1570
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 4, Ch. 31]
they cannot impress upon the audience the real essence of knowledge, Kṛṣṇa. There are also many thoughtful writers and creative philosophers, but despite all their learning, if they cannot approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they are simply useless mental speculators. There are many sharply intelligent people in this material world, and they discover so many things for sense gratification. They also analytically study all the material elements, but despite their expert knowledge and expert scientific analysis of the whole cosmic manifestation, their endeavors are useless because they cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
As far as our senses are concerned, there are many animals, both beasts and birds, who are very expert in exercising their senses more keenly than human beings. For example, vultures or hawks can go very high in the sky but can see a small body on the ground very clearly. This means that their eyesight is so keen that they can find an eatable corpse from a great distance. Certainly their eyesight is much keener than human beings', but this does not mean that their existence is more important than that of a human being. Similarly, dogs can smell many things from a far distance. Many fish can understand by the power of sound that an enemy is coming. All these examples are described in  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam . If one's senses cannot help him attain the highest perfection of life, realization of the Supreme, they are all useless.
TEXT 12
किं वा योगेन सांख्येन न्यासत्वाध्याययोरपि ।
किं वा श्रेयोभिरन्यैश्च न यत्रात्मप्रदो हरिः ॥१२॥
kiṁ vā yogena sāṅkhyena nyāsa-svādhyāyayor api kiṁ vā śreyobhir anyaiś ca na yatrātma-prado hariḥ
kim —what is the use;  vā —or;  yogena —by mystic  yoga  practice;  sāṅkhyena —by study of  Sāṅkhya  philosophy;  nyāsa —by accepting  sannyāsa ;  svādhyāyayoḥ —and by study of Vedic literature;  api —even;  kim —what is the use;  vā —or;  śreyobhiḥ —by auspicious activities;  anyaiḥ —other;  ca —and;  na —never;  yatra —where;  ātma-pradaḥ —full satisfaction of self;  hariḥ —the Supreme Personality of Godhead.