Acharya Prashant reminisces about his childhood reading, which was an eclectic mix of children's comics like Chacha Chaudhary and Lotpot, and profound literature from the Upanishads, Premchand, and Tolstoy. He explains that he did not differentiate between them, approaching all material as something to be studied and enjoyed. This diverse reading formed an unplanned and erratic branching out into various dimensions of knowledge, from the childish to the highly intellectual. The speaker then focuses on a verse from the Upanishads which states that those who worship objective knowledge ('Avidya') enter into darkness. He clarifies that objective knowledge is not merely ignorance but refers to the knowledge of facts and the objective world—the kind of truth the world typically seeks. He explains that worshipping this objective knowledge leads to darkness because it is pursued without the foundation of self-knowledge. This pursuit of objective knowledge is linked to the natural human tendency to seek happiness and pleasure. The speaker defines pleasure as a physical sensation derived from consuming an object of desire, while happiness is the mental stimulation that comes from knowing one has control over that object. He posits that all happiness is essentially an anticipation of pleasure. Because we identify as physical beings, our ultimate aim becomes pleasure, which necessitates the consumption of objects. The investigation into these objects for consumption is the essence of objective knowledge. The speaker warns that without self-knowledge, any external quest for knowledge is ultimately directed towards consumption and pleasure, which is a dangerous path. He uses the metaphor of a monkey with a sword to illustrate that objective knowledge, in the hands of an un-self-aware person, is harmful. He identifies the crisis of the modern world as having too many fools with too much knowledge. Therefore, before seeking any knowledge, one must first question the seeker within: "Why do I want to know? Who is it within me that is so eager to know? And what will I do with this knowledge?"