Study a Verse

• Big political leaders might be able to conquer equally powerful political enemies, but unfortunately they cannot subdue their strong senses, the enemies that always accompany them.
• Sometimes these big leaders take up the guise of a sannyāsī and call themselves mahātmās, but their only business is conquering their political enemies.
• Because they spoil their lives with the illusion of “this is my land and my family,” they cannot progress spiritually and attain liberation from the clutches of māyā.

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

Misjudgment → Humility and insight. Spiritual insight hides behind social appearances.

Chapters 10–14 of Canto 5: Jaḍa Bharata instructs Rahūgaṇa. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 13: Further Talks Between King Rahūgaṇa and Jaḍa Bharata

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Sometimes he is attracted by women other than his wife, and thus be thinks he enjoys extramarital love with another woman. He is attacked by various diseases, by lamentation and by summer and winter.