Chapter II · Śloka 42
यामिमां पुष्पितां वाचं प्रवदन्त्यविपश्चितः |
वेदवादरताः पार्थ नान्यदस्तीति वादिनः ||
वेदवादरताः पार्थ नान्यदस्तीति वादिनः ||
yām imāṃ puṣpitāṃ vācaṃ pravadanty avipaścitaḥ |
veda-vāda-ratāḥ pārtha nānyad astīti vādinaḥ ||
veda-vāda-ratāḥ pārtha nānyad astīti vādinaḥ ||
Men of small knowledge are very much attached to the flowery words of the Vedas, which recommend various fruitive activities for elevation to heavenly planets, resultant good birth, power, and so forth.
Not all who quote scripture have transcended it. Those attached to the 'flowery' promises of ritual reward — heaven, prosperity, prestige — mistake the scaffolding for the building. Krishna is not dismissing the Vedas but pointing beyond their exoteric surface.