A wise sage, free from all material association and alert, should subdue his senses and worship me. As a preliminary, he should conquer rajas and tamas by engaging himself only with things in sattva. The Lord teaches the method of pure worship. One should be devoid of jñāna and karma (niḥsaṅgaḥ). “Faith in service to you is beyond the guṇas. Faith in ātmā is in sattva-guṇa. Faith in prescribed karmas is in rajas. Faith in adharma is in tamas. Happiness arising from bhakti to you is beyond the guṇas. Happiness arising from ātmā, sense objects and illusion is in sattva, rajas and tamas. All these things are either in the guṇas or without guṇas. What should a person who worships you do in the beginning?” This verse answers. It has been said that if he is endowed with bhakti alone, then he will conquer the three gunas by bhakti alone. That was already stated in verse 32. If he has a predominance of bhakti with some mixture of other elements (such as jñāna), then there is another method for conquering the three guṇas. That is stated in this verse. He engages in sattva to conquer rajas and tamas. It has been previously stated: sāttvikāny eva seveta pumān sattva-vivṛddhaye tato dharmas tato jñāna yāvat smṛtir apohanam Until one realizes ātmā and destroys the guṇas, and the gross and subtle bodies, one must use sattvika items to increase sattva, which increase dharma, and then gives rise to jñāna. SB 11.13.6