Study a Verse

• Great, potent personalities are not ruined by an apparent transgression of moral principles.
• A fire devours all that is fed into it but the fire does not change its nature.
• In the following verse, however, Śukadeva Gosvāmī makes it clear that if we try to imitate the great personalities ruling the universe, the result will be catastrophic.

The purport's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

Each link is a verse the purport itself quotes, or a purport elsewhere that quotes this verse, shown with the purport's own words.

Separation → Transcendental intimacy. The peak of longing reveals the intensity of selfless love.

Chapters 29–33 of Canto 10: The gopīs' yearning, reunion and rasa. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 33: The Rāsa Dance

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

When Mahārāja Parīkṣit heard the narration of Kṛṣṇa’s conjugal pastimes with the gopīs, which superficially resemble the activities of lusty, wanton persons, he expressed a doubt to the great devotee Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Śukadeva dispelled this doubt by stating, “Since Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the absolute enjoyer, such pastimes as these can never be contaminated by any fault.