242
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 2, Ch. 5]
care of the material nature ( bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni māyayā ); therefore, they are allowed to do things on their own account and suffer the consequences themselves. Devotees like Brahmā and Arjuna do not do anything on their own account, but as fully surrendered souls they always await indications from the Lord; therefore they attempt to do something which appears to be very wonderful to the ordinary vision. One of the Lord's names is Urukrama, or one whose actions are very wonderful and are beyond the imagination of the living being, so the actions of His devotees sometimes appear to be very wonderful due to the direction of the Lord. Beginning from Brahmā, the topmost intelligent living entity within the universe, down to the smallest ant, every living entity's intelligence is overseen by the Lord in His transcendental position as the witness of all actions. The subtle presence of the Lord is felt by the intelligent man who can study the psychic effects of thinking, feeling, and willing.
TEXT 18
सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति निर्गुणस्य गुणास्त्रयः । स्थितिसर्गनिरोधेषु गृहीता मायया विमोः ॥१८॥
sattvam rajas tama iti nirguṇasya guṇās trayaḥ sthiti-sarga-nirodheṣu gṛhītā māyayā vibhoḥ
sattvam —mode of goodness;  rajaḥ —mode of passion;  tamaḥ —mode of ignorance;  iti —all these;  nirguṇasya —of the transcendence;  guṇās trayaḥ —are three qualities;  sthiti —maintenance;  sarga —creation;  nirodheṣu —in destruction;  gṛhītāḥ —accepted;  māyayā —by the external energy;  vibhoḥ —of the Supreme.
TRANSLATION
The Supreme Lord is pure spiritual form, transcendental to all material qualities, yet for the sake of the creation of the material world and its maintenance and annihilation, He accepts through His external energy, the material modes of nature called goodness, passion and ignorance.