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Chapter 14
THE GUNAS: DEVELOPING THEM AND GOING BEYOND THEM
76. Bodily Labour: Cure For Tamas
4. Let us take tamas first. We are observing its terrible consequences in the present social situation. Its main consequence is laziness which, in turn, gives rise to sleep and blunders. Only if we overcome all the three things, we may take it that we have conquered tamas. Among them, laziness is extremely dreadful. It ruins the best among men. It is an enemy which destroys the peace and happiness in the society. It spoils everyone, from a child to an old man. It spares no one. It always lies in wait to pounce on us, and strikes at the slightest opportunity. A little more food induces us to lie down and a little more sleep makes us dull. Everything is in vain until this laziness is overcome. But, strangely, we look forward to idleness. We want to earn as much as possible in as less time as possible, so that we could relax later. The idea is to earn a lot to provide for idleness later! We believe that we must get rest in old age. But this is an erroneous idea. If we lead our life in the right way, we shall be able to work even in old age. In fact, we could be of greater service in old age because of our experience. And still we seek rest at that time! 5. We should be alert lest indolence should get the better of us. King Nala was a great man, but once he did not wash his feet properly and it is said that Kali (the evil spirit) entered into his body through the dry spot on the foot. Although Nala was pure and clean in all respects, a little neglect, a little laziness gave Kali an opportunity to enter into him. But our negligence is so total that indolence can gain an entry into us at any time, from anywhere. When the body becomes indolent, the mind and the intellect follow suit. The present-day structure of the society rests on laziness. This has given rise to innumerable miseries. If laziness could be removed, we would be able to eliminate a substantial number, if not all, of those miseries.
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