The Lord then quoted a nice verse from the Vedic literature stating that a person who is a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa and is one hundred percent engaged in devotional service is far better than a brāhmaṇa who is versed in all the Vedic literatures but who does not engage in the devotional service of the Lord. Because the devotee carries the Supreme Lord within his heart, he can purify every place and everything.
The Vedic literature also states that the Supreme Personality of Godhead does not recognize a nondevotee who is very learned in all the divisions of the Vedas but He likes a devotee even if he was born in a low family. If one offers charity to a brāhmaṇa who is not a devotee, the Lord does not accept it; but if something is offered to a devotee, the Lord accepts. In other words, whatever a person wishes to offer the Lord may be given to His devotees. Caitanya Mahāprabhu also quoted Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to the effect that even if a brāhmaṇa was born in a high family and is qualified with the twelve brahminical qualities, he is lower than the lowest of the low if he is not a devotee of the Supreme Lord. Although a devotee may have been born in a caṇḍāla (dog-eater) family, by devotional service he can purify his whole family for one hundred generations, past and future, whereas a proud brāhmaṇa cannot purify even himself.