Slokam 5

Sri Bhattadri goes on to explain the attributes of Mahat. He says that it includes all the three Gunas, with the dominant one being Sattva.

Sri Bhattadri says that the Sattva  Guna creates the sense of individual identity and is the noblest of the three Gunas. 

This awareness of self identity is the greates miracle of all and all living beings are endowed with this attribute. This is not an ordinary phenomenon.  The awareness of the self goes to the very root of the conscious existence of beings and is the cause of our existence.  Without this awareness we would not know anything.  It is this Guna that has to be constantly at the forefront to keep us from developing attachments or succumbing to temptations.  

The Slokam points out that Sattva Guna is the differentiator between beings, by various criteria.

The sense of individual identity also leads to the Ego or Ahamkara. Sri Bhattadri in this Slokam says that Ahamkara is also created by the Will of the Paramathma. So this also an endowment.

Here lies the challenge of life.  Every attribute that we have been given has the other side to it.  The Ahamkara or Ego is the undesirable side of what we have been endowed with. It is to be discarded. It is undesirable because it blocks the evolution of intelligence and the willingness to listen (shravanam).  Individuals with a high Ahamkara have the Tamasic Guna as the dominant among the three Gunas. Tamasic Guna tends to shut the doors to Shravanam and to block out any participation in karmic duties that would initiate evolution.

So there are some aspects of our inner self that need to be downgraded or positively eliminated.  Kamam, Kodam, Moham, Lobham are some of these aspects that need to be eliminated completely. 

Once this is done, our Karma will not impact us any longer and we will be all set for release from this world.

So we have been given both sides of the attribute.  We have to recognize and propagate the desirable and downplay or minimize the undesirable. A very difficult accomplishment, which is why many many janmas have been successively created for us to carryover the good from one lifetime to another.

The beauty and wonder of the Slokams in Canto 5 is the inquiry into process of creation.  It does not focus on aspects that we have nothing to do with, or more importantly, nothing that we cannot influence.  Creation is viewed only from the perspective of what we have been endowed with and what we have awareness of and what we can influence.  That is the beauty of the scriptures and Narayaneeyam.