Devanagari
रजस्तमश्च सत्त्वेन सत्त्वं चोपशमेन च ।
एतत्सर्वं गुरौ भक्त्या पुरुषो ह्यञ्जसा जयेत् ॥ २५ ॥
Verse text
rajas tamaś ca sattvena
sattvaṁ copaśamena ca
etat sarvaṁ gurau bhaktyā
puruṣo hy aṣjasā jayet
Synonyms
rajaḥ tamaḥ
—
the modes of passion and ignorance
;
ca
—
and
;
sattvena
—
by developing the mode of goodness
;
sattvam
—
the mode of goodness
;
ca
—
also
;
upaśamena
—
by giving up attachment
;
ca
—
and
;
etat
—
these
;
sarvam
—
all
;
gurau
—
unto the spiritual master
;
bhaktyā
—
by rendering service in devotion
;
puruṣaḥ
—
a person
;
hi
—
indeed
;
aṣjasā
—
easily
;
jayet
—
can conquer .
Translation
One must conquer the modes of passion and ignorance by developing the mode of goodness, and then one must become detached from the mode of goodness by promoting oneself to the platform of śuddha-sattva. All this can be automatically done if one engages in the service of the spiritual master with faith and devotion. In this way one can conquer the influence of the modes of nature.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
One conquers rajas and tamas by a predominance of sattva. One conquers sattva by being indifferent to the results of actions. One conquers all of these obstacles quickly and easily by devotion to guru.
One conquers rajas and tamas by greater degree of sattva. One conquers sattva by indifference to the results of action. One conquers all obstacles quickly and easily by bhakti to guru. This is like taking a strong medicine which cures all diseases. For the jṣānīs, destruction of lust and other obstacles is a sought result of devotion to guru. For the pure devotees, destruction of lust is a secondary result of devotion to guru. That is the difference.
Purport
Just by treating the root cause of an ailment, one can conquer all bodily pains and sufferings. Similarly, if one is devoted and faithful to the spiritual master, he can conquer the influence of
sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa
and
tamo-guṇa
very easily.
Yogīs
and
jṣānīs
practice in many ways to conquer the senses, but the
bhakta
immediately attains the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead through the mercy of the spiritual master.
Yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo.
If the spiritual master is favorably inclined, one naturally receives the mercy of the Supreme Lord, and by the mercy of the Supreme Lord one immediately becomes transcendental, conquering all the influences of
sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa
and
tamo-guṇa
within this material world. This is confirmed in
Bhagavad-gītā
(
sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate
). If one is a pure devotee acting under the directions of the
guru,
one easily gets the mercy of the Supreme Lord and thus becomes immediately situated on the transcendental platform. This is explained in the next verse.