A well beside a flood

yāvānartha udapāne sarvataḥ samplutodaketāvānsarveṣu vedeṣu brāhmaṇasya vijānataḥ

As much use as a well has when water floods everywhere, so much have all the Vedas for one who knows.

What it means

Krishna gives a vivid image. When water floods the whole land, a small well isn't needed. In the same way, for one who truly knows Brahman, the infinite reality, the scriptures have done their job. They were wells leading to the flood. The knower lives in the water.

The story

Krishna isn't throwing scripture away. A well is precious in a dry land. He's saying the point of all sacred teaching is to bring you to direct knowing. Arjuna doesn't need more rules. He needs to see.

In your life

Imagine a language learner who finally dreams in the new language and stops checking the dictionary. The dictionary helped. Now they live in the language. Let your tools lead you somewhere, then step in.