Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.78.25-26
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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adāntasya
—
of one not self-controlled
A- + dānta (from √dam, to subdue). Dama is the first qualification listed in BG 18.42 for a brāhmaṇa. Romaharṣaṇa held the books of brāhmaṇa-dharma but lacked the first quality of brāhmaṇa-conduct.
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avinītasya
—
of one without humility
A- + vinīta (from vi-√nī, 'led aside, trained'). Vinaya — śiṣya-quality. Vyāsa's own student lacked it. The Bhāgavatam quietly notes that paramparā fails when its receiver is unbendable.
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paṇḍita-māninaḥ
—
considering himself a scholar
Paṇḍita (learned) + mānin (one who considers himself). The exact construction Kṛṣṇa uses in BG 2.42 (avipaścitaḥ) and 3.27 (ahaṅkāra-vimūḍha-ātmā kartāham iti manyate). Self-image as scholar without scholar's qualities.
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naṭasya iva
—
like an actor
Naṭa (actor) + iva (like). A devastating Bhāgavatam simile. The actor's lines are perfect; his life is not the part. Vyāsa's verses on Romaharṣaṇa's lips were theatre, not testimony.
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ajita-ātmanaḥ
—
one who has not conquered his self
A- + jita (conquered) + ātmā. Ātma-jaya — the conquest of the lower self by the higher — is the first turn of bhakti. Without it, śravaṇa and adhyayana ferment into pride.
One might argue that Romaharṣaṇa committed an innocent mistake when he failed to recognize Lord Balarāma, but such an argument is refuted here by Lord Balarāma’s strong criticism.
Perhaps he is doing so out of ignorance. No, that cannot be because he is the pupil of Vyasa deva (rser bhagavato bhutva sisyo). His study of scriptures has not produced good qualities such as peacefulness.
Vyāsa was an avatāra of the Lord and had written many scriptures on dharma. The studying did not produce qualities like control of the mind. Because of an ancient offense, he could not control his mind. Thus he could not control his senses. Therefore his learning was useless.
Vyāsa was an avatāra of the Lord and had written many scriptures on dharma. Dharma-sāstras are the smṛtis. Itihāsa meams Mahābhārata. The studying did not produce qualities like control of the mind. Because of an ancient offense, he could not control his mind. Thus he could not control his senses. Therefore his learning was useless. Or after learning the Vedas, because of bad association, all the scriptures he studied did not bear fruit but rather false pride. An example is given. A person studies scriptures on drama to become a skillful actor, but it bears no result. It is useless. Or though an actor puts on the dress of a brāhmaṇa, this does not bear results. Or though one studies scriptures, one becomes an actor only by association with an actor. Sma indicates famous or certainly.
Studying all the Itihāsas, Dharma-śāstras, Purāṇas — and yet none of it produced even one good quality. Scripture without dama, vinaya, ātma-jaya is like an actor learning a saintly role: the lines are exact, the character is empty. Knowledge that does not bend the knower is theatre.
The Bhāgavatam's simile naṭasya iva ('like an actor') reappears in Caitanya-caritāmṛta's warning against prākṛta-sahajiyās — those who recite the names and adopt the poses of rasa without the inner ātmā-jaya. They look like devotees the way an actor looks like a king.
Mahāprabhu's own example was the antidote: tṛṇād api sunīcena. A sūta who sat lower than the lowest brāhmaṇa would have been beyond Balarāma's reach. The breach was not the birth, it was the height.
My note
Source: vedabase.io