Knowledge is defined in dictionary as “the factual information that a person knows”. Since time immemorial human civilization has been engaged in acquiring, applying and dissipation of knowledge. The word veda in Sanskrit language also means to know and the Vedas are book of knowledge. Our main sources of knowledge are the Vedic literatures such as Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam.
Here we will discuss the purpose of knowledge from point of view of the Vedas. We will support these percepts with sound logical reasoning. In this chapter we will analyze the need or purpose of knowledge. Human life has a purpose and knowledge helps in fulfilling that purpose. In order to fulfill the purpose of human life we set different goals. These goals can be categorized as has higher goals (long term goals or ultimate goal) and lower goals (immediate or short term goals). However human life is in itself a struggle if not properly managed. Hence there are basic needs even for survival.
One generally desires to be able to live a long, peaceful and a happy life. If one is always threatened for basic necessities as food, house, diseases and death, then his life is no better than that of animals. Advancement in human civilization means that a person should be able to meet these basic necessities easily so that he can get sufficient time and facility for pursuing higher goals. Vedic scriptures give us details of how one can live a simplified life so that the basic necessities are easily met. However meeting these basic needs is not the purpose of human life. Vedic scripture points at a higher purpose of life and tells us the means and ways to attains that. Knowledge can thus be divided into two parts according to the purpose it serves.
1. Transcendental knowledge (Para Vidya) – Deals will ultimate goal of human Life i.e. to understand the Absolute Truth.
2. Material Knowledge (Apara Vidya) – Deals with basic need of human life. It is a basic human nature to get illusion, commit mistakes and even to cheat. These arise due to our imperfect senses and mind. Due to this nature of humans, there are things that pass on as knowledge but are factually ignorance (Avidya). The society gets mislead by such so called knowledge and it brings more harm to the society.