SB 11.11.18 sabda-brahmani nisnato... cited

Expressions researched:
"hy adhenum iva raksatah" |"na nisnayat pare yadi" |"sabda-brahmani nisnato" |"sramas tasya srama-phalo" |"take care of a cow that gives no milk"

Notes from the compiler: VedaBase query: "11.11.18" or "hy adhenum iva raksatah" or "na nisnayat pare yadi" or "sabda-brahmani nisnato" or "sramas tasya srama-phalo" or "take care of a cow that gives no milk"

SB Canto 2

SB 2.9.36, Purport:

One who has unflinching devotion unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead must have all the good qualities of the demigods, and contrarily one who is not a devotee of the Lord must be hovering in the darkness of mental speculation and thus must be engaged in material impermanence. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.11.18) says:

śabda-brahmaṇi niṣṇāto

na niṣṇāyāt pare yadi

śramas tasya śrama-phalo

hy adhenum iva rakṣataḥ

"One may be well versed in all the transcendental literature of the Vedas, but if he fails to be acquainted with the Supreme, then it must be concluded that all of his education is like the burden of a beast or like one's keeping a cow without milking capacity."

SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)

SB 11.11.18, Translation:

If through meticulous study one becomes expert in reading Vedic literature but makes no endeavor to fix one's mind on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then one's endeavor is certainly like that of a man who works very hard to take care of a cow that gives no milk. In other words, the fruit of one's laborious study of Vedic knowledge will simply be the labor itself. There will be no other tangible result.

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 17.257, Purport:

One who is very proud, however, is unable to surrender either to the spiritual master or to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus he cannot understand the essence of any Vedic literature. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (SB 11.11.18) declares:

śabda-brahmaṇi niṣṇāto na niṣṇāyāt pare yadi

śramas tasya śrama-phalo hy adhenum iva rakṣataḥ

"If one is learned in the 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."