Verse 2.1.157

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 2.1.157:

কৃষ্ণের ভজন ছাডি’ যে শাস্ত্র বাখানে সে অধম কভু শাস্ত্র-মর্ম নাহি জানে ॥ ১৫৭ ॥

कृष्णेर भजन छाडि’ ये शास्त्र वाखाने से अधम कभु शास्त्र-मर्म नाहि जाने ॥ १५७ ॥

kṛṣṇera bhajana chāḍi’ ye śāstra vākhāne se adhama kabhu śāstra-marma nāhi jāne || 157 ||

krsnera bhajana chadi’ ye sastra vakhane se adhama kabhu sastra-marma nahi jane (157)

English translation:

(157) “Anyone who explains the scriptures without referring to the worship of Kṛṣṇa is a fallen soul who does not know the purport of the scriptures.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

Those who have accumulated heaps of impious activities in previous lives and thus give up Kṛṣṇa’s worship, which is the only purport of all scriptures, and do not explain the scriptures based on devotional service

—in other words, those who accept the unfavorable nondevotional processes of anyābhilāṣa, karma, jñāna, and yoga as processes for achieving the goal of life and dharma, artha, kāma, and mokṣa as the goals of life—such persons are actually ignorant of the real purport or intention of the scriptures. One should carefully discuss the following verses from the śrutis, smṛtis, and Purāṇas.

The Chāndogya Upaniṣad (6.14.2) states: ācāryavān puruṣo veda—“One who follows the disciplic succession of ācāryas knows things as they are.”

The Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (6.23) states:

yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve tathā gurau tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ prakāśante mahātmanaḥ

“Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed.”

The Kaṭha Upaniṣad (1.2.23) states:

nāyam ātmā pravacanena labhyo na medhayā na bahunāśrutena

yam evaiṣa vṛṇute tena labhyas tasyaiṣa ātmā vivṛṇute tanūṃ svām

“The Supreme Lord is not obtained by expert explanations, by vast intelligence, nor even by much hearing. He is obtained only by one whom He Himself chooses. To such a person He manifests His own form.”

In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (11.11.18) it is stated:

śabda-brahmaṇi niṣṇāto na niṣṇāyāt pare yadi śramas tasya śrama-phalo hy adhenum iva rakṣataḥ

“If one is learned in Vedic literature but is not a devotee of Lord Viṣṇu, his work is a useless waste of labor, just like the keeping of a cow that does not give milk.”

The Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.14.29) further states:

athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvaya- prasāda-leśānugṛhīta eva hi jānāti tattvaṃ bhagavan-mahimno na cānya eko ‘pi ciraṃ vicinvan

“My Lord, if one is favored by even a slight trace of the mercy of Your lotus feet, he can understand the greatness of Your personality. But those who speculate to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead are unable to know You, even though they continue to study the Vedas for many years.”