SB 10.48.21 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

सृजस्यथो लुम्पसि पासि विश्वं रजस्तम:सत्त्वगुणै: स्वशक्तिभि: । न बध्यसे तद्गुणकर्मभिर्वा ज्ञानात्मनस्ते क्व‍ च बन्धहेतु: ॥ २१ ॥

Verse text

sṛjasy atho lumpasi pāsi viśvaṁ rajas-tamaḥ-sattva-guṇaiḥ sva-śaktibhiḥ na badhyase tad-guṇa-karmabhir vā jṣānātmanas te kva ca bandha-hetuḥ

Synonyms

sṛjasi — You create ; atha u — and then ; lumpasi — You destroy ; pāsi — You protect ; viśvam — the universe ; rajaḥ — known as passion ; tamaḥ — ignorance ; sattva — and goodness ; guṇaiḥ — by the modes ; sva — śaktibhiḥ — Your personal potencies ; na badhyase — You are not bound ; tat — of this world ; guṇa — by the modes ; karmabhiḥ — by the material activities ; vā — or ; jṣāna — ātmanaḥ — who are knowledge itself ; te — for You ; kva ca — where at all ; bandha — of bondage ; hetuḥ — cause .

Translation

You create, destroy and also maintain this universe with Your personal energies — the modes of passion, ignorance and goodness — yet You are never entangled by these modes or the activities they generate. Since You are the original source of all knowledge, what could ever cause You to be bound by illusion?

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

You create, destroy and also maintain this universe with Your personal energies—the modes of passion, ignorance and goodness—yet You are never entangled by these modes or the activities they generate. Since You are the original source of all knowledge, what could ever cause You to be bound by illusion? KB 10.48.21 Akrūra continued: “In the material world, You create, maintain and dissolve the whole manifestation by the interactions of the three material qualities, namely goodness, passion and ignorance. But You are not implicated in the activities of those material qualities, for Your supreme knowledge is never overcome like the knowledge of the individual living entity.” The Supreme Lord enters the material cosmos and causes creation, maintenance and destruction in their due course, whereas the part-and-parcel living entity enters the material elements and has his material body created for him. The difference between the living entity and the Lord is that the living entity is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord and has the tendency to be overcome by the interactions of the material qualities. Kṛṣṇa, the Para-brahman, or the Supreme Brahman, being always situated in full knowledge, is never overcome by such activities. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is called Acyuta, meaning “He who never falls down.” Kṛṣṇa’s knowledge of His spiritual identity is never overcome by material action, whereas the minute part-and-parcel living entities are prone to forget their spiritual identity due to material action. The individual living entities are eternally part and parcel of God, minute sparks of the original fire, Kṛṣṇa. As sparks are prone to be extinguished, but not the blazing fire, so the living entities can be overcome by material activities, whereas Kṛṣṇa never can.

Purport

The phrase jṣānātmanas te kva ca bandha-hetuḥ, “Since You are constituted of knowledge, what could be a cause of bondage for You?” definitely indicates the obvious, that the omniscient Supreme God is never in illusion. Therefore the impersonalistic theory that we are all God but have forgotten and are now in illusion is refuted here in the pages of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Therefore you are the one Supreme Lord of the universe. You are not bound up like the jivas by karma and the gunas of sattva , rajas and tama." "Why am I not bound up?" "As you are the very form of knowledge, para brahman, what is the question of being bound up by ignorance? You do not have ignorance like the jiva."

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

“Let that be. By your acintya-śakti, like the cintāmaṇi or loadstone, you can be unchanging while being the material and efficient cause. But how can you glance to carry out action in creation? How are you not bound up?” This verse answers. You are purely spiritual (jñānātmanaḥ). The actions belong to māyā, but appear to be yours. The actions take place by a relationship with you. The following should be explained. The spiritual energy manifests in the material world as bhakti. sāttviky ādhyātmikī śraddhā karma-śraddhā tu rājasī tāmasy adharme yā śraddhā mat-sevāyāṁ tu nirguṇā Faith in ātmā is in sattva, faith in prescribed karma is in rajas, faith in irreligious activities is in tamas, but faith in my devotional service is beyond the guṇas. SB 11.25.27 The Lord glances in order to see the devotees practicing in the material world. Carrying out creation is a secondary act. Maintenance comes at the end of the list following creation and destruction since the maintenance is taking place at the present. māyā-javanikācchannam ajñādhokṣajam avyayam | na lakṣyase mūḍha-dṛśā naṭo nāṭyadharo yathā || I do not know you, covered by the screen of māyā, beyond the knowledge of the material senses, and unaffected, just as the puppeteer behind the screen moving the puppets is not understood by the eyes of the ignorant. tathā paramahaṁsānāṁ munīnām amalātmanām | bhakti-yoga-vidhānārthaṁ kathaṁ paśyema hi striyaḥ || How can we women hope to see you, the object of bhakti for the omniscient, liberated sages? SB 1.8.19-20 Thus the activities of māyā are changeable and the activities of spirit are unchangeable. pravartate yatra rajas tamas tayoḥ sattvaṁ ca miśraṁ na ca kāla-vikramaḥ | na yatra māyā kim utāpare harer anuvratā yatra surāsurārcitāḥ || In Vaikuṇṭha there is no rajas or tamas, and no sattva mixed with rajas and tamas. There is no influence of time. There is no influence of māyā at all, what to speak of its products such as material elements. In Vaikuṇṭha the inhabitants are fully dedicated to the Lord and are worshipable by the devas, asuras and devotees. SB 2.9.10 Because the Lord is not attached to the activities of māyā he is not bound up. Therefore he has no fault.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

The faults and qualities of the jīvas are not yours, since you are only the antaryāmī. Protecting (pāsi) is placed last since the Lord mainly protects. The faults and qualities of creation, destruction and maintenance and their guṇas of rajas, tamas and sattva do not apply to you. Since you simply inspire as the antaryāmī, the faults and qualities belong to the jīva. You are not bound by the actions with qualities of passion, ignorance or peace, which affect the jīva, since you are antaryāmī. The reason is given. They are your śaktis. Being the agent, you are not contaminated by the faults or qualities of matter. They are the śaktis of you, the supreme Lord. What more can be said? You are not bound up. Even your associates are not bound. Where is the cause of bondage even (ca) for he whose is aware of your glories (jñānātmanaḥ)?