from sattwa to rajas and tamas...

तत्रासौ त्रिगुणात्मकोऽपि च महान् सत्त्वप्रधानः  स्वयं
जीवेऽस्मिन् खलु निर्विकल्पमहमित्युद्बोधनिष्पादकः।
चक्रेऽस्मिन् सविकल्पबोधकमहं तत्त्वम् महान् खल्वसौ
संपुष्टं त्रिगुणैस्तमोऽतिबहुलं विष्णो भवत्प्रेरणात्॥५
श्रीमन्नारायणीयं दशकं ५
तत्र असौ च महान् त्रिगुणात्मकः अपि सत्त्वप्रधानः अस्मिन् जीवे स्वयं निर्विकल्पं अहं इति उद्बोधनिष्पादकः खलु।  असौ महान् खलु विष्णो भवत् प्रेरणात् अस्मिन् त्रिगुणैः सम्पुष्टं तमोऽतिबहुलं सविकल्पबोधकं अहंतत्त्वं चक्रे।
tatrāsau triguṇātmako'pi ca mahān sattvapradhānaḥ  svayaṁ
jīve'smin khalu nirvikalpamahamityudbodhaniṣpādakaḥ|
cakre'smin savikalpabodhakamahaṁ tattvam mahān khalvasau
saṁpuṣṭaṁ triguṇaiastamo'tibahulaṁ viṣṇo bhavatpreraṇāt||5
śrīmannārāyaṇīyaṁ daśakaṁ 5
tatra asau ca mahān triguṇātmakaḥ api sattvapradhānaḥ asmin jīve svayaṁ nirvikalpaṁ ahaṁ iti udbodhaniṣpādakaḥ khalu|  asau mahān khalu viṣṇo bhavat preraṇāt asmin triguṇaiḥ sampuṣṭaṁ tamo'tibahulaṁ savikalpabodhakaṁ ahaṁtattvaṁ cakre|

Now the great poet Bhattathiri describes how from the same Mahat which at first was manifesting only the Sattwa or most noble traits but had in it inherently the other gunass of rajas  --ahamkara or ego or arrogance and tamo gunas like rage, destructive tendencies etc, in the initial stages only manifested the Sattwa guna and had a sense of being a unique one (aham) which was a stand-alone feeling because there was no awareness of anything other than that unique existence.  But by the instigation of you Vishnu the  Guruvayurappa, the same principle of Mahat manifested as Ahamkara with a sense of unique existence with a sense of aloofness and difference from all other beings and a sense of superiority over others.

The three Gunas, sattwam rajas an tamas are necessary for the existence of the manifested world.  If the creations just do not take cognizance of anything other that the supreme soul which is inherent in them and continue to be just contemplating on that like aatmaaraamaas, there would be no further expansion or creation in all its vividness.
In fact this portion of Narayaneeyam is only  expounding the theory of creation, and Bhattathiripad is scrupulously following the contents of Vyasa's Srimad Bhagavatham, because, it was the tradition in our culture to follow the earlier authorities with great respect.  These parts are just the necessary contents of Narayaneeyam but one may wonder whether these dasakas have  much popular appeal in a work essentially based on the Devotion of the bhaktha to the Lord. But no one is entitled to skip such parts.

--

।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
blog   http://kanfusion.blogspot.com/
त्यजन्तु बान्धवाः सर्वे निन्दन्तु गुरवो जनाःI
तदापि परमानन्दो गोविन्दो मम जीवनंII
let all my relatives abandon me, let the great people insult me, still I am in supreme bliss since my life  is GOVINDA alone.
Iकृष्णात् परं किमपि तत्वं अहं न जाने"I
लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु।
lokāḥ samastāḥ sukhino bhavantu|