Study a Verse

• Therefore Śukadeva Gosvāmī advised that the history of Citraketu be heard from a devotee.
• Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s secretary also advised that one learn the history of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from a devotee: yāha, bhāgavata pada vaiṣṇavera sthāne.
• One must be a bona fide devotee, and then he can preach and impress devotional service upon his listeners.

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

Parental grief → Detachment and surrender. A flashback discloses the devotional history behind Vṛtrāsura.

Chapters 14–17 of Canto 6: Citraketu's grief, realization and curse. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 17: Mother Pārvatī Curses Citraketu

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

A devotee is neutral in all conditions of life, whether in the heavenly planets or hellish planets, whether liberated from the material world or conditioned by it, and whether blessed with happiness or subjected to distress. These are all merely dualities created by the external energy.