Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.33.29
Manvantara· The Manus and right dutySpiritual Potency Is Not Ours to Imitate
“Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: The status of powerful controllers is not harmed by any apparently audacious transgression of morality we may see in them, for they are just like fire, which devours everything fed into it and remains unpolluted.”
What the purport teaches
- Śukadeva Gosvāmī explains that great, spiritually potent personalities are not ruined by an apparent transgression of moral principles.
- Fire devours whatever is fed into it without changing its nature. This illustrates how a powerful personality can remain unaffected by an irregularity in behavior.
- The purport immediately cautions that imitating the great personalities who rule the universe brings catastrophic results.
Try this today
Write a brief reminder: “Recognize spiritual greatness; do not imitate exceptional actions.”
Ask yourself
Why is recognizing spiritual potency different from claiming permission to imitate it?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
From Canto 10, chapter 14 onward, the translation and purports were completed by Śrīla Prabhupāda's disciples after his departure, and published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.