sattvaá¹ rajas tama itÄ«Å›a tavÄtma-bandho
mÄyÄ-mayÄḥ sthiti-layodaya-hetavo 'sya
lÄ«lÄ dhá¹›tÄ yad api sattva-mayÄ« praÅ›Äntyai
nÄnye nṛṇÄá¹ vyasana-moha-bhiyaÅ› ca yÄbhyÄm
sattvam - goodness; rajaḥ - passion; tamaḥ - ignorance; iti - the modes of nature thus termed; Ä«Å›a - O Lord; tava - Your; Ätma-bandho - O supreme friend of the soul; mÄyÄ-mayÄḥ - produced from Your personal energy; sthiti-laya-udaya - of maintenance, destruction and creation; hetavaḥ - the causes; asya - of this universe; lÄ«lÄḥ - as pastimes; dhá¹›tÄḥ - assumed; yat api - although; sattva-mayÄ« - that which is in the mode of goodness; praÅ›Äntyai - for liberation; na - not; anye - the other two; nṛṇÄm - for persons; vyasana - danger; moha - bewilderment; bhiyaḥ - and fear; ca - also; yÄbhyÄm - from which.
O my Lord, O supreme friend of the conditioned soul, although for the creation, maintenance and annihilation of this world You accept the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance, which constitute Your illusory potency, You specifically employ the mode of goodness to liberate the conditioned souls. The other two modes simply bring them suffering, illusion and fear.
The words lÄ«lÄ dhá¹›tÄḥ indicate that the creative activities of Lord BrahmÄ, the destructive activities of Lord Åšiva and the sustaining functions of Lord Viṣṇu are all pastimes of the Absolute Truth, Lord Kṛṣṇa. But ultimately only Lord Viṣṇu can award liberation from the clutches of material illusion, as indicated by the words sattva-mayÄ« praÅ›Äntyai.
Our passionate and ignorant activities cause great suffering, illusion and fear for us and others; therefore they should be given up. One should become firmly situated in the mode of goodness and live peacefully on the spiritual platform. The essence of goodness is to renounce selfish interest in all one’s activities and thus dedicate one’s entire being to the Supreme Being, Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is the source of our existence.
