Is reading scriptures enough?

Once a college professor went to meet a Saint. Trying to impress the Saint, the professor said politely, “Sir, I am fond of reading scriptures. I just finished reading Ramayana and Srimad Bhagwatam. Now, I started reading Mahabharata. It is such a wonderful scripture. It is very interesting and teaches a lot of beautiful lessons in life”

Saint remained unimpressed, and uttered, “What will you call someone who is always busy in opening the wrappers – grasp the sweet and keep it aside. Then begins to open next wrapper?”

“I would call it a time waste, Sir”, replied the professor.

“My dear friend, you are doing the same. Words of a scripture are just a wrapper around the gist or purport or a deep spiritual message. Reading scriptures is good, but not for satisfying the intellectual hunger, not for impressing others and not without a goal. Firstly, you should have a clarity of goal about why are you reading the scriptures and then only you should spend time on reading the scriptures.”

The man remained baffled and silent. The Saint continued, “What if a student begins to go to the library and begin reading books one by one – without interacting with other students without guidance from professors and without any goal? Do you think such a student will succeed?”