Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 10 - Chapter 1 - Verse 29

Sanskrit:

श्रीशुक उवाचधर्मव्यतिक्रमो द‍ृष्ट ईश्वराणां च साहसम् ।तेजीयसां न दोषाय वह्ने: सर्वभुजो यथा ॥ २९ ॥

ITRANS:

śrī-śuka uvācadharma-vyatikramo dṛṣṭaīśvarāṇāṁ ca sāhasamtejīyasāṁ na doṣāyavahneḥ sarva-bhujo yathā

Translation:

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: The status of powerful controllers is not harmed by any apparently audacious transgression of morality we may see in them, for they are just like fire, which devours everything fed into it and remains unpolluted.

Purport:

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.