Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.33.29
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
-
dharma-vyatikramaḥ
—
the transgression of religious principles
Dharma + vi-ati-krama (going beyond). The technical Sanskrit term for apparent moral breach. Gauḍīyas: Śuka begins by accepting the descriptor in appearance, then dissolves it by ontology — these acts only look like vyatikrama from outside the rasa.
-
īśvarāṇām
—
of powerful controllers
Plural of īśvara. The category Śuka uses to bridge — first empowered controllers (vv.29-32), then the supreme controller (v.33). Prabhupāda's standing translation: 'controller.' Gauḍīyas: īśvara is one who can actually make things happen; therefore not bound by the laws he himself sustains.
-
tejīyasām
—
who are spiritually potent
Comparative of tejasvin (potent, fiery). The fire-analogy hidden in the very adjective: tejas = fire/potency. Gauḍīyas: only those of high tejas have the converting power; the analogy is not arbitrary but etymological.
-
vahneḥ sarva-bhujaḥ
—
of fire, the devourer of everything
Vahni (fire) + sarva-bhuj (all-devouring). The classical fire-simile for sat-tva. Gauḍīyas: the simile is twofold — fire transforms and is not transformed. So Bhagavān, who is sat-cit-ānanda fire, transforms every contact without alteration to Himself.
Great, potent personalities are not ruined by an apparent transgression of moral principles. Śrīdhara Svāmī mentions the examples of Brahmā, Indra, Soma, Viśvāmitra and others. A fire devours all that is fed into it but the fire does not change its nature. Similarly, a great personality does not fall from his position by an irregularity in behavior. In the following verse, however, Śukadeva Gosvāmī makes it clear that if we try to imitate the great personalities ruling the universe, the result will be catastrophic.
Though the demigods commit adharma, they do not receive the reactions for that. What then to speak of the Supreme Lord? In this verse Sukadeva answers Pariksit’s first question in six verses. Though personalities such as Rudra (isvaranam) commit adharama (dharma vyatikramah) out of rashness(sahasa), they do not need to atone for those acts.
In seven verses, out of affection which is his nature, or out of affection for his disciple, Śukadeva rejects conclusions other than those presented by Parīkṣit through hidden meaning, while rejecting Parīkṣit’s apparent words of criticism. One sees acts of adharma in persons who are not dependent on dharma (īśvarānām) such as Brahmā being attracted to his daughter, done without fear (sāhasam), such as Bṛhaspati approaching the wife of Utathya (his elder brother). There is no fault in these powerful beings. An example is given. The fire burns everything but does not become impure.
Throw anything into fire — dry wood, wet leaves, even waste — and the fire is not soiled; it converts. So Bhagavān and His potent servants pass through every kind of action without contamination, because their nature is transformative, not absorptive.
Śrīdhara Svāmī, in his Bhāgavata commentary, cites Brahmā, Indra, Soma, Viśvāmitra and others as examples of īśvaras who 'transgressed' without falling. Viśvāmitra's child with Menakā is the standard test-case — yet his sage-status is intact in śāstra.
Gauḍīyas use this gradient: even empowered servants do not fall; how then could the Empowerer Himself fall? The fire-analogy is the bridge — vv.30-33 will walk across it.
My note
Source: vedabase.io