IIT Kanpur: How did some sages attain wisdom at a very young age?

The following is an excerpt from a samvaad (dialogue) session with Acharya Prashant.

Questioner (Q): How did sages like Ashtavakra and Adi Shankara attain wisdom at such an early age of fourteen or eight? You have said in many of your videos that unbearable pain coming from falseness is the starting point of the journey towards the Truth. How can…