Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.48.21
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
-
guṇa-karmabhiḥ
—
by the modes and by material activities
Compound: guṇa (mode of nature) + karma (action) + bhiḥ (instrumental plural). The two by which jīvas are bound; the two by which Bhagavān is not. Gītā 4.14 says the same of Kṛṣṇa: na māṁ karmāṇi limpanti.
-
jñāna-ātmanaḥ
—
of You who are knowledge itself
Compound: jñāna (knowledge) + ātman (self). The Lord is not a knower with knowledge; He is jñāna-ātmā — knowledge in person. Where would ignorance find purchase on Him?
-
bandha-hetuḥ
—
cause of bondage
Compound: bandha (bondage) + hetu (cause). The verse asks rhetorically — what could possibly bind You? The form of the question carries the doctrine: Bhagavān's freedom is structural, not conditional.
-
rajaḥ tamaḥ sattva
—
passion, ignorance, and goodness
The three guṇas, named in the order rajas-tamas-sattva (not the more usual sattva-rajas-tamas) — possibly emphasizing that even sattva, the highest mode, is still part of the Lord's outward energy and not His svarūpa.
The phrase jñānātmanas te kva ca bandha-hetuḥ, “Since You are constituted of knowledge, what could be a cause of bondage for You?” definitely indicates the obvious, that the omniscient Supreme God is never in illusion. Therefore the impersonalistic theory that we are all God but have forgotten and are now in illusion is refuted here in the pages of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Therefore you are the one Supreme Lord of the universe. You are not bound up like the jivas by karma and the gunas of sattva , rajas and tama." "Why am I not bound up?" "As you are the very form of knowledge, para brahman, what is the question of being bound up by ignorance? You do not have ignorance like the jiva."
“Let that be. By your acintya-śakti, like the cintāmaṇi or loadstone, you can be unchanging while being the material and efficient cause. But how can you glance to carry out action in creation? How are you not bound up?” This verse answers. You are purely spiritual (jṣānātmanaḥ). The actions belong to māyā, but appear to be yours. The actions take place by a relationship with you. The following should be explained. The spiritual energy manifests in the material world as bhakti. sāttviky ādhyātmikī śraddhā karma-śraddhā tu rājasī tāmasy adharme yā śraddhā mat-sevāyāṁ tu nirguṇā Faith in ātmā is in sattva, faith in prescribed karma is in rajas, faith in irreligious activities is in tamas, but faith in my devotional service is beyond the guṇas. SB 11.25.27 The Lord glances in order to see the devotees practicing in the material world. Carrying out creation is a secondary act. Maintenance comes at the end of the list following creation and destruction since the maintenance is taking place at the present. māyā-javanikācchannam ajṣādhokṣajam avyayam | na lakṣyase mūḍha-dṛśā naṭo nāṭyadharo yathā || I do not know you, covered by the screen of māyā, beyond the knowledge of the material senses, and unaffected, just as the puppeteer behind the screen moving the puppets is not understood by the eyes of the ignorant. tathā paramahaṁsānāṁ munīnām amalātmanām | bhakti-yoga-vidhānārthaṁ kathaṁ paśyema hi striyaḥ || How can we women hope to see you, the object of bhakti for the omniscient, liberated sages? SB 1.8.19-20 Thus the activities of māyā are changeable and the activities of spirit are unchangeable. pravartate yatra rajas tamas tayoḥ sattvaṁ ca miśraṁ na ca kāla-vikramaḥ | na yatra māyā kim utāpare harer anuvratā yatra surāsurārcitāḥ || In Vaikuṇṭha there is no rajas or tamas, and no sattva mixed with rajas and tamas. There is no influence of time. There is no influence of māyā at all, what to speak of its products such as material elements. In Vaikuṇṭha the inhabitants are fully dedicated to the Lord and are worshipable by the devas, asuras and devotees. SB 2.9.10 Because the Lord is not attached to the activities of māyā he is not bound up. Therefore he has no fault.
The faults and qualities of the jīvas are not yours, since you are only the antaryāmī. Protecting (pāsi) is placed last since the Lord mainly protects. The faults and qualities of creation, destruction and maintenance and their guṇas of rajas, tamas and sattva do not apply to you. Since you simply inspire as the antaryāmī, the faults and qualities belong to the jīva. You are not bound by the actions with qualities of passion, ignorance or peace, which affect the jīva, since you are antaryāmī. The reason is given. They are your śaktis. Being the agent, you are not contaminated by the faults or qualities of matter. They are the śaktis of you, the supreme Lord. What more can be said? You are not bound up. Even your associates are not bound. Where is the cause of bondage even (ca) for he whose is aware of your glories (jṣānātmanaḥ)?
A weaver works the loom — warp, weft, the pulled threads — and is not himself stitched into the cloth. Bhagavān creates, sustains, dissolves through the three guṇas and is not Himself bound by any of them. The Bhāgavatam's repeated refusal of theistic entanglement with prakṛti.
My note
Source: vedabase.io