iti puṁsārpitā viṣṇau bhaktiś cen nava-lakṣaṇā kriyate bhagavaty addhā tan manye 'dhītam uttamam

"A person who directly applies these nine principles [hearing, chanting, remembering, etc.] in the service of the Lord is to be understood as a greatly learned man who has assimilated the Vedic literatures very well, for the goal of studying the Vedic literature is to understand the supremacy of Lord Sri Krsna." Sridhara Svami confirms in his commentary that first one must surrender to the spiritual master; then the process of devotional service will develop. It is not a fact that only one who diligently pursues an academic career can become a devotee. Even with no academic career, if one has full faith in the spiritual master and the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he develops in spiritual life and real knowledge of the Vedas. The example of Maharaja Khatvaṅga confirms this. One who surrenders is understood to have learned the subject matter of the Vedas very nicely. One who adopts this Vedic process of surrender learns devotional service and is certainly successful. One who is very much 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. Srimad-Bhagavatam declares: