गुणेष्वाविशते चेतो गुणाश्चेतसि च प्रजा: ।
जीवस्य देह उभयं गुणाश्चेतो मदात्मन: ॥
गुणेषु चाविशच्चित्तमभीक्ष्णं गुणसेवया ।
गुणाश्च चित्तप्रभवा मद्रूप उभयं त्यजेत् ॥
guṇeṣv āviśate ceto guṇāś cetasi ca prajāḥ |
jīvasya deha ubhayaṁ guṇāś ceto mad-ātmanaḥ ||
guṇeṣu cāviśac cittam abhīkṣṇaṁ guṇa-sevayā |
guṇāś ca citta-prabhavā mad-rūpa ubhayaṁ tyajet ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.13.25–26)
“[Haṁsa Bhagavān to Sanaka and other sages:] O sons! The mind becomes absorbed in the guṇas [i.e., the sense objects], and the guṇas [become absorbed] in the mind. Both the guṇas and the mind are bodies of [i.e., external adjuncts to] the jīva, who is constituted of me. The mind remains absorbed in the guṇas because of constant attendance to the guṇas, and the guṇas likewise remain strongly apparent in the mind. One who is absorbed in my form can abandon them both.”
Commentary
guṇeṣu ceta āviśati, guṇāś ca cetasi, evaṁ guṇāś cetaś cobhayaṁ mad-ātmanaś cinmayatvena brahma-svarūpasya jīvasya dehaḥ adhyasta upādhir eva, na tu svarūpam | evaṁ ca cetaso guṇānāṁ ca paraspara-santyāgārthaṁ kathaṁ yatadhve? … tad-ubhaya-paraspara-santyāgaś ca durghaṭa evety āha—guṇeṣv iti | anādita evābhīkṣṇaṁ guṇa-sevayā dṛḍhatareṇa tat-saṁskāreṇa guṇeṣv āviśad eva cittaṁ vartate, kathaṁ tāṁs tyaktuṁ prabhavatv iti bhāvaḥ | guṇāś ca punaḥ punar vāsanā-rūpeṇa citte prakarṣeṇa bhavanti, sadā tatra vartanta, iti te guṇāś ca kathaṁ vā tat tyaktuṁ prabhavantv iti bhāvaḥ | kiṁ ca, jñānināṁ kaṣṭena paraspara-tad-ubhaya-tyājanā ca niṣprayojanaiva | … ity āha—mad-rūpaḥ mad-abheda-bhāvanāveśān manmayaḥ san, jñānī ubhayaṁ tyajet | bhaktānāṁ tu mat-sevām eva parama-puruṣārthatvena niścitavatāṁ mad-rūpa-guṇa-līlā-rasa-nimagnāc cetasaḥ sakāśāt svata eva guṇā apayāntīti na teṣāṁ ceto guṇayoḥ paraspara-santyāgo durghaṭaḥ | manmayī-bhāvas tu teṣāṁ neṣṭa iti jñeyam |
(Excerpt from the Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“The mind (cetas) enters the guṇas [i.e., the viṣayas, the objects of the senses], and the guṇas [enter] the mind. Thus so, both the guṇas and the mind are bodies, that is, mere superimposed adjuncts (upādhis)—and not the nature (svarūpa)—of the jīva, who is ‘constituted of me’ (mad-ātmanaḥ), that is, by nature brahman by virtue of being constituted of consciousness (cinmaya). Thus so, furthermore, how can you all strive for the mind and the guṇas’ mutual abandonment [of one another]? [i.e., how can you all endeavor to separate the two from each other when they are both only adjuncts distinct from your own nature?] Their mutual abandonment [of one another] is certainly difficult. Thus, he [i.e., Haṁsa Bhagavān] speaks this verse (guṇeṣv …) [i.e., SB 11.13.26]. The mind remains definitively absorbed in the guṇas because of saṁskāras for them which are very firmly ingrained because verily beginningless constant attendance to the guṇas. [Thus,] How shall it [i.e., the mind] be able to abandon them? This is the purport. The guṇas also again and again strongly appear in the mind in the form of vāsanās; they are constantly present there. Therefore, how also shall the guṇas be able to abandon that [i.e., the mind]? This is the purport. Furthermore, onerously causing their mutual abandonment [of one another] is unnecessary for jñānīs. … Thus, he says, ‘Being a form of me’ (mad-rūpaḥ), that is, becoming made up of me as a result of absorption in meditation (bhāvanā) on non-difference from me, a jñānī can abandon them both. For bhaktas, however, who have definitively determined service to me to be the supreme puruṣārtha, the guṇas withdraw of their own accord from the mind absorbed in my form, qualities, līlā, and rasa. Thus, for them, the mind and the guṇas’ mutual abandonment [of one another] is not difficult. The bhāva of being made up of me, however, is not desired by them. This is to be understood.”