| Discourses On Gita By Acharya Vinoba Bhave |
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| Discourses On Gita |
| THE GUNAS - BUILDING UP AND BREAKING DOWN |
| Another cure for tamas 9. The first thing is to conquer laziness; the second is to conquer sleep. Sleep is in reality something sacred. The slumber of the saints who fall asleep, who work till they tire themselves out, is in itself a kind of yoga. Such deep and peaceful sleep comes only to the fortunate. Sleep must be deep and peaceful and undisturbed. The value of sleep does not consist in its duration. Sleep does not depend on the length of the bed or the period during which the person lay on it. The deeper the well, the sweeter and purer is its water. So too, though one may sleep for a short while, if it is deep, it does good. It is better to study with concentration for half an hour than to look at a book for three hours with a wandering mind. Sleep too is like that. It cannot be said that long sleep is always beneficial. The sick man lies on his bed all the twenty-four hours of the day. Though he clings to the bed, sleep does not approach him. Only deep dreamless sleep is true sleep. Whatever the tortures of Yama after death may be, the tortures of one who cannot sleep and is troubled by dreams are certainly indescribable. In the Veda, the rishi in his fear prays, "paraa duhsvapnyam suva" |
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