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Chapter 14 · Verse 8
🪈 Krishna speaks
Illustration for Chapter 14, Verse 8

तमस्त्वज्ञानजं विद्धि मोहनं सर्वदेहिनाम्। प्रमादालस्यनिद्राभिस्तन्निबध्नाति भारत॥

tamastvajñānajaṁ viddhi mohanaṁ sarvadehinām | pramādālasyanidrābhistannibadhnāti bhārata ||

Word by Word 10 words
तमः
tam to be dark, to be still, to grow faint

tamas, the heavy quality of darkness and dullness

तु
tu but, and, however

but, now (turning to the next quality)

अज्ञानजम्
a not jñā to know jan to be born, to arise

born of not-knowing, arising from ignorance

विद्धि
vid to know

know! understand this

मोहनम्
muh to be confused, to be deluded

deluding, clouding the mind, causing confusion

सर्वदेहिनाम्
sarva all dih to smear, to form a body in one who has

of all the embodied ones, of every soul living in a body

प्रमादालस्यनिद्राभिः
pra forth, away mad to be careless, to be intoxicated a not las to be active, to shine nidrā sleep

by heedlessness, by laziness, and by sleep

तत्
tad that, it

that, it (tamas)

निबध्नाति
ni down, firmly bandh to bind, to tie

binds firmly, ties down

भारत
bharata Bharata, ancestor of Arjuna's line

O descendant of Bharata (Arjuna)

Now names the third quality: . It is born of not-knowing, a heavy, foggy darkness that confuses every living being. Tamas does not pull you toward things like does; instead it makes you not bother at all. It ties the soul down with three soft, sticky ropes: not paying attention, being too lazy to act, and sleeping when it is time to be awake. The mind grows dim, and the bright, clear Self is hidden behind a grey cloud.

कथा

Jeeva's Heavy Afternoon

An original story

The Warli village lay flat and quiet under the white afternoon sun. Even the crows had gone silent. The heat pressed down like a thick brown blanket, and Jeeva lay sprawled on the cool mud floor of the veranda, doing absolutely nothing.

He had meant to do many things. He had meant to fetch water for Aaji. He had meant to finish the little Warli drawing of a peacock he had started yesterday. He had meant to feed the brown calf tied under the mango tree.

But the afternoon was so heavy. His arms felt like wet sacks of grain. His eyes kept sliding half-shut. Every time a thought floated up — *the water, the peacock, the calf* — it sank again into a warm grey fog before he could catch it.

"Jeeva," called Aaji from inside, "did you bring the water?"

"In a little while, Aaji," he mumbled. He did not move. A fly landed on his foot. He could not even be bothered to shake it off.

Aaji came out, wiping her hands, and looked at her grandson lying like a dropped puppet. She did not scold. She sat down on the step beside him.

"Do you feel the heaviness, little one?" she asked softly.

"Mm," said Jeeva. "I want to do things. But I can't. I just... don't."

"I know this feeling," said Aaji. "It has a name. calls it . It comes like a grey cloud and sits on top of the mind. It doesn't make you want too much, the way a busy day does. It makes you not care at all. You forget what you meant to do. You feel too tired to start. Your eyes want only to close. And all the while" — she tapped his chest gently — "the bright little you is hiding behind the cloud, waiting."

Jeeva blinked up at her. "How do I make the cloud go away?"

Aaji smiled and stood, holding out her hand. "Sometimes you just take one small step. Stand up. Splash water on your face. The first little movement is a door in the grey wall. Shall we?"

Jeeva groaned, and then, slowly, he took her hand. He stood. The fog tugged at him, but the moment his bare feet hit the warm courtyard and the water touched his face, a little corner of the grey cloud lifted, and he could think clearly again.

चिन्तनम्

Have you ever felt so heavy and sleepy that even fun things felt like too much trouble? That foggy not-bothered feeling is tamas. What is one small first step that helps you wake up out of it?