Is simply reading scriptures enough, or is personal experience necessary? What does Chapter 26 say about this?

Chapter 26 of the Sai Satcharitra makes a clear distinction between intellectual knowledge and direct spiritual experience. The text emphasizes that personal experience is paramount. The author prays to Sai Samarth, asking Him to make spiritual knowledge meaningful through direct, personal experience, stating that without it, 'the exhaustion of speech achieves nothing in spirituality.' This highlights that merely talking about or intellectually understanding spiritual concepts is insufficient. The devotee specifically beseeches Baba for the grace to personally experience the knowledge of the Self and be granted the natural state of union, or Sayujya, which cannot be attained through words alone.