Devanagari
एवं प्रवर्तते सर्ग: स्थिति: संयम एव च ।
गुणव्यतिकराद्राजन्मायया परमात्मन: ॥ १६ ॥
Verse text
evaṁ pravartate sargaḥ
sthitiḥ saṁyama eva ca
guṇa-vyatikarād rājan
māyayā paramātmanaḥ
Synonyms
evam
—
thus
;
pravartate
—
occurs
;
sargaḥ
—
creation
;
sthitiḥ
—
maintenance
;
saṁyamaḥ
—
annihilation
;
eva
—
certainly
;
ca
—
and
;
guṇa
—
of the modes
;
vyatikarāt
—
by interaction
;
rājan
—
O King
;
māyayā
—
by the illusory energy
;
parama
—
ātmanaḥ — of the Supreme Personality of Godhead .
Translation
Manu continued: My dear King Dhruva, it is simply by the illusory material energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and by the interaction of the three modes of material nature that creation, maintenance and annihilation take place.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O King! As the creation of bodies takes place in this way, so does the maintenance and destruction of bodies take place by the action of the guṇas, through the māyā of the Supreme Lord.
Just as the creation takes place by the elements in the form of bodies, so by mother and father made of the elements maintenance takes place, and by bodies of criminals, tigers and snakes, destruction takes place. However the actions of guṇas do not take place by themselves, but by the māyā of the Supreme Lord. Creation takes place by rajas, maintenance by sattva and destruction by tamas.
Purport
First, creation takes place with the ingredients of the five elements of material nature. Then, by the interaction of the modes of material nature, maintenance also takes place. When a child is born, the parents immediately see to its maintenance. This tendency for maintenance of offspring is present not only in human society, but in animal society as well. Even tigers care for their cubs, although their propensity is to eat other animals. By the interaction of the material modes of nature, creation, maintenance and also annihilation take place inevitably. But at the same time we should know that all is conducted under the superintendence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Everything is going on under that process. Creation is the action of the
rajo-guṇa,
the mode of passion; maintenance is the action of
sattva-guṇa,
the mode of goodness; and annihilation is the action of
tamo-guṇa,
the mode of ignorance. We can see that those who are situated in the mode of goodness live longer than those who are situated in the
tamo-guṇa
or
rajo-guṇa.
In other words, if one is elevated to the mode of goodness, he is elevated to a higher planetary system, where the duration of life is very great.
Ūrdhvaṁ gacchanti sattva-sthāḥ:
great
ṛṣis,
sages and
sannyāsīs
who maintain themselves in
sattva-guṇa,
or the mode of material goodness, are elevated to a higher planetary system. Those who are transcendental even to the material modes of nature are situated in the mode of pure goodness; they attain eternal life in the spiritual world.