गोविन्द भाष्य (श्रील बलदेव विद्याभूषण - अचिन्त्यभेदाभेद वेदान्त ब्रह्मसूत्र भाष्य सटीक)

Of one who has merely studied. Purport by Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa The passage (from the Taittirīya-saṁhitā, quoted in sūtra 6) states that a person who has studied the Vedas should be chosen as a priest. It does not mean that the priest must be advanced in transcendental knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and therefore transcendental knowledge is a subordinate part of the Vedic rituals. The word “brahmiṣṭha" in that passage means, "one who is learned in the Vedas". It does not mean "one who is wise with transcendental knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead", for the Śruti-śāstras declare that a person fixed in transcendental knowledge of the Supreme renounces Vedic rituals. Therefore a person who properly studies the Vedas, does not misinterpret its words, and does not desire to gain anything material as a result of his study, is said to be “brahmiṣṭha" (learned in the Vedas). The affix “iṣṭha" has that meaning here. Some claim that the word means that the priest must be a knower of the Supreme and therefore this passage is meant to praise the glories of Vedic yajñas. Here someone may object: One who has simply studied is not qualified to perform Vedic yajñas. One must have knowledge also. Studying the Vedas does not mean simply reading them. It means understanding them. Because the Upaniṣads are parts of the Vedas, it must be understood that one who understands the Vedas understands the transcendental knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead also. In this way it is proved that transcendental knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is only one subordinate aspect of the Vedic yajñas. If this objection is raised, then I reply: One is not situated in transcendental knowledge merely by understanding the meanings of the words in the Vedas, but only when one directly sees the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. Merely by understanding the meaning of the sentence, "Honey is sweet" one does not have direct perception of its sweetness. If this were so then merely by understanding these words one would be able to taste honey. Of course one does not taste honey in this way. Once, when asked, Nārada Muni declared that, even though he knew the Ṛg Veda and many other scriptures, still he did not understand the Supreme. He said: so 'haṁ mantra-vid evāsmi nātma-vit "I know many mantras, but I do not know the Supreme Personality of Godhead."