What relevance does wisdom literature have in an IIM student’s life?

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

Questioner: What relevance does reading wisdom literature play a role, especially in a management student’s life? Given how rigorous it is, and considering that we actually have trouble fitting sleep into our schedules.

Acharya Prashant: You see, all the miscellaneous literature that we read is knowledge about stuff; is knowledge about things that occur to us. Stuff that we can hold, feel, name, process.

Objects — those stuff units are duly called. Objects, which occur to us — who are the subjects.

So, there is the knowledge that comes to you, and then there is the knowledge about the one, to whom the knowledge comes. It is extremely important to know the one who is accumulating the knowledge. “Why do we need ‘Knowledge’ at all? Who is the one, who is gathering knowledge? Who is the one, who is reading literature? To what end, for what purpose?” If we do not ask this question then our pursuits are quite mechanical. We do not know what we are doing things for.

In fact, what is quite possible is that you may have the knowledge and that knowledge might be used by a center within you, by a part of yours which is not quite in congruence with your…