Devanagari
सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति भजते निर्गुणो गुणान् ।
क्रीडन्नतीतोऽपि गुणै: सृजत्यवति हन्त्यज: ॥ ४० ॥
Verse text
sattvaṁ rajas tama iti
bhajate nirguṇo guṇān
krīḍann atīto ’pi guṇaiḥ
sṛjaty avan hanty ajaḥ
Synonyms
sattvam
—
goodness
;
rajaḥ
—
passion
;
tamaḥ
—
and ignorance
;
iti
—
thus called
;
bhajate
—
He accepts
;
nirguṇaḥ
—
beyond the material modes
;
guṇān
—
the modes
;
krīḍan
—
playing
;
atītaḥ
—
transcendental
;
api
—
although
;
guṇaiḥ
—
using the modes
;
sṛjati
—
He creates
;
avati
—
maintains
;
hanti
—
and destroys
;
ajaḥ
—
the unborn Lord .
Translation
Although beyond the three modes of material nature — goodness, passion and ignorance — the transcendental Lord accepts association with them as His play. Thus the unborn Supreme Lord utilizes the material modes to create, maintain and destroy.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Although beyond the three modes of material nature—goodness, passion and ignorance—the transcendental Lord accepts association with them as His play. Thus the unborn Supreme Lord utilizes the material modes to create, maintain and destroy.
KB 10.46.40
“He is never influenced by the modes of material nature, but when He appears within this material world He seems to act like an ordinary living entity under the spell of the modes of material nature. But in fact He is the overseer of this material creation, and while remaining unaffected by the material modes of nature, He creates, maintains and dissolves the whole cosmic manifestation.
Purport
As stated in the
Brahma-sūtra
(2.1.33),
loka-vat līlā-kaivalyam:
“The Lord performs His spiritual pastimes as if He were a resident of this world.”
Although the Lord does not favor or abuse anyone, we still observe happiness and suffering in this world. The
Gītā
(13.22)
states,
kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo ’sya:
We desire to associate with various qualities of material nature, and thus we must accept the consequences. The Lord provides the field of material nature, in which we exercise our free will. Foolish nondevotees not only attempt to cheat the Lord by trying to exploit His nature, but when they suffer the reaction they blame God for their own misdeeds. This is the shameless position of those who are envious of God.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
"If Krsna is equal to all, and no one is dear or undear, then why did he create some people happy and some people unhappy?"
"Happiness and unhappiness are created by the modes, not by Krsna." That is the intention of this verse.
"Though he is without gunas, by his glance at material energy he accepts sattva, raja and tama gunas."
"For what purpose?"
"For his play."
"But he is above all play."
Uddhava desired to make Nanda understand. "Actually Krsna is above the gunas, and rather appears for pastimes with his devotees as avatara in this universe among materialistic people. Though he does not enter the gunas, he creates the universe through the gunas, so that the designated jivas can receive senses and intelligence. to reap their fruits of good and bad karma and thus enjoy and suffer. What fault is there in Krsna for this? That is the meaning of the statement "no one is dear or undear to him.""
"Thus the creation is not the Lord’s but rather that of the gunas (verse 41). Due to defect in the bodily functions, a person may perceive that the earth is turning around like a potter’s wheel. Similarly, though the mind is the doer, the jiva perceives the soul as the doer due to identification with the mind. In the same way the jiva perceives the universe as the creation of the Lord, though it is actually the creation of the gunas. It should be understood however, that though the material universe is not a direct creation of the Lord, it is a creation of the lord’s maya sakti, coming from the Lord. As the Lord and his energy are non different, one can say that the Lord, in the form of his maya sakti, creates the world."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
By proximity with the Lord, the guṇas of matter act, though it appears that the Lord is directly involved. Or, playing is the nature of the Lord. In playing, the Lord acts as if he were attracted to the material guṇas. Without connection with the material guṇas he plays. He accepts the guṇas of sattva, rajas and tamas in order to play happily, which gives happiness to his devotees. Why does he become absorbed in the guṇas? He does not become absorbed at all. He is beyond the guṇas by his qualities like his knowledge arising from his svarūpa (guṇaiḥ). Therefore, he is without transformations like birth and death (ajaḥ). The play involving the material guṇas consists of creation, maintenance and destruction.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
“Though he has no material activities, why was it said that he creates the universe (verse 3)?” Two verses explain. He acts in the world as play. That play is produces by manifesting spiritual qualities. Though the Lord is untouched by the material guṇas of sattva, rajas and tamas, and though he is without birth, he manifests qualities beyond the guṇas such as cleverness and mercy to play in this world using those qualities. He creates melodies which bewilder Brahmā and Śiva. He protects the gopīs from Śaṅkhacūḍa and other demons. He destroys Śaṅgkhacūḍa and others. Or he creates calves and cowherd boys, he maintains those forms for a year, and withdraws those forms after that.