Study a Verse

• An immature devotee of the Supreme Lord may accept only the Deity of the Lord as divine and see everything else as material — even the Lord’s confidential servants.
• Nonetheless, because he recognizes Lord Viṣṇu’s supreme position, such a devotee is better situated than materialistic worshipers of the demigods, and he thus deserves a degree of respect.
• A neophyte devotee may be free from the more obvious sins of violence against innocent creatures and against his own body and mind, but until he becomes very advanced on the devotional path, he must always contend with the subtler contaminations of false pride, disrespect toward respectable Vaiṣṇavas and lack of compassion for suffering creatures.

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

Humility and separation → Friendship and reunion. The sweetness of relationship outweighs prestige.

Chapters 80–86 of Canto 10: Sudāmā and reunion with the residents of Vraja. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 84: The Sages’ Teachings at Kurukṣetra

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Lord Kṛṣṇa then said, “Now our lives are successful, for we have obtained the goal of life: the audience of great sages and yoga masters, which even demigods only rarely obtain. The water at a holy place of pilgrimage and the deity forms of the gods can purify one only after a long time, but saintly sages purify just by being seen.