Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.13.56

dhvasta-māyā-guṇodarko

niruddha-karaṇāśayaḥ

nivartitākhilāhāra

āste sthāṇur ivācalaḥ

tasyāntarāyo maivābhūḥ

sannyastākhila-karmaṇaḥ

SYNONYMS

dhvasta — being destroyed; māyā-guṇa — the modes of material nature; udarkaḥ — after effects; niruddha — being suspended; karaṇa-āśayaḥ — the senses and the mind; nivartita — stopped; akhila — all; āhāraḥ — food for the senses; āste — is sitting; sthāṇuḥ — immovable; iva — like; acalaḥ — fixed; tasya — his; antarāyaḥ — hindrances; mā eva — never like that; abhūḥ — be; sannyasta — renounced; akhila — all sorts; karmaṇaḥ — material duties.

TRANSLATION

He will have to suspend all the actions of the senses, even from the outside, and will have to be impervious to interactions of the senses, which are influenced by the modes of material nature. After renouncing all material duties, he must become immovably established, beyond all sources of hindrances on the path.

PURPORT

Dhṛtarāṣṭra had attained, by the yogic process, the stage of negation of all sorts of material reaction. The effects of the material modes of nature draw the victim to indefatigable desires of enjoying matter, but one can escape such false enjoyment by the yogic process. Every sense is always busy in searching for its food, and thus the conditioned soul is assaulted from all sides and has no chance to become steady in any pursuit. Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira was advised by Nārada not to disturb his uncle by attempting to bring him back home. He was now beyond the attraction of anything material. The material modes of nature (the guṇas) have their different modes of activities, but above the material modes of nature is a spiritual mode, which is absolute. Nirguṇa means without reaction. The spiritual mode and its effect are identical; therefore the spiritual quality is distinguished from its material counterpart by the word nirguṇa. After complete suspension of the material modes of nature, one is admitted to the spiritual sphere, and action dictated by the spiritual modes is called devotional service, or bhakti. Bhakti is therefore nirguṇa attained by direct contact with the Absolute.