SB 11.26.2 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

गुणमय्या जीवयोन्या विमुक्तो ज्ञाननिष्ठया । गुणेषु मायामात्रेषु द‍ृश्यमानेष्ववस्तुत: । वर्तमानोऽपि न पुमान् युज्यतेऽवस्तुभिर्गुणै: ॥ २ ॥

Verse text

guṇa-mayyā jīva-yonyā vimukto jṣāna-niṣṭhayā guṇeṣu māyā-mātreṣu dṛśyamāneṣv avastutaḥ vartamāno ’pi na pumān yujyate ’vastubhir guṇaiḥ

Synonyms

guṇa — mayyā — based on the modes of nature ; jīva — yonyā — from the cause of material life, false identification ; vimuktaḥ — one who has become completely free ; jṣāna — in transcendental knowledge ; niṣṭhayā — by being properly fixed ; guṇeṣu — among the products of the modes of nature ; māyā — mātreṣu — which are simply illusion ; dṛśyamāneṣu — appearing before the eyes ; avastutaḥ — although not real ; vartamānaḥ — living ; api — although ; na — does not ; pumān — that person ; yujyate — become entangled ; avastubhiḥ — unreal ; guṇaiḥ — with the manifestations of the modes of nature .

Translation

A person fixed in transcendental knowledge is freed from conditioned life by giving up his false identification with the products of the material modes of nature. Seeing these products as simply illusion, he avoids entanglement with the modes of nature, although constantly among them. Because the modes of nature and their products are simply not real, he does not accept them.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Freed from the material coverings composed of the guṇas and imposed on the jīva, by being fixed in knowledge, existing amidst material sense objects but seeing them as insubstantial, a person is not entangled by these insubstantial objects. Liberated from the upādhis or coverings on the jīva composed of guṇas, a person is not entangled by objects which are insubstantial, though he continues to exist amidst sense objects (guṇeṣu) which are material (māyā-mātreṣu), which have no relationship with the Supreme Lord. He is not attached like a conditioned jīva. Why? He sees those objects to be unreal. He sees only me, Paramātmā.

Purport

The three modes of nature become manifest as varieties of material bodies, places, families, countries, foods, sports, war, peace and so forth. In other words, everything we see within the material world is constituted of the modes of nature. A liberated soul, although existing within the ocean of material energy, sees everything as the property of the Lord and is thus not entangled. Although Māyā tempts such a liberated soul to become a thief — to steal the property of the Lord for sense gratification — a Kṛṣṇa conscious person does not bite the bait of Māyā ; he remains honest and pure in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In other words, he does not believe that anything within the universe can become his personal property for sense gratification, especially the illusory form of a woman.