FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 12.3.26

సత్త్వం రజస్తమ ఇతి ద‍ృశ్యన్తే పురుషే గుణా: । కాలసఞ్చోదితాస్తే వై పరివర్తన్త ఆత్మని ॥ ౨౬ ॥
sattvaṁ rajas tama iti
[sattvam rajas tama iti]
dṛśyante puruṣe guṇāḥ
[drishyante purushe gunaah]
kāla-saṣcoditās te vai
[kaala-sashchoditaas te vai]
parivartanta ātmani
[parivartanta aatmani]
sattvam — goodness rajaḥ — passion tamaḥ — ignorance iti — thus dṛśyante — are seen puruṣe — in a person guṇāḥ — the modes of material nature kāla-saṣcoditāḥ — impelled by time te — they vai — indeed parivartante — undergo permutation ātmani — within the mind.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
sattvaṁ rajas tama iti
sattvam
goodness
rajaḥ
passion
tamaḥ
ignorance
iti
thus
dṛśyante puruṣe guṇāḥ
dṛśyante
are seen
puruṣe
in a person
guṇāḥ
the modes of material nature
kāla-saṣcoditās te vai
kāla-saṣcoditāḥ
impelled by time
te
they
vai
indeed
parivartanta ātmani
parivartante
undergo permutation
ātmani
within the mind.
The material modes — goodness, passion and ignorance — whose permutations are observed within a person’s mind, are set into motion by the power of time.

The four ages described in these verses are manifestations of various modes of material nature. The age of truth, Satya-yuga, manifests the predominance of material goodness, and Kali-yuga manifests the predominance of ignorance. According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, within each age the other three ages occasionally manifest as sub-ages. Thus even within Satya-yuga a demon in the mode of ignorance may appear, and within the Age of Kali the highest religious principles may flourish for some time. As described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the three modes of nature are present everywhere and in everything, but the predominant mode, or combination of modes, determines the general character of any material phenomenon. In each age, therefore, the three modes are present in varying proportions. The particular age represented by goodness (Satya), passion (Tretā), passion and ignorance (Dvāpara) or ignorance (Kali) exists within each of the other ages as a subfactor.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
All the material modes—goodness, passion and ignorance—are observed within a single person, though he may be prominently of one mode. They are set into motion in the antaḥkaraṇa by the power of time. Just as planets like the sun have major periods (dāśa) and within that period there are minor periods (antar-dāśa) of the other planets, so in any particular yuga, the qualities of all four yugas periodically manifest. Thus, even in Kali-yuga, from time to time there is not a decrease in dharma. This is seen in a single person as well. In the antaḥkaraṇa (ātmani) of a single person all the modes come and go periodically.
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