526
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam
[Canto 2, Ch. 9]
pāraṁ gato 'pi vedānāṁ sarva-śāstrārtha-vedyapi yo na sarvesvare bhaktas taṁ vidyāt puruṣādhamam.
“Even though one may have gone to the other side of all the  Vedas , and even though one is well versed in all the revealed scriptures, if one is not a devotee of the Supreme Lord, he must be considered to be the lowest of mankind.” Similarly, it is also stated indirectly as follows:
yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate suraḥ harāv abhakteṣu kuto mahat-guṇa- mano-rathenāsato dhāvato yahi.
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 the material impermanence.
It is also said in the Eleventh Canto of  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam :
śabda brahmaṇi niṣṇāto na niṣṇāyāt pare yadi śravas 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 the beast or as one’s keeping a cow without milking capacity.”
Similarly, the liberty of discharging loving transcendental service to the Lord is invested in everyone, even the women, the  śūdras , the forest tribes, or any other living beings who are born in sinful conditions.
te vai vidanty atitaranti ca deva-māyāṁ strī-śūdra-hūṇa-śabarā api pāpa-jīvāḥ yady adbhūta-krama-parāyaṇa-śīlaśikṣās tiryag-janā api kimu śruta-dhāraṇā ye (Bhāg. 2.7.46)
The lowest of human beings can be elevated to the highest stage of devotional life if they are trained up by the bona fide spiritual master well versed in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. If the