Study a Verse

• Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī explains the word īśitavyatā as referring to one’s not being a controller, or in other words, to being under the law of karma, obliged to work and experience the results of one’s work.
• While addressing the sages, Lord Kṛṣṇa accepted the role of a subordinate living being to emphasize the importance of hearing and serving saintly Vaiṣṇavas.
• The Personality of Godhead is also the supreme teacher of spiritual surrender.

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:

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. Those who identify themselves with their bodies and neglect to honor transcendental sages like you are no better than asses.”