There are in the world various kinds of subjects for which knowledge is available – knowledge of music, literature, art, sculpture, economics, politics, and the like. All these are only components of worldly knowledge, knowledge relating to the phenomenal world. All worldly knowledge can help to increase one’s comforts but will not contribute to his mukti (liberation). However much we may acquire control over material conditions, this will not serve to produce peace of mind or the bliss of the soul. In a sense, the more the worldly knowledge, the less likely one is to have mental peace. Worldly knowledge is no doubt necessary. But it is not the be-all and end-all. Many great kings in the past, who had ruled over vast empires and enjoyed every kind of pleasure, chose at the close of their lives to renounce everything for the sake of realising spiritual peace. Yaddhrushyam tannashyati – “Whatever is perceptible is perishable.” In the pursuit of fleeting and impermanent pleasures, we are throwing away the permanent, the unchanging and the real elements in human life. – Divine Discourse, Mar 17, 1983.