Text 17] The Descent of the River Ganges 143
ple expansion of the Supreme Lord is composed of Vasudeva, Pra-
dyumna, Aniruddha and Sankarsana. Sankarsana, the fourth ex-
pansion, is certainly transcendental, but because his activities of
destruction in the material world are in the mode of ignorance, He
is known as tamasi, the Lord’s form in the mode of ignorance.
Lord Siva knows that Sankarsana 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 Siva engaged in meditation. This
verse explains that Lord Siva is always meditating upon Lord Sankarsana
in trance. Lord Siva is in charge of the destruction of the material world.
Lord Brahma creates the material world, Lord Visnu maintains it, and
Lord Siva destroys it. Because destruction is in the mode of ignorance,
Lord Siva and his worshipable Deity, Sankarsana, are technically called
tamasi. Lord Siva is the incarnation of tamo-guna. Since both Lord Siva
and Sankarsana are always enlightened and situated in the transcenden-
tal 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 tamasi.

TEXT 17
aT ATTY
o c
of qat wad MAGE = AITTAQ AANA Aaa TH
qa fet M2
sri-bhagavan uvaca

om namo bhagavate maha-purusdya sarva-guna-sankhyanay-
dnantayavyaktaya nama iti.

sri-bhagavdn uvaéca—the most powerful Lord Siva says; om namo
bhagavate—O Supreme Personality of Godhead. | offer my respectful
obeisances unto You; mahda-purusaya—who are the Supreme Person:
sarva-guna-sankhyandya—the reservoir of all transcendental qualities:
