Text 17]
The Descent of the River Ganges
143
ple expansion of the Supreme Lord is composed of Vāsudeva, Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Saṅkarṣaṇa. Saṅkarṣaṇa, the fourth expansion, is certainly transcendental, but because his activities of destruction in the material world are in the mode of ignorance, He is known as tāmasī, the Lord's form in the mode of ignorance. Lord Śiva knows that Saṅkarṣaṇa is the original cause of his own existence, and thus he always meditates upon Him in trance by chanting the following mantra.
PURPORT
Sometimes we see a picture of Lord Śiva engaged in meditation. This verse explains that Lord Śiva is always meditating upon Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa in trance. Lord Śiva is in charge of the destruction of the material world. Lord Brahmā creates the material world, Lord Viṣṇu maintains it, and Lord Śiva destroys it. Because destruction is in the mode of ignorance, Lord Śiva and his worshipable Deity, Saṅkarṣaṇa, are technically called  tāmasī . Lord Śiva is the incarnation of  tamo-guṇa . Since both Lord Śiva and Saṅkarṣaṇa are always enlightened and situated in the transcendental position, they have nothing to do with the modes of material nature—goodness, passion and ignorance—but because their activities involve them with the mode of ignorance, they are sometimes called  tāmasī .
TEXT 17
श्रीभगवानुवाच
ॐ नमो भगवते महापुरुषाय सर्वगुणसङ्ख्यानायानन्तायान्यक्ताय नम इति ॥१७॥
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
om namo bhagavate mahā-puruṣāya sarva-guṇa-saṅkhyānāy- ānantāyāvyaktāya nama iti.
śrī-bhagavān uvāca—the most powerful Lord Śiva says:  om namo bhagavate —O Supreme Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You;  mahā-puruṣāya —who are the Supreme Person:  sarva-guṇa-saṅkhyānāya —the reservoir of all transcendental qualities: