FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.2.33

असौ गुणमयैर्भावैर्भूतसूक्ष्मेन्द्रियात्मभि: । स्वनिर्मितेषु निर्विष्टो भुङ्क्ते भूतेषु तद्गुणान् ॥ ३३ ॥
asau guṇamayair bhāvair
[asau gunamayair bhaavair]
bhūta-sūkṣmendriyātmabhiḥ
[bhoota-sookshmendriyaatmabhih]
sva-nirmiteṣu nirviṣṭo
[sva-nirmiteshu nirvishto]
bhuṅkte bhūteṣu tad-guṇān
[bhunkte bhooteshu tad-gunaan]
Word-for-word
asau — that Paramātmā guṇa-mayaiḥ — influenced by the modes of nature bhāvaiḥ — naturally bhūta — created sūkṣma — subtle indriya — senses ātmabhiḥ — by the living beings sva-nirmiteṣu — in His own creation nirviṣṭaḥ — entering bhuṅkte — causes to enjoy bhūteṣu — in the living entities tat-guṇān — those modes of nature.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
asau guṇamayair bhāvair
asau
that Paramātmā
guṇa-mayaiḥ
influenced by the modes of nature
bhāvaiḥ
naturally
bhūta-sūkṣmendriyātmabhiḥ
bhūta
created
sūkṣma
subtle
indriya
senses
ātmabhiḥ
by the living beings
sva-nirmiteṣu nirviṣṭo
sva-nirmiteṣu
in His own creation
nirviṣṭaḥ
entering
bhuṅkte bhūteṣu tad-guṇān
bhuṅkte
causes to enjoy
bhūteṣu
in the living entities
tat-guṇān
those modes of nature.
The Supersoul enters into the bodies of the created beings who are influenced by the modes of material nature and causes them to enjoy the effects of these modes by the subtle mind.
Purport

There are 8,400,000 species of living beings beginning from the highest intellectual being, Brahmā, down to the insignificant ant, and all of them are enjoying the material world according to the desires of the subtle mind and gross material body. The gross material body is based on the conditions of the subtle mind, and the senses are created according to the desire of the living being. The Lord as Paramātmā helps the living being to get material happiness because the living being is helpless in all respects in obtaining what he desires. He proposes, and the Lord disposes. In another sense, the living beings are parts and parcels of the Lord. They are therefore one with the Lord. In the Bhagavad-gītā the living beings in all varieties of bodies have been claimed by the Lord as His sons. The sufferings and enjoyments of the sons are indirectly the sufferings and enjoyments of the father. Still the father is not in any way affected directly by the suffering and enjoyment of the sons. He is so kind that He constantly remains with the living being as Paramātmā and always tries to convert the living being towards the real happiness.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
The Lord as Paramātmā, having entered all the bodies with material sense objects, senses and mind, which have been created by the Lord, makes the jīvas enjoy the sense objects colored by the guṇas.
Commentary

That soul of the universe, Paramātmā, with conditions made of the guṇas in the form of sense objects (bhūta-sukṣma), senses and mind (ātmā), having entered into the bodies of living entities such as devatās and animals created by himself, enjoys those sense objects which correspond to the guṇas (tad-gunān). The Lord does not enjoy happiness of material sense objects. Thus the sentence means that, without the Paramātmā, the jīvas cannot act as enjoyers. Or it means that the Paramātmā enjoys through the jīva, because the jīva is the taṭastha-śakti of the Lord. Or the verb enjoys may be taken in a causal sense. Thus it means that the Paramātmā lets the jīvas enjoy the sense objects.

Related lectures
Personal Guidance
The Lord enters bodies under the modes and lets us experience the fruits of those modes through the subtle mind. Our experiences are not punishment but a precise mirror of our mode-driven choices.
Reflection Questions
  • What recent experience can I read as feedback from my own mode-driven choices rather than as fate?
  • Where would shifting mode now shift what I am being shown?
📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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