Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Ādi 5.104

viṣṇu-rūpa hañā kare jagat pālane

guṇātīta-viṣṇu sparśa nāhi māyā-guṇe

SYNONYMS

viṣṇu-rūpa — the form of Lord Viṣṇu; hañā — becoming; kare — does; jagat pālane — maintenance of the material world; guṇa-atīta — beyond the material qualities; viṣṇu — Lord Viṣṇu; sparśa — touch; nāhi — not; māyā-guṇe — in the material qualities.

TRANSLATION

And as Lord Viṣṇu He maintains the entire world. Lord Viṣṇu, being beyond all material attributes, has no touch with the material qualities.

PURPORT

Śrī Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa says that although Viṣṇu is the predominating Deity of the quality of goodness in the material world, He is never affected by the quality of goodness, for He directs that quality simply by His supreme will. It is said that all living entities can derive all good fortune from the Lord simply by His will. In the Vāmana Purāṇa it is said that the same Viṣṇu expands Himself as Brahmā and Śiva to direct the different qualities.

Because Lord Viṣṇu expands the quality of goodness, He has the name Sattvatanu. The multifarious incarnations of Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu are known as Sattvatanu. Therefore in all Vedic scriptures Viṣṇu has been described as being free from all material qualities. In the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said:

harir hi nirguṇaḥ sākṣāt puruṣaḥ prakṛteḥ paraḥ

sa sarva-dṛg upadraṣṭā taḿ bhajan nirguṇo bhavet

"The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, is always uncontaminated by the modes of material nature, for He is beyond the material manifestation. He is the source of the knowledge of all the demigods, headed by Lord Brahmā, and He is the witness of everything. Therefore one who worships the Supreme Lord Viṣṇu also attains freedom from the contamination of material nature." (Bhāg. 10.88.5) One can attain freedom from the contamination of material nature by worshiping Viṣṇu, and therefore He is called Sattvatanu, as described above.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness