There are many who disregard the importance of the adhyayana of shAstra-s while considering themselves to be adhering to bhakti mArga. It should however be noted that manana and chintana are important aspects of bhakti yoga as well. The reason for the same, we shall shortly examine.

satsa~Nga is an important limb of the multu-faceted bhakti yoga. All shAstras teaching bhagavad-bhakti sing praises of satsanga. Satsanga or the company of the great blesses one with knowledge, insights into bhakti yoga and calms the tumultuous mind. The shAstras clarify that satsanga can involve questions and answers mainly to attain clarity but never is futile vitaNDavAda permitted within the precincts of satsanga. Sage nArada clarifies the same in his bhakti sUtra:

वादो नावलम्ब्यः ||

Satsanga operates at many levels beyond mundane and intellectual faculties. When in the company of the great men, there is a subtle transmission or shaktipAta from which one can derive benefit only if present completely in that moment and context. vAda, tarka and other operatives of the lower mind, while useful in a different context, are not conducive to satsanga. bhagavAn ramaNa is the greatest example one can think of in this regard, who simply advised people to “shut up” when in his presence. Again, this should not discourage a healthy and relevant exchange of ideas during satsanga, as stated in viShNu bhAgavata:

सङ्गमः खलु साधूनामुभयेषां च सम्मतः |

यत्सम्भाषणसम्प्रश्नः सर्वेषां वितनोति शम् ||

The same purANa describes the greatness of satsanga at several places:

यत्सङ्गलब्धं निजवीर्यवैभवं

तीर्थं मुहुः संस्पृशतां हि मानसम् |

हरत्यजोऽन्तः श्रुतिभिर्गतोऽङ्गजं

को वै न सेवेत मुकुन्दविक्रमम् || [5|18|11]

भवापवर्गो भ्रमतो यदा भवेत्

जनस्य तर्ह्यच्चुत सत्समागमः |

सत्सङ्गमो यर्हि तदैव सद्गतौ

परावरेशे त्वयि जायते मतिः || [10|51|55]

However, one is advised to choose carefully the company one keeps asserted by the following niShedha in the nAradIya bhakti sUtra:

दुःसङ्गः सर्वथैव त्याज्यः ||

Sage nArada elucidates the reason for this niShedha thus:

कामक्रोधमोहस्मृतिभ्रंश बुद्धिनाश सर्वनाश कारणत्वात् ||

The Lord reiterates the same in gItA:

सत्यं शौचं दया मौनं बुद्धिः श्रीर्ह्रीर्यशः क्षमा |

शमो दमो भगश्चेति यत्सङ्गाद्याति संक्षयम् ||

तेष्वशान्तेषु मूढेषु खण्डितात्मस्वसाधुषु |

सङ्गं न कुर्याच्छोच्येषु योषित्क्रीडामृगेषु च || [3 | 31 | 33-34]

Thus having established the role of satsanga in bhakti yoga, we should now note that the study of scripture such as a smR^iti, kalpa, itihAsa or purANa is not different from having satsanga with the author of these works. In the current days when most humans are shishnodaraparAyaNa-s, it is rather difficult to find worthy company for satsanga and the easy and safe alternative is to benefit from satsanga with realized seers and masters from the past, through the sincere study of sadgranthas authored by them.

nArada prescribes shAstrAdhyayana in his bhakti sUtra as well:

भक्तिशास्त्राणि मननीयानि तदुद्बोधक-कर्माणि करणीयानि |

Bhakti yoga pays special attention to yama and niyama and these represent niShedha and vidhi respectively. In the current context, satsa~Nga amounts to vidhi and niShedha is the tyAga of asatsanga. On a similar note, study of sadgrantha amounts to vidhi and niShedha involves giving up studying asadgranthas that pull the mind away from bhagavad-bhakti and preach dehAtma-buddhi, anAtmavAda, nirIshvaravAda etc.