ŚB 10.48.21
Devanagari
सृजस्यथो लुम्पसि पासि विश्वं
रजस्तम:सत्त्वगुणै: स्वशक्तिभि: ।
न बध्यसे तद्गुणकर्मभिर्वा
ज्ञानात्मनस्ते क्व च बन्धहेतु: ॥ २१ ॥
रजस्तम:सत्त्वगुणै: स्वशक्तिभि: ।
न बध्यसे तद्गुणकर्मभिर्वा
ज्ञानात्मनस्ते क्व च बन्धहेतु: ॥ २१ ॥
Verse text
sṛjasy atho lumpasi pāsi viśvaṁ
rajas-tamaḥ-sattva-guṇaiḥ sva-śaktibhiḥ
na badhyase tad-guṇa-karmabhir vā
jñānātmanas te kva ca bandha-hetuḥ
rajas-tamaḥ-sattva-guṇaiḥ sva-śaktibhiḥ
na badhyase tad-guṇa-karmabhir vā
jñānātmanas te kva ca bandha-hetuḥ
Synonyms
sṛjasi — You create; atha u — and then; lumpasi — You destroy; pāsi — You protect; viśvam — the universe; rajaḥ — known as passion; tamaḥ — ignorance; sattva — and goodness; guṇaiḥ — by the modes; sva-śaktibhiḥ — Your personal potencies; na badhyase — You are not bound; tat — of this world; guṇa — by the modes; karmabhiḥ — by the material activities; vā — or; jñāna-ātmanaḥ — who are knowledge itself; te — for You; kva ca — where at all; bandha — of bondage; hetuḥ — cause.
Translation
You create, destroy and also maintain this universe with Your personal energies — the modes of passion, ignorance and goodness — yet You are never entangled by these modes or the activities they generate. Since You are the original source of all knowledge, what could ever cause You to be bound by illusion?
Purport
The phrase jñānātmanas te kva ca bandha-hetuḥ, “Since You are constituted of knowledge, what could be a cause of bondage for You?” definitely indicates the obvious, that the omniscient Supreme God is never in illusion. Therefore the impersonalistic theory that we are all God but have forgotten and are now in illusion is refuted here in the pages of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.