Devanagari
जयकाले तु सत्त्वस्य देवर्षीन् रजसोऽसुरान् ।
तमसो यक्षरक्षांसि तत्कालानुगुणोऽभजत् ॥ ८ ॥
Verse text
jaya-kāle tu sattvasya
devarṣīn rajaso ’surān
tamaso yakṣa-rakṣāṁsi
tat-kālānuguṇo ’bhajat
Synonyms
jaya
—
kāle — in the time of prominence
;
tu
—
indeed
;
sattvasya
—
of goodness
;
deva
—
the demigods
;
ṛṣīn
—
and the sages
;
rajasaḥ
—
of passion
;
asurān
—
the demons
;
tamasaḥ
—
of ignorance
;
yakṣa
—
rakṣāṁsi — the Yakṣas and Rākṣasas
;
tat
—
kāla — anuguṇaḥ — according to the particular time
;
abhajat
—
fostered .
Translation
When the quality of goodness is prominent, the sages and demigods flourish with the help of that quality, with which they are infused and surcharged by the Supreme Lord. Similarly, when the mode of passion is prominent the demons flourish, and when ignorance is prominent the Yakṣas and Rākṣasas flourish. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is present in everyone’s heart, fostering the reactions of sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
When sattva becomes prominent the Lord favors the devatās and sages. When rajas becomes prominent he favors the demons. When tamas becomes prominent he favors the Yakṣas and Rākṣasas. The Lord acts according to the dictates of time.
The inequality of the Lord seen everywhere is based on the inequality of the guṇas, according to their increase or diminution. Diminution and increase do not occur for one guṇa at the same time, but in sequence. Decrease is caused by oppression by other guṇas and increase is caused by oppressing other guṇas. By decrease or increase of the guṇas one can infer the decrease or increase of devatās, demons and Rākṣasas. Since the guṇas themselves are insentient, they cannot increase or decrease by themselves. The Lord must enter as their controller. When sattva becomes prominent, he favors devatās and sages. As much as sattva becomes prominent, the bodies suitable for sattva become prominent. Entering into their bodies, the Lord increases their strength, and restricts the demons and Rākṣasas. When rajas becomes prominent, he favors the demons. When tamas becomes prominent he favors the Yakṣas and Rākṣasas. He acts in accordance with time. The cause of the increase of a guṇa is time, not the Lord himself.
Purport
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is not partial to anyone. The conditioned soul is under the influence of the various modes of material nature, and behind material nature is the Supreme Personality of Godhead; but one’s victory and loss under the influence of
sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa
and
tamo-guṇa
are reactions of these modes, not of the Supreme Lord’s partiality. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, in the
Bhāgavata-sandarbha,
has clearly said:
sattvādayo na santīśe
yatra ca prākṛtā guṇāḥ
sa śuddhaḥ sarva-śuddhebhyaḥ
pumān ādhyaḥ prasīdatu
hlādinī sandhinī samvit
tvayy ekā sarva-saṁsthitau
hlāda-tāpa-karī miśrā
tvayi no guṇa-varjite
According to this statement of the
Bhāgavata-sandarbha,
the Supreme Lord, being always transcendental to the material qualities, is never affected by the influence of these qualities. This same characteristic is also present in the living being, but because he is conditioned by material nature, even the pleasure potency of the Lord is manifested in the conditioned soul as troublesome. In the material world the pleasure enjoyed by the conditioned soul is followed by many painful conditions. For instance, we have seen that in the two great wars, which were conducted by the
rajo-guṇa
and
tamo-guṇa,
both parties were actually ruined. The German people declared war against the English to ruin them, but the result was that both parties were ruined. Although the Allies were apparently victorious, at least on paper, actually neither of them were victorious. Therefore it should be concluded that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is not partial to anyone. Everyone works under the influence of various modes of material nature, and when the various modes are prominent, the demigods or demons appear victorious under the influence of these modes.
Everyone enjoys the fruits of his qualitative activities. This is also confirmed in
Bhagavad-gītā
(14.11-13):
sarva-dvāreṣu dehe ’smin
prakāśa upajāyate
jṣānaṁ yadā tadā vidyād
vivṛddhaṁ sattvam ity uta
lobhaḥ pravṛttir ārambhaḥ
karmaṇām aśamaḥ spṛhā
rajasy etāni jāyante
vivṛddhe bharatarṣabha
aprakāśo ’pravṛttiś ca
pramādo moha eva ca
tamasy etāni jāyante
vivṛddhe kuru-nandana
“The manifestations of the modes of goodness can be experienced when all the gates of the body are illumined by knowledge.
“O chief of the Bhāratas, when there is an increase in the mode of passion, the symptoms of great attachment, uncontrollable desire, hankering, and intense endeavor develop.
“O son of Kuru, when there is an increase in the mode of ignorance, madness, illusion, inertia and darkness are manifested.”
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is present in everyone’s heart, simply gives the results of the increase in the various qualities, but He is impartial. He supervises victory and loss, but He does not take part in them.
The various modes of material nature do not work all at once. The interactions of these modes are exactly like seasonal changes. Sometimes there is an increment of
rajo-guṇa,
sometimes of
tamo-guṇa
and sometimes
sattva-guṇa.
Generally the demigods are surcharged with
sattva-guṇa,
and therefore when the demons and the demigods fight, the demigods are victorious because of the prominence of their
sattva-guṇa
qualities. However, this is not the partiality of the Supreme Lord.