Summary :

Analysis of prakriti : 

The self ( or Atma) is completely independent.The Self has really nothing to achieve. It is complete and perfect in itself. The natural movement of the Self is upwards. But just as any object is dragged down by a heavy weight tied to it, the Self is pulled down by the body.

One who rules himself is the master of the universe. Therefore, end the domination of the body over the Self. The pleasures and pains of the body are all alien; they have absolutely no connection with the Self.

Separating the body from the Self needs discernment on one hand and restraint on the other.. Discernment and non-attachment (vairagya), both are necessary.Non-attachment means, in a sense, self-restraint and endurance. The Fourteenth Chapter shows how we could proceed towards self-restraint. The oars propel the boat, but the rudder sets the direction. The oars and rudder, both are necessary.

Prakriti of everything and every being consists of three constituents. Prakriti has three gunas (modes)—sattva, rajas and tamas. All things comprise of these three qualities; the difference being only in their proportion. Only when we separate the Self from all of them, could we succeed in separating it from the body. To examine these gunas and to conquer them is the way to separate the Self from the body.With restraint and firmness,we have to go on subduing and conquering them one by one and reach the final destination ( Moksha).

Bodily labor : cure for tamas

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.We should be alert so that laziness does not creep in.

To shake off laziness one must do physical labor.It is the only way to conquer laziness.As we have

been given a body, it is imperative for us to use it for labor. The time spent in physical labor is not wasted.We get its reward in the form of sound health and pure, sharp and bright intellect. Physical discomforts like headaches are often found reflected in the thinking of many thinkers. If they work in the open, in contact with nature, their ideas would certainly be brilliant and healthy.

Another cure for tamas : to conquer sleep

Overcoming laziness is one thing; another is to overcome sleep. Sleep is, in fact, something sacred. When saintly persons put in selfless service till they get tired and then go to sleep, that sleep is a kind of yoga. Only the blessed ones can have such a sound and peaceful sleep.The

sleep must be deep; its duration is immaterial.

Half an hour’s study with full concentration is more fruitful than three hours’ study done with a wandering mind. Similar is the case with sleep.True sleep is essentially sound and dreamless. Whatever one may have to suffer in hell, one does not know; but when sleep eludes and nightmares haunt, the torment is indeed hell-like.

The body should be continuously used; then one will sleep like a log the moment one retires to bed. Sleep is like death on a small scale. One must prepare thoroughly throughout the day to

have such a nice sleep. 

When a lot of time is consumed in sleep, the third manifestation of tamas—blunders—occurs naturally. A sleepy man’s mind is not alert. That results in inattentiveness. Too much sleep gives rise to laziness which results in forgetfulness; and this forgetfulness is detrimental to spiritual progress. It is, in fact, harmful even in worldly affairs.

Forgetfulness is a serious disease. It corrodes the intellect and saps the vitality of life.Lethargy of the mind is the cause of forgetfulness. If the mind is awake, it will not forget things. Inattentive mind is bound to contract the disease of forgetfulness. Thinking should precede as well as follow action; the Lord in the form of reason should be present in all the stages of an action. If such a habit is ingrained, the disease of inattention will be cured. 

The whole of the time at our disposal should be carefully planned. One should keep an account of every moment. Laziness will not then get any opportunity to penetrate one’s life. Efforts should thus be made to conquer tamas in all its forms.

Cure for rajas :

Living within the bounds of swadharma

Thereafter, we should turn to rajas. Rajas too is a terrible foe. It is the other side of tamas. In fact, ‘rajas’ and ‘tamas’ should be considered interchangeable terms.

Like bread in the oven with the flames below and the embers above, man is caught between

rajas and tamas. They toss him towards each other and together ruin him. His life is spent in getting kicked around by rajas and tamas, like a football.

The main characteristic of rajas is the itch and ambition to engage in all sorts of activities. There is an intense desire to do daring deeds. Rajas gives rise to limitless hunger for and attachment to actions. Then it becomes impossible to withstand the onslaught of desires and passions. 

Man wants to do something or the other. He feels an urge to move mountains, to fill up lakes and create new ones in the deserts.He wants to dig a Suez canal here and a Panama canal there. He is completely seized with such wild ideas. There is no thought except that of doing this or that thing.Man is then never satisfied with what exists and wants to interfere with everything. He sees a bird,  fly and makes aeroplanes.He sees a fish, wants to live like it in water and makes submarines.

A wrestler cannot contain the energy within him and bangs anything which comes in his way, without rhyme or reason. Rajas is always gushing forth driving men to do this or that. It makes man dig the earth and bring out stones which he then calls diamonds; it makes him dive deep into the sea and bring out rubbish which he then calls pearls. He then pierces holes through them, and through his own nose and ears as well, so that those could be worn there! Why does a man do all this? All this is under the influence of rajas.

Another effect of the rajas is the loss of stability and patience. Rajas wants immediate results. A slight obstruction therefore makes man give up the activity. Under the influence of rajas man starts new projects endlessly, leaving earlier projects incomplete.

A rajasic activity is invariably marked with fickleness, wavering and lack of firmness. A

man with rajas is like a child who sows a seed and impatiently digs after a few minutes to find out whether it has sprouted. He is impatient to have everything quickly and lacks restraint.

Rather than doing concrete work steadily at one place, he prefers hopping from place to place in the pursuit of name and fame. His mind is fixed on that only. This lands him in a terrible condition.

Under the influence of rajas, man intrudes into all sorts of activities. He forgets his swadharma. In fact, performance of swadharma implies giving up all other activities. Karmayoga as enjoined by the Gita is the cure for rajas. Everything in rajas is unsteady and fickle. If the water falling on the mountain-top runs down in different directions, all of it disappears eventually; but if it flows down in a single stream, it becomes a river, gathers strength and benefits all. Similarly, if a man concentrates all his energy and applies it to a single task in an orderly manner instead of frittering it away in a variety of activities, it will prove fruitful. That is why pursuit of swadharma is important.

How to determine one’s swadharma?

How to determine one’s swadharma? The only reply to this question is that it is natural. It comes naturally to everyone. The very idea of going in search of it is strange. When a man is born, his swadharma too takes birth.

Swadharma, like one’s mother, is not to be searched for; it is already there when one is born.We feel hunger and thirst; it is therefore our natural dharma to feed the hungry and give water to

thirsty. Serving others, doing good to others, is thus our dharma which we do not have to search for.All of us are born in a stream, in a continuum, in a particular situation, and that defines our duties.

When one is absorbed in swadharma, rajas loses its force because the mind gets concentrated; it then never swerves from swadharma. Fickle rajas then becomes powerless. If a river is deep, it can contain within its banks the onrush of any quantity of water without getting unduly disturbed. The river of swadharma can likewise hold all the force and power of man. Energy spent in the performance of swadharma is never too much. Pour all your energy into it and then the restlessness, which is a distinctive characteristic of rajas, will disappear. The sting of fickleness

will be broken. This is the way to conquer rajas.

How to deal with sattva

What now remains is sattva. One must be very careful in dealing with it. How can one detach the Self from sattva? It is a matter for subtle thinking. Sattva is not to be completely destroyed. Rajas and tamas are to be completely rooted out; but the matter is different with sattva.

When we have sattva, we become proud of it. This drags down the Self from its true nature. Conquering sattva means elimination of pride about and attachment to sattva. We should make use of sattva, but that has to be done with care and skill. Sattva should be freed from pride.

How to overcome the pride that ‘I have sattva in me’? Constant practice is a way, which will make it our second nature. Continuous performance of sattvic actions withers the pride about it. Through such actions, sattva becomes an integral part of our being. It should not remain a guest; it should rather become a member of the family. We feel proud of things that we do once in a while.

In short, one does not feel proud of something when it is natural.So we should adapt Sattva asa natural way of life.

Sattvic attitude should thus become so natural that one is no longer conscious of it. Giving light is natural to the sun. It takes no pride in it. In fact, for it, to exist means to give light. A sattvic man should attain the same state. Sattva should be deeply ingrained in him; it should pervade every pore of his being. Then he would not feel proud of it. This is one strategy for subduing and overcoming sattva.

Another is to give up attachment even to sattva. Pride and attachment are two distinct things. This is a subtle idea which can be understood more readily by means of illustrations. The pride of sattva may disappear, but attachment to it may still remain. Take, for example, breathing. 

One does not feel proud about it, but attachment to it is very much there.The point is that one feels attachment to sattva. Take, for example, compassion for all creatures. It is a good quality, but we should be able to keep away from attachment to it. We should have compassion, but no attachment to it.

Thus, first pride about sattva should be conquered and then attachment to it. Pride can be conquered through constant practice of sattvic actions. To conquer attachment, one should work without desire for fruit and dedicate to the Lord the fruit that is received because of sattva.Thus you can conquer Sattva.

The concluding point :

Self-realization and refuge in bhakti

Now, to conclude, one last point. Even if you imbibe sattva, vanquish your ego and give up attachment to the fruit of actions, you shall continue to be vulnerable to the onslaught of rajas and tamas from time to time, so long as you are saddled with the body. You may for a while think that you have conquered rajas and tamas, but they will return again and again with a vengeance. You must, therefore, be ever alert.Vigilance should not slacken even for a moment.

Mere vigilance is not sufficient for this purpose. Then how could Self-knowledge be attained? Will constant practice be sufficient? No. There is only one way, and that is bhakti with all earnestness and love.

Arjuna asks the same question at the end of this Chapter and the Lord answers, “Be devoted to Me with mind absolutely onepointed and without any desire for reward. Serve Me. He who serves Me thus can cross the maya. Otherwise, this mysterious maya is hard to cross.” This is the easy way of

bhakti. This is the only way.