It is said of the Lord’s form ānando brahmaṇo rūpam: the Lord has a form of bliss. By the will of the Lord, by His touch alone, that ānanda becomes qualified by agitation in the form of Brahmā. Being qualified by revelation, ānanda becomes Viṣṇu, and being qualified with obscuration, ānanda becomes Śiva. Since there is no damage when ānanda is combined with revelation, Viṣṇu is worthy of worship. These three are equal in that they are all avatāras of the Lord. They are unequal in that Viṣṇu is not covered by the guṇas, whereas Brahmā and Śiva are.
It is said of the Lord’s form ānando brahmaṇo rūpam: the Lord has a form of bliss. By the will of the Lord, by His touch alone, that ānanda becomes qualified by agitation in the form of Brahmā. Being qualified by revelation, ānanda becomes Viṣṇu, and being qualified with obscuration, ānanda becomes Śiva. Since there is no damage when ānanda is combined with revelation, Viṣṇu is worthy of worship. These three are equal in that they are all avatāras of the Lord. They are unequal in that Viṣṇu is not covered by the guṇas, whereas Brahmā and Śiva are. This is how the contrary statements of difference and non difference of the Purāṇas can be harmonized.
Both the Paramātmā and jīvātmā are by their nature devoid of the guṇas. Paramātmā is the Supreme Lord, an ocean of cit, self enjoying, not subject to birth in the world, without diminution of knowledge of himself and by His own will contacts the guṇas and thus is in possession of the effects of the guṇas such as anger. However, the jīva is only a particle of cit, controlled by the Lord and loses knowledge of his real nature. He takes birth in this world by contacting the guṇas where the guṇas act upon Him.
Previously all great sages worshipped the Supreme Lord due to His being above the three modes of nature, situated in viśuddha-sattva. They worshipped Him to become free from material conditions and thus derive the ultimate benefit. Whoever follows such great authorities is also eligible for liberation from the material world. The ultimate aim of religious performances is to regain the life of freedom in the transcendental world, where the Personality of Godhead is the Supreme Person. Laws of religion are enacted by the Supreme Lord or the mahajanas, the authorized agents of the Lord. Persons desiring their own good may follow these mahajanas and thus attain the supreme benefit.
Viśuddha-sattva means having a body composed of cit-śakti arising from His svarūpa, because the śruti (Gopāla-tāpanī 2.20) says the Lord is neither material knowledge nor ignorance. The smṛti (SB 8.5.27) says in the Lord there is no ignorance or knowledge which causes prejudice towards the jīva. One cannot say that viśuddha-sattva means the vidyā arising from māyā-śakti because the body of Viṣṇu is beyond māyā.