The works of Ādi Śaṅkarācārya

Sanatsujātīyam

p. 239

p. 239

यः पापानि कुर्वन् ऋगादिवेदम् अधीते स तेन वेदाध्ययनेन पूयते न वा ? एतद्वक्तुमर्हसीत्यभिप्रायः ॥

In plain words

A man keeps doing wrong, and he also recites the Ṛgveda and the rest. Does that recitation make him clean, or doesn't it? Tell me this — that is what is being asked.

Close to the Sanskrit

He who, while doing sinful acts, studies the Veda beginning with the Ṛk — is he purified by that Vedic study, or not? "This you ought to tell" — such is the intent.