Srimad Bhagavatam — Ekadasha Skandha, Shloka 20
Avadhūta’s Further Teachers: Detachment, Solitude, One-Pointed Meditation, and the Lord as Āśraya
तामाहुस्त्रिगुणव्यक्तिं सृजन्तीं विश्वतोमुखम् । यस्मिन् प्रोतमिदं विश्वं येन संसरते पुमान् ॥ २० ॥
tām āhus tri-guṇa-vyaktiṁ sṛjantīṁ viśvato-mukham yasmin protam idaṁ viśvaṁ yena saṁsarate pumān
The great sages declare that the manifest basis of the three modes, which brings forth the variegated universe, is called the sūtra, or mahat-tattva. In that mahat-tattva this entire cosmos is woven, and by its potency the jīva wanders in material existence.
The cosmic manifestation is a reality because it emanates from the supreme reality, the Personality of Godhead. The material world, however, is temporary and full of problems. The conditioned soul foolishly tries to become the lord of this inferior creation and becomes separated from his real friend, the Supreme Lord. In this state, his only business is material sense gratification, and his real knowledge is lost.
FAQs
This verse says the manifest energy of sattva, rajas, and tamas produces the cosmos in all directions, and the universe is ‘woven’ within that energy.
To show that the cosmos depends on prakṛti’s modes like cloth depends on threads, and that the jīva’s experience of the world occurs within this network of guṇas.
Notice how moods and choices are shaped by sattva, rajas, and tamas, and consciously cultivate sāttvika habits and devotion so you are less driven by the modes and their repeated cycles.