Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 17

Sanskrit:

किमेतया नोऽपकृतं रज्ज्वा वा सर्पचेतस: ।द्रष्टु: स्वरूपाविदुषो योऽहं यदजितेन्द्रिय: ॥ १७ ॥

ITRANS:

kim etayā no ’pakṛtaṁrajjvā vā sarpa-cetasaḥdraṣṭuḥ svarūpāviduṣoyo ’haṁ yad ajitendriyaḥ

Translation:

How can I blame her for my trouble when I myself am ignorant of my real, spiritual nature? I did not control my senses, and so I am like a person who mistakenly sees a harmless rope as a snake.

Purport:

When a person mistakes a rope for a snake, he becomes fearful and anxious. Such fear and anxiety are, of course, illusion, since the rope can never bite. Similarly, one who mistakenly thinks that the material, illusory energy of the Lord exists for his personal sense gratification will certainly bring down on his head an avalanche of material, illusory fear and anxiety. King Purūravā frankly admits here that the young lady Urvaśī is not to blame. After all, it was Purūravā who mistakenly considered her to be an object of his personal enjoyment, and therefore he suffered the reaction by the laws of nature. Purūravā himself was the offender for trying to exploit the external form of Urvaśī.