Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 11.23.55
Who is speaking and story frame
कालस्तुहेतु: सुखदु:खयोश्चेत्
किमात्मनस्तत्रतदात्मकोऽसौ ।
नाग्नेर्हि तापो न हिमस्य तत् स्यात्
क्रुध्येत कस्मै न परस्य द्वन्द्वम् ॥ ५५ ॥
kālas tu hetuḥ sukha-duḥkhayoś cet
kim ātmanas tatra tad-ātmako ’sau
nāgner hi tāpo na himasya tat syāt
krudhyeta kasmai na parasya dvandvam
If we accept time as the cause of happiness and distress, that experience still cannot apply to the spirit soul, since time is a manifestation of the Lord’s spiritual potency and the living entities are also expansions of the Lord’s spiritual potency manifesting through time. Certainly a fire does not burn its own flames or sparks, nor does the cold harm its own snowflakes or hail. In fact, the spirit soul is transcendental and beyond the experience of material happiness and distress. At whom, therefore, should one become angry?
Read the purport on Vedabase.ioFrom 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.