When Gautama Buddha renounced his home, his search was to discover the cause of human suffering and the way to end it. He was seeking knowledge.
Seeking to understand existence, the ancient sages entered deep meditation. They too were in pursuit of knowledge. The śrutis of the scriptures are the expressions of that revealed wisdom.
Religion, like science, is a search for knowledge. While science investigates nature through perception and inference, religion seeks the ultimate reality that surpasses the intellect, accessible only through intuition.
Where does this quest for knowledge ends ?
It ends in the realization of one’s true nature—when one truly knows oneself and discovers that there is neither knowledge nor ignorance.