Chapter 14: Guṇa-traya-vibhāga-yoga: – Understanding and Transcending the Three Qualities of NatureVerse 8
तमस्त्वज्ञानजं विद्धि मोहनं सर्वदेहिनाम् ।
प्रमादालस्यनिद्राभिस्तन्निबध्नाति भारत ॥
tamas-tvajñānajaṃ viddhi
mohanaṃ sarva-dehinām
pramādālasya-nidrābhis-
tan-nibadhnāti bhārata – 14.8
O Bhārata, know that tamo-guṇa, deluding all alike, is born of ignorance. It binds the embodied beings through inattention, lethargy and sleep.
Chapter 14: Guṇa-traya-vibhāga-yoga: – Understanding and Transcending the Three Qualities of Nature - Verse 8
Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha
Sattva-guṇa provides happiness and knowledge. Rajo-guṇa enables activities. The cycle of life is not complete without tamo-guṇa. The three together constitute complex Nature, governing the world and the beings within it.
The role of tamo-guṇa is to supplement sattva and rajas, by providing the antidote for both. If sattva instils knowledge and happiness, tamo-guṇa brings recession from these, by generating lethargy, sleep and ignorance. Lethargy and sleep intercept the stream of activity. Hence none can remain active for long. Every one needs a period of rest and sleep, a counter to wakefulness.
What a complementary role is that of tamo-guṇa! As hunger enables tasty food and appeasement, fatigue and subsequent rest facilitate recuperation and further activity. Like other two guṇas, tamo-guṇa also binds. It binds by undue clinging to sleep, rest and inattention. The three guṇas together make life, activity and experience.
