sa evedaá¹ sasarjÄgre
bhagavÄn Ätma-mÄyayÄ
sad-asad-rÅ«payÄ cÄsau
guṇamayÄguṇo vibhuḥ
saḥ - that; eva - certainly; idam - this; sasarja - created; agre - before; bhagavÄn - the Personality of Godhead; Ätma-mÄyayÄ - by His personal potency; sat - the cause; asat - the effect; rÅ«payÄ - by forms; ca - and; asau - the same Lord; guṇa-maya - in the modes of material nature; aguṇaḥ - transcendental; vibhuḥ - the Absolute.
The position of the Lord is always transcendental because the causal and effectual energies required for the creation of the material world were also created by Him. He is unaffected, therefore, by the qualities of the material modes. His existence, form, activities and paraphernalia all existed before the material creation.* He is all-spiritual and has nothing to do with the qualities of the material world, which are qualitatively distinct from the spiritual qualities of the Lord.