Vidyaa (knowledge)

पठन्ति चतुरो वेदान् धर्मशास्त्राण्यनेकशः |
आत्मानं नैव जानन्ति दर्वी पाकरसं यथा ||

PaThanti chaturo vedaan dharma-shaastraaNyanekasha-ha
Aatmaanan naiva jaananti darvee paakarasam yathaa

Meaning: The clever (chatur) read (paThanti) all the Vedas and the scriptures, but they still do not know the soul (aatmaa), just as a ladle or spoon doesn't know the taste/flavor of the food.

Day in and day out, at every meal, the spoon is constantly in contact with food. But it has absolutely no idea about how the food tastes. Our  subhaashitkaar has used this analogy to explain the meaning of true education & true knowledge. Knowledge or vidyaa is a virtue of the inner self. Today we consider knowledge that, which we read, remember, memorize and to some extent, understand through the faculties of our brain. That will definitely fill up the infinite space in our brains but it doesn't bring happiness. Just as the spoon doesn't know what sweet means, we will not be able to relish the knowledge if we are simply using our brain to accumulate knowledge.


True knowledge is that which applies to our life. In fact, in Sanskrit, the word Vidyaa is derived from the root 'vid' which means "to know". Vid is the also the root verb for Veda. Many other languages have inherited this root; for e.g. English wit, witness, wizard (one who knows), German wissen (to know, knowledge), Swedish veta (to know), Latin video (I see), Dutch weten (to know), Czech veda (knowledge) etc etc. While all these talk about 'knowing', the Sanskrit vidyaa connotes 'knowledge of life'.

The knowledge of life is not meant to be collected and hoarded in the safe deposit boxes of our brains. Such knowledge can only be understood, realized and applied in our life. Vidyaa is not memorizing the books but knowing the heart of the literature and more importantly, applying it to our lives. Only then can we relish the knowledge!

But how can we know whether we are acquiring true knowledge or not? The test is that, true vidyaa brings about a change in our life. True vidyaa positively affects our personality, our character. If we can feel a progressive change coming over ourselves, then we are in the right direction. True vidyaa brings happiness in our life; it brings sweetness into our life. And that would happen only if we apply to our lives what we churn our minds on.

Let's stop being spoons and start relishing the taste of life!