Srimad Bhagavatam — Ekadasha Skandha, Shloka 8
Guṇa-vibhāga: The Three Modes and the Path Beyond Them
प्रवृत्तिलक्षणे निष्ठा पुमान् यर्हि गृहाश्रमे । स्वधर्मे चानुतिष्ठेत गुणानां समितिर्हि सा ॥ ८ ॥
pravṛtti-lakṣaṇe niṣṭhā pumān yarhi gṛhāśrame sva-dharme cānu tiṣṭheta guṇānāṁ samitir hi sā
When a man, desiring sense gratification, becomes attached to household life—marked by pravṛtti—and thus becomes established in the practice of his own svadharma, the combination of nature’s modes is clearly manifest.
According to Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī, religious duties performed for promotion to heaven are understood to be in the mode of passion, those performed to enjoy ordinary family life are in the mode of ignorance, and those performed selflessly to fulfill one’s occupational duty in the varṇāśrama system are in the mode of goodness. The Lord has thus explained how mundane religiosity is manifest within the modes of nature.
FAQs
It says that steadiness in worldly duty (pravṛtti) within the householder order, expressed as faithful performance of one’s svadharma, operates within the combined influence of the three guṇas.
Kṛṣṇa is teaching Uddhava how different life-paths and behaviors are shaped by material nature, so one can recognize the guṇas and progress toward transcendence through purified duty and devotion.
Do your responsibilities conscientiously—family, work, ethics, and spiritual practice—while observing how passion, goodness, and ignorance affect your motives, and gradually align your duties with devotion and inner detachment.