Study a Verse

• Thus it is described here that the gopīs, by their lusty desires, which were based upon their intense love for Kṛṣṇa, became the most beloved devotees of the Lord.
• Although the gopīs at Vṛndāvana expressed their lusty desires in relationship with a paramour (parakīya-rasa), they actually had no lusty desires.
• The lusty desires of the gopīs for Kṛṣṇa are compared to gold, and material lusty desires are compared to iron.

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

Pride and rage → Oppression. The ruler's power intensifies his insecurity.

Chapters 1–4 of Canto 7: Hiraṇyakaśipu's ascent and intimidation. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 1: The Supreme Lord Is Equal to Everyone

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

The second question raised by Parīkṣit Mahārāja concerns how Śiśupāla, although inimical toward Kṛṣṇa from his very childhood and always blaspheming Kṛṣṇa, attained salvation in oneness when Kṛṣṇa killed him. Śukadeva Gosvāmī explains that because of their offenses at the feet of devotees, two attendants of the Lord in Vaikuṇṭha named Jaya and Vijaya became Hiraṇyakaśipu and Hiraṇyākṣa in Satya-yuga, Rāvaṇa and Kumbhakarṇa in the next yuga, Tretā-yuga, and Śiśupāla and Dantavakra at the end of Dvāpara-yuga.