Devanagari
सत्त्वं रजस्तम इतीश तवात्मबन्धो
मायामया: स्थितिलयोदयहेतवोऽस्य ।
लीला धृता यदपि सत्त्वमयी प्रशान्त्यै
नान्ये नृणां व्यसनमोहभियश्च याभ्याम् ॥ ४५ ॥
Verse text
sattvaṁ rajas tama itīśa tavātma-bandho
māyā-mayāḥ sthiti-layodaya-hetavo ’sya
līlā dhṛtā yad api sattva-mayī praśāntyai
nānye nṛṇāṁ vyasana-moha-bhiyaś ca yābhyām
Synonyms
sattvam
—
goodness
;
rajaḥ
—
passion
;
tamaḥ
—
ignorance
;
iti
—
the modes of nature thus termed
;
īśa
—
O Lord
;
tava
—
Your
;
ātma
—
bandho — O supreme friend of the soul
;
māyā
—
mayāḥ — produced from Your personal energy
;
sthiti
—
laya — udaya — of maintenance, destruction and creation
;
hetavaḥ
—
the causes
;
asya
—
of this universe
;
līlāḥ
—
as pastimes
;
dhṛtāḥ
—
assumed
;
yat api
—
although
;
sattva
—
mayī — that which is in the mode of goodness
;
praśāntyai
—
for liberation
;
na
—
not
;
anye
—
the other two
;
nṛṇām
—
for persons
;
vyasana
—
danger
;
moha
—
bewilderment
;
bhiyaḥ
—
and fear
;
ca
—
also
;
yābhyām
—
from which .
Translation
O my Lord, O supreme friend of the conditioned soul, although for the creation, maintenance and annihilation of this world You accept the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance, which constitute Your illusory potency, You specifically employ the mode of goodness to liberate the conditioned souls. The other two modes simply bring them suffering, illusion and fear.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O master of life forms! O friend of the jīva! The causes of creation, maintenance and destruction of the universe of all beings, including the devatās, are the three guṇas, made of māyā. Though you accept pastimes of sattva-guṇa for auspiciousness, you do not accept rajas and tamas at all, since they produce pain, illusion and fear for mankind.
“If a person has material desires, let him worship devatās. Worshipping them is worshipping me, since the devatās are my representatives.” O friend of the jīva! O master of life forms! The causes of this universe made of men, animals and devatās like Indra and Candra are the three guṇas which are made of māyā. How will I attain you, beyond māyā, by worshipping the effects of māyā, the devatās, who are all temporary? Though you accept sattva-guṇa pastimes among all pastimes for auspiciousness, you do not accept the others, rajas and tamas actions, by which suffering, illusion and fear arise. However, all three pastimes are made of māyā.
Purport
The words
līlā dhṛtāḥ
indicate that the creative activities of Lord Brahmā, the destructive activities of Lord Śiva and the sustaining functions of Lord Viṣṇu are all pastimes of the Absolute Truth, Lord Kṛṣṇa. But ultimately only Lord Viṣṇu can award liberation from the clutches of material illusion, as indicated by the words
sattva-mayī praśāntyai.
Our passionate and ignorant activities cause great suffering, illusion and fear for us and others; therefore they should be given up. One should become firmly situated in the mode of goodness and live peacefully on the spiritual platform. The essence of goodness is to renounce selfish interest in all one’s activities and thus dedicate one’s entire being to the Supreme Being, Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is the source of our existence.