A human being has an intense hunger to know.
Most of the activity of human life revolves around knowing. One must know the difference between poison and nectar; without this understanding, the movement of life itself becomes impossible. Just as the body has a hunger for food, the mind has a hunger for knowledge.
However, many times a person satisfies the hunger of the body with unhealthy food and thus harms the body. In the same way, a person may fill the mind with wrong or harmful information and become mentally sick. When knowledge is incorrect, the stream of life begins to flow in the wrong direction.
Many bodily diseases are contagious; they spread to others. Similarly, a person passes on his wrong knowledge to others, and slowly an entire society becomes mentally unhealthy. If an educated person uses his intellect to write gossip about film actors, presenting their life stories merely for entertainment, then he is not serving society; instead he is polluting its collective memory. Likewise, obscene novels and stories full of sensuality become signs of social degradation.
Such delicate yet harmful influences make life dark and gloomy.
ਅਕਲ ਬਾਰੀਕ ਹੂਈ ਜਾਤੀ ਹੈ, ਰੂਹ ਤਾਰੀਕ ਹੂਈ ਜਾਤੀ ਹੈ।
Akil baareek huee jaatee hai, rooh taareek huee jaatee hai.
As the intellect becomes sharper, the soul often becomes darker.
An illiterate person does not possess worldly knowledge. He may know little about countries and foreign lands, the sun, moon, stars, rivers, mountains, or civilization. Thus, his connection with a large part of the world remains broken.
But even if an illiterate person does not understand the world, he can still understand God—because religion is not mere education; it is a spiritual quest. It requires transforming oneself, not filling the mind with information.
In ancient times, those called “untouchables” were not allowed to hear the Vedic mantras; their ears were even plugged with molten lead if they heard them by chance. Yet those very people meditated on God and were able to understand Him deeply.
ਬਿਦਿਆ ਨ ਪਰਉ ਬਾਦੁ ਨਹੀ ਜਾਨਉ ॥
bidiaa na paro, baad nahee jaano.
I do not read books of knowledge, nor do I understand debates.
ਹਰਿ ਗੁਨ ਕਥਤ ਸੁਨਤ ਬਉਰਾਨੋ ॥੧॥
har gun kathat sunat bouraano. (Ang 855)
I have gone mad chanting and hearing the Glorious Praises of the Lord.
ਜੋ ਪ੍ਰਾਣੀ ਗੋਵਿੰਦੁ ਧਿਆਵੈ ॥
jo praanee govind dhiaavai.
That mortal who meditates on the Lord of the Universe,
ਪੜਿਆ ਅਣਪੜਿਆ ਪਰਮ ਗਤਿ ਪਾਵੈ ॥੧॥
parriaa anparriaa param gat paavai. (Ang 197)
whether educated or uneducated, attains the supreme state.
Because the entire universe is within God, one who truly understands God automatically gains insight into the world. Thus, the Bhagats have expressed profound and mysterious truths about Him.
With the ornament of knowledge, a person may appear religious, but often the soul inside remains undeveloped. Before long, the outer show begins to stink, like flowers on a corpse.
ਨਾਮ ਬਿਨਾ ਜੇਤਾ ਬਿਉਹਾਰੁ ॥
ਜਿਉ ਮਿਰਤਕ ਮਿਥਿਆ ਸੀਗਾਰੁ ॥੨॥
naam binaa jaetaa biouhaar, jio mirtak mithia shingaar. (Ang 240)
Without the Naam, all worldly activities are useless, like decorations on a dead body.
By reading religious texts, one may become literate—but that alone does not make one the person described in those texts.
ਤੁਝੇ ਕਿਤਾਬ ਸੇ ਫ਼ਿਰੋਗ਼ ਨਹੀਂ।
ਕਿ ਤੂ ਕਿਤਾਬੇ ਖੁਵਾਂ ਹੈਂ, ਸਾਹਿਬੇ ਕਿਤਾਬ ਨਹੀਂ।
(Iqbal)
You have not gained radiance from books, for you merely recite them—you have not become the Master the books speak about.
If a literate person does not practice benevolence, then he is also a fool.
ਪੜਿਆ ਮੂਰਖੁ ਆਖੀਐ ਜਿਸੁ ਲਬੁ ਲੋਭੁ ਅਹੰਕਾਰਾ ॥
parriaa moorakh aakheeai jis lab lobh ahankaaraa. (Ang 140)
The educated person who is filled with greed, attachment, or pride is known to be a fool.
If he is compassionate and helpful, then his education becomes worthy of reverence.
ਵਿਦਿਆ ਵੀਚਾਰੀ ਤਾਂ ਪਰਉਪਕਾਰੀ ॥
vidiaa veechaaree taan paroupkaaree. (Ang 356)
When knowledge is reflected upon, it leads to benevolence.
(Courtesy: Guru Chintan)
Giani Sant Singh Ji Maskeen
