Lt Gen Narendra Kotwal (R ) , Dr Sumedha Ahal Kotwal
narendrakotwal@gmail.com
Knowledge is often mistaken for a destination, a final summit where all questions cease and answers stand complete. Yet the reality is far different. Knowledge has no finite boundaries; it is not a possession to be stored but a living ocean without shores. The more we drink from it, the more its depth reveals itself. To think of knowledge as complete is to mistake a ripple for the sea. The Upanishads foresaw this truth thousands of years ago when they proclaimed: “He who thinks he knows, knows not; he who knows that he knows not, knows.” This paradox is not linguistic play but a profound pointer-humility and openness are the first doors to true wisdom.
In the modern world, it is quantum physics that most vividly affirms this ancient insight. At the heart of matter, the universe is not solid and deterministic but fluid, probabilistic, and relational. A particle does not simply exist in one place until it is measured; it exists in a superposition of possibilities, only collapsing into a single outcome through observation. Werner Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle extends this further, teaching that precise knowledge of one property comes at the cost of uncertainty about another. This indeterminacy is not a failure of science but the very structure of reality. At the deepest levels, truth is not an absolute possession but a field of possibilities waiting to be engaged.
This realisation transforms how we think of knowledge itself. It is not about conquering the unknown with certainties but about participating in the unfolding of existence. Just as the act of observation co-creates the particle’s position, so too does the act of inquiry shape the knowledge we receive. To know, therefore, is not to dominate but to collaborate with the universe.
Philosophy has long understood this. Socrates embodied the principle of aporia-a state of perplexity where the mind acknowledges its own ignorance and, in doing so, creates space for higher understanding. It is a disquieting state because the ego craves firm ground. Yet it is precisely in such discomfort that true wisdom germinates. Growth does not come from certainty but from the willingness to live in inquiry, to hold questions more sacred than answers. A sealed mind, certain of its completeness, cannot grow. An open mind, willing to be vulnerable, becomes like a flowing river, shaping itself through every rock and bend, always moving toward the ocean.
The Vedic tradition reflects this through neti neti-“not this, not that.” By stripping away every false identity and every fixed construct, the seeker moves closer to the infinite reality. The process is not about arriving at final definitions but about peeling away layers until only boundless awareness remains. To walk this path requires courage, for it means standing unprotected before the unknown. Yet it is in that very vulnerability that true knowledge is born.
The Bhagavad Gita extends this further by insisting that knowledge must lead to action. Krishna tells Arjuna that jnana(knowledge) and karma (action) are not separate but complementary. To know without acting is like leaving a quantum wave unmeasured-potential without manifestation. Only when knowledge flows into deeds, into compassionate service and courageous choices, does it collapse into reality. In this sense, vulnerability is not paralysis but empowerment: it teaches us to act with humility, aware of our limitations, yet committed to living the truth we glimpse.
Practically, this means embracing life as an experiment. Each conversation, each challenge, each encounter is a wave of potential waiting to collapse into experience. Instead of seeking absolute answers, we can approach situations with the spirit of inquiry: What is this moment teaching me? What truth is hidden here? By admitting that we do not fully know, we create a space for deeper wisdom to enter. This humility is not weakness but the essence of strength.
The convergence of modern physics and Vedic philosophy reveals a profound truth: knowledge is not static, not an object to be owned, but a dynamic relationship. The scientist probing quantum mysteries, the philosopher wrestling with paradox, and the seeker chanting neti neti are all engaged in the same endeavour. Each is participating in the infinite dance where knower, known, and knowing dissolve into one continuum. The Vedas call this continuum Brahman-the infinite consciousness from which all arises and to which all returns.
In this light, the purpose of knowledge is not to construct walls of certainty but to dissolve them. It is not to hoard information but to align ourselves with the unfolding of truth. Knowledge becomes meaningful only when it transforms the knower-when it teaches humility, compassion, courage, and the willingness to act. The real knower is not the one who claims mastery but the one who remains a student of life, open to every whisper of the cosmos.
Thus, knowledge without boundaries is not a burden but a liberation. It frees us from the arrogance of finality and opens us to the infinite mystery that sustains existence. To embrace uncomfortable vulnerabilities is to mirror the universe itself-restless, creative, unfolding in endless possibilities. When knowledge is lived this way, it ceases to be finite. It becomes a mirror of the infinite, a path of transformation where every step is both inquiry and revelation, both humility and action. In such living, knowledge and being become one, and the finite dissolves into the infinite.
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