BG 07.12 ye caiva sattvika bhava... cited

Expressions researched:
"I am not under the modes of material nature" |"I am, in one sense, everything, but I am independent" |"Ye caiva sattvika bhava rajasah" |"balam balavatam caham" |"matta eveti tan viddhi" |"na tv aham tesu te mayi" |"rajasas tamasas ca ye"

Notes from the compiler: VedaBase query: "7.12" or "I am not under the modes of material nature" or "I am, in one sense, everything, but I am independent" or "ye caiva sattvika bhava" or "matta eveti tan viddhi" or "na tv aham tesu te mayi" or "rajasas tamasas ca ye"

BG Chapters 7 - 12

BG 7.12, Translation and Purport:

Know that all states of being—be they of goodness, passion or ignorance—are manifested by My energy. I am, in one sense, everything, but I am independent. I am not under the modes of material nature, for they, on the contrary, are within Me.

All material activities in the world are being conducted under the three modes of material nature. Although these material modes of nature are emanations from the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, He is not subject to them. For instance, under the state laws one may be punished, but the king, the lawmaker, is not subject to that law. Similarly, all the modes of material nature—goodness, passion and ignorance—are emanations from the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, but Kṛṣṇa is not subject to material nature. Therefore He is nirguṇa, which means that these guṇas, or modes, although issuing from Him, do not affect Him. That is one of the special characteristics of Bhagavān, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

BG 7.12, Translation:

Know that all states of being—be they of goodness, passion or ignorance—are manifested by My energy. I am, in one sense, everything, but I am independent. I am not under the modes of material nature, for they, on the contrary, are within Me.

SB Canto 2

SB 2.1.33, Purport:

The Personality of Godhead is not a dead stone, nor is He inactive, as is poorly thought by some schools. He moves with the progress of time, and therefore He knows all about the past and future, along with His present activities. There is nothing unknown to Him. The conditioned souls are driven by the reactions of the modes of material nature, which are the activities of the Lord. As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (BG 7.12), the modes of nature act under His direction only, and as such no natural functions are blind or automatic. The power behind the activities is the supervision of the Lord, and thus the Lord is never inactive as is wrongly conceived.

SB Canto 3

SB 3.26.5, Purport:

Material energy has the power to cover knowledge, but this covering cannot be applied to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is applicable only to the prajāḥ, or those who are born with material bodies, the conditioned souls. The different kinds of living entities vary according to the modes of material nature, as explained in Bhagavad-gītā and other Vedic literature. In Bhagavad-gītā (BG 7.12) it is very nicely explained that although the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance are born of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is not subject to them. In other words, the energy emanating from the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot act on Him; it acts on the conditioned souls, who are covered by the material energy. The Lord is the father of all living entities because He impregnates material energy with the conditioned souls. Therefore, the conditioned souls get bodies created by the material energy, whereas the father of the living entities is aloof from the three modes.

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.5:

The Supreme Lord, by manifesting both His personal and impersonal features, has firmly established the principle that the Supreme Absolute Person is inconceivably and simultaneously one with and different from His energies. This philosophical conclusion—called acintya-bhedābheda-tattva—has been explained by Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.12): matta eveti tān viddhi na tv ahaṁ teṣu te mayi. "I am, in one sense, everything, but I am independent. I am not under the modes of material nature, for they, on the contrary, are within Me."

The Supreme Energetic is the source of all energies. Yet although all energies emanate from Him, He remains aloof from the workings of these energies. From this we can conclude that the demigods' extraordinary potencies are an intrinsic part of the Supreme Lord's potencies, but that the demigods are separate from the Lord.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 7.8-14 -- New York, October 2, 1966:

But I am afraid if they are reading Bhagavad-gītā so scrutinizingly, as it is stated here, dharmāviruddho bhūteṣu kāmo 'smi bharatarṣabha: "Sex life which is not against religious principle, that is I am." So in, I mean to say, regulated sex life, married life, that is Kṛṣṇa. So that is not without Kṛṣṇa. That is Kṛṣṇa.

Then He says,

ye caiva sāttvikā bhāvā

rājasās tāmasāś ca ye

matta eveti tān viddhi

na tv ahaṁ teṣu te mayi

Now, one may question, "Then if You are particularly—You are Personality of Godhead, Supreme God—You are speaking that You are sound, You are this light, You are this praṇava, You are bīja, You are also kāma, so many things.

Lecture on BG 7.8-14 -- New York, October 2, 1966:

So do You mean to say that You are simply in goodness? And what about the other things?" Because there are three qualities of the material world: the modes of goodness and the modes of passion and the modes of darkness. Now, so far Kṛṣṇa has described Himself, that any good thing... Just like sex life in marriage is a good. "That's all right. You are. What about other things?" Then Kṛṣṇa replies. He automatically says that ye caiva sāttvikā bhāvā rājasās tāmasāś ca ye.

Whatever there are in this material world, we find interaction of three qualities only: goodness, passion, and ignorance. All manifestations that you are observing, they are different combination of these three qualities. Now that can be made into nine. Three into three equal to nine; nine into nine equal to eighty-one; and so on—go on diluting. But the main background is that three qualities. So Kṛṣṇa says that "Whatever qualities are there," ye caiva sāttvikā bhāvā rājasās tāmasāś ca ye, "either goodness or passion or ignorance," matta eveti tān viddhi, "they are all produced from Me. They are all produced from Me." How is that? Na tv ahaṁ teṣu te mayi, that "Because they are produced from Me, therefore they are standing, their position is in Me, but I am not there. I am transcendental."

Lecture on BG 7.8-14 -- New York, October 2, 1966:

Therefore sometimes, if Kṛṣṇa acts on the principle of this ignorance, for Kṛṣṇa it is Kṛṣṇa. Just like for the electric engineer—the whole energy is electricity. Nothing. He has no distinction, "This is cold and this is hot." This is the philosophy. Matta eveti tān viddhi na tu, na tv ahaṁ teṣu te mayi. Everything is being generated. And the Vedānta-sūtra confirms it: janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1), everything. "That is the Supreme Truth from where everything is emanating." That is Supreme Truth. So what we are thinking bad, good, that is bad and good for me, because I am conditioned, but because He is not conditioned, therefore for Him, there is no bad and good. He is not conditioned. I am conditioned; therefore I am feeling heat and cold. But because He is not conditioned, everything is all right for Him. So such is Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 7.11-12 -- Bombay, February 25, 1974:

Prabhupāda: Next śloka also.

Pradyumna: (leads chanting, etc.)

ye caiva sāttvikā bhāvā

rājasās tāmasāś ca ye

matta eveti tān viddhi

na tv ahaṁ teṣu te mayi

Translation: "All states of being, be they of goodness, passion or ignorance, are manifested by My energy. I am in one sense everything, but I am independent. I am not under the modes of this material nature."

Prabhupāda:

balaṁ balavatāṁ cāhaṁ

kāma-rāga-vivarjitam

dharmāviruddho bhūteṣu

kāmo 'smi bharatarṣabha

Kṛṣṇa is explaining everything, how you can become Kṛṣṇa conscious twenty-four hours.

Lecture on BG 7.11-13 -- Bombay, April 5, 1971:

If we can beget children to develop them with Kṛṣṇa consciousness and thus become liberated from the clutches of repeated birth and death, that is the duty of the father and mother rightly followed. Otherwise we become entangled.

ye caiva sāttvikā bhāvā

rājasās tāmasāś ca ye

matta eveti tān viddhi

na tv ahaṁ teṣu te mayi

Because everything emanates from Kṛṣṇa or Parabrahman, the Absolute Truth... Even tamo-guṇa, rajo-guṇa, all these guṇas, they are also emanation from Kṛṣṇa. Ye caiva sāttvikā bhāvāḥ.

Lecture on BG 7.11-13 -- Bombay, April 5, 1971:

Sāttvikā bhāvāḥ means the consciousness of goodness, material goodness, sāttvikā bhāvāḥ. There are many persons who are very moral and following the rules and regulation of the śāstra or an ideal brāhmaṇa. That is sāttvika-bhāva. Ye caiva sāttvikā bhāvā rājasāḥ. Rājasāḥ means the kṣatriya spirit consciousness, and tāmasāś ca ye matta eveti. They are all emanations from Kṛṣṇa. Because everything is emanation. Kṛṣṇa, or Absolute Truth, means the original source of all emanations. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Athāto brahma jijñāsā. What is Brahman? Brahman means the original source of all emanations, wherefrom everything is coming. So all these varieties, they are coming from Brahman.

Lecture on BG 7.11-13 -- Bombay, April 5, 1971:

There is sāttvika-bhāva, there is rājasika-bhāva, there is tāmasika-bhāva in Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, when we see Kṛṣṇa's pastimes, līlā, just like Kṛṣṇa killing a demon, that is rājasika-bhāva. There are many instances. If you read Kṛṣṇa's life from Kṛṣṇa book, you will find exactly it is similar to human activities. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, matta eveti tān viddhi: "But I am not affected by those qualities." That is Kṛṣṇa's special prerogative. When we are under the spell of sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa, or tamo-guṇa, we become affected. But Kṛṣṇa, when you find that rajo-guṇa is exhibited in His pastimes, but He is not under the influence of that rajo-guṇa. Even sometimes Kṛṣṇa is found under the influence of tamo-guṇa, but He is not there.

Lecture on BG 7.11-16 -- New York, October 7, 1966:

Therefore the scriptural injunction is that according to the Vedic rules you get yourself married and have good sons to protect your family and to protect yourself. This is called religious sex life. So this religious sex life, Kṛṣṇa recommends. And He says that "Sex life in religiosity is..., I am. I am present there. I am present there."

And next He says,

ye caiva sāttvikā bhāvā

rājasās tāmasāś ca ye

matta eveti tān viddhi

na tv ahaṁ teṣu te mayi

I think we have discussed all this. Now, tribhir guṇamayair bhāvair ebhiḥ sarvam idaṁ jagat. We are discussing about the three modes of material nature. Now, the Lord says that the whole world is captivated by the three modes of material nature. And mohitam, and bewildered by the actions and reaction of these three modes of material nature, one has forgotten his eternal relationship with God, or Kṛṣṇa.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- March 31, 1974, Bombay:

Mr. Sar: If you take that way, then the...

Prabhupāda: If you take contraceptive and enjoy sex life...

Mr. Sar: That is not allowed.

Prabhupāda: That is mahā-pāpa. That is killing. This is going on. This is going on. All over the world.

Dr. Patel: Ye caiva sāttvikā-bhāvā rājasās tāmasāś ca ye.

Mr. Sar: Matta eveti tān viddhi na tv ahaṁ teṣu te mayi.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Dr. Patel: And all the three modes of nature also is.

Prabhupāda: Yes, yes. They are also... As the material elements coming from Kṛṣṇa, these guṇas also coming from Kṛṣṇa. But Kṛṣṇa is not there.

Mr. Sar: He's above that.

Prabhupāda: Yes.