śrī-bhagavān uvāca
guṇānām asammiśrāṇāḿ
pumān yena yathā bhavet
tan me puruṣa-varyedam
upadhāraya śaḿsataḥ
sri-bhagavan uvaca -- the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; gunanam -- of the modes of nature; asammisranam -- in their unmixed state; puman -- a person; yena -- by which mode; yatha -- how; bhavet -- he becomes; tat -- that; me -- by Me; purusha-varya -- O best among men; idam -- this; upadharaya -- please try to understand; samsatah -- as I speak.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: O best among men, please listen as I describe to you how the living entity attains a particular nature by association with individual material modes.
The word asammisra indicates that which is not mixed with anything else. Lord Krishna now explains how each of the three material modes (goodness, passion and ignorance), acting separately, causes a conditioned soul to manifest a particular type of existence. The living entity is ultimately transcendental to the modes of nature, being part and parcel of Lord Krishna, but in conditioned life he manifests material qualities. This is described in the following verses.
