It has just been explained that one should perform bhakti alone rather than karma or jnana. Similarly one should worship Bhagavan alone, giving up worship of the devatas. That Lord, though one, appears in many forms as avatara for pastimes. Thus the Tenth Canto says bahu-murty-eka-murtikam: he is one form and many forms. (SB 10.40.7) The avataras are of two types: those which are related to the cit-sakti and those related to the maya-sakti. Those which are related to the cit-sakti, such as Matsya and Kurma are to be worshipped. Those which are related to the maya-sakti, through sattva, rajas and tamas, are Visnu, Brahma and Siva. Among them, Visnu is to be worshipped. That is stated in this verse.

Even though there is only one purusa or adi-purusa in this universe, for creation, maintenance and destruction (sthity-adaye) of the universe (asya), the Lord, joined with sattva, rajas and tamas, accepts the names Visnu, Brahma and Siva. The sandhi in hareti is poetic license. The Lord is described as parama (beyond) because though he is linked with the gunas, by his inconceivable energy he is situated separately from them, untouched by them. Among those forms, Visnu will bestow the desired results to the devotees (sreyamsi). Visnu is addressed as sattva-tanoh. By seeing verse 25 in this chapter this can only mean that Visnu possesses a body of visuddha-sattva, not material sattva. Otherwise there would be a contradiction to other statements in sruti and smrti :

Saksi ceta kevalo nirgunas ca
Visnu is the one conscious witness, beyond the gunas.

Svetasvatara Upanisad 6.11

Sattvadayo na santise yatra ca prakrta guna

In Visnu there are no material gunas. Visnu Purana 1.9.44

Harir hi nirgunah saksat purusah prakrteh parah

Visnu is devoid of the gunas; he is the person beyond matter. SB 10.88.5

Though Visnu is involved with the material sattva-guna, he is not at all contaminated by it. Visnu would not take up a material body of sattva, since sattva has the qualities of revelation or knowledge and indifference to enjoyment. Sattva should not eclipse the spiritual manifestation of eternity, knowledge and bliss. Rajas is agitating and causes addition (creation); and tamas is obscuring and causes subtraction (destruction). Thus rajas and tamas will disturb and cover bliss. Thus Brahma and Siva accept bodies of rajas and tamas because those gunas eclipse bliss. They have bodies composed of gunas, whereas Visnu does not. This is the logical explanation.

Visnu is without gunas since by being the manifest form of sattva, he accepts proximity to sattva. Thus he carries the function of protecting the universe but does this with no contamination of the qualities of material sattva. One cannot say that his existence beyond the gunas is negated by his participation in the world, because he does not possess material sattva by relationship of contact or inherence. He is situated in sattva only by being next to it. It should be understood however that his protection of the devotees does not arise from sattva but from suddha-sattva of his svarupa.

Brahma is a jiva, since he is Hiranyagarbha (with a material body made of mahat-tattva). The distinction between the supreme brahman and Brahma is based on the context of descriptions of Brahma, just as the identity of brahman is confirmed the context. Netaro ’nupapatter: the supreme brahman is not a jiva by the context of the discussion in Upanisads. Only because of the powers conferred by the supreme Lord on Brahma situated in rajas, he is considered an avatara.

bhasvan yathasma-sakalesu nijesu tejah sviyam kiyat prakatayaty api tadvad atra | brahma ya esa jagad-anda-vidhana-karta govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami ||

I worship the supreme lord Govinda who becomes Brahma, the creator of the universe (by bestowing his powers to that jiva), just as the sun displays a small portion of its powers of heat and light in all the sun stones which represent it. Brahma-samhita 5.49

Because Siva is not a jiva, he is considered to be the Supreme Lord associated with the gunas. Thus it is said:

ksiram yatha dadhi vikara-visesa-yogat
sanjayate na hi tatah prthag asti hetoh |
yah sambhutam api tatha samupaiti karyad
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami ||

I worship the supreme lord Govinda who becomes the form of Siva who is said to be non-different from Govinda, but who is also different because of his contact with the transformations of prakrti, just as milk becomes yogurt, which can be said to be non-different from its cause, but acts in a different manner. Brahma-samhita 5.45

Some say that, of Brahma and Siva, Siva is isvara or the supreme lord. Others say that he is connected with the gunas. They explain as follows. It should be understood that yoga means connection by proximity, by contact and by supervision. The purusa, connected with the gunas only as the supervisor, is devoid of gunas, being situated in his svarupa. Brahma and Siva however are connected to rajas and tamas by contact, and therefore called sa-guna, endowed with the gunas.13 Being related to sattva-guna only by proximity, the purusa in the form of Ksirodakasayi-visnu is devoid of gunas, being situated in his svarupa. Thus it is said:

yogo niyamakataya gunaih sambandha ucyate |
atah sa tair na yujyate tatra svamsah parasya yah ||

The relationship of the purusa with the gunas is that of being their controller. Among the three, he who is the svamsa of svayam-rupa Krsna, is not bound by the gunas. Laghu-bhagavatamrta 1.2.18