सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति गुणाः प्रकृतिसम्भवाः निबध्नन्ति महाबाहो देहे देहिनमव्ययम्
sattvaṁ rajas tama iti guṇāḥ prakṛti-sambhavāḥ nibadhnanti mahā-bāho dehe dehinam avyayam
Synonyms
sattvam—mode of goodness; rajaḥ—mode of passion; tamaḥ—mode of ignorance; iti—thus; guṇāḥ—qualities; prakṛti—material nature; sambhavāḥ—produced of; nibadhnanti—does condition; mahā-bāho—O mighty-armed one; dehe—in this body; dehinam—the living entity; avyayam—eternal..
Translation
Material nature consists of the three modes—goodness, passion and ignorance. When the living entity comes in contact with nature, he becomes conditioned by these modes.
Purport
The living entity, because he is transcendental, has nothing to do with this material nature. Still, because he has become conditioned by the material world, he is acting under the spell of the three modes of material nature. Because living entities have different kinds of bodies, in terms of the different aspects of nature, they are induced to act according to that nature. This is the cause of the varieties of happiness and distress.