यावानर्थ उदपाने सर्वतः संप्लुतोदके
तावान्सर्वेषु वेदेषु ब्राहाणस्य विजानतः
yāvānartha udapāne sarvataḥ saṃplutodake
tāvānsarveṣu vedeṣu brāhāṇasya vijānataḥ
TRANSLATION
What use a thirsty person has for a water reservoir when all sides of it are flooded—that much alone is the use of all the Vedas for a Brahmana who knows.
PURPORT
Whatever use, a thirsty person has for a reservoir, which is flooded with water on all sides and which has been constructed for all kinds of purposes like irrigation, only to that extent of it, i.e., enough to drink will be of use to the thirsty person and not all the water. Likewise, whatever in all the Vedas form the means for release to a knowing Brahmana, i.e., one who is established in the study of the Vedas and who aspires for release only to that extent is it to be accepted by him and not anything else.
Shri Krishna now says that this much alone is to be accepted by an aspirant, established in Sattva:
