: Bhopal Series Begins"[119]
- 1 June 2025 – "World Environment Day: The climate crisis and the need for inner awakening"[120]
- 8 June 2025 – "PrashantAdvait Foundation honoured with ‘Best Animal Welfare Organisation’ Award"[121]
- 5 June 2025 – Coverage of Most Impactful Environmentalist award[48]
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See also
External links
References
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