Sleep Like Vishnu

If lying on a bed all the time is considered being lazy, then is Bhagvan Vishnu — who is often depicted relaxing on his Seshnag shyayya, bed — full of laziness and lethargy? If lying down is indicative of tamo guna, then Vishnu must always be under its influence. But it doesn’t work like that.

Sri Vishnu’s iconography is symbolic of the fact that the body may be in any position, but when we are firmly ensconced in Atman, then gunas of prakriti cannot affect us. This state is known as Gunatita. Prakriti ensures the presence of three gunas: sat, raj and tama in us. All three are responsible for separate functions in the body and make us work accordingly.

When sat guna is in ascendance, then we are able to concentrate better during dhyana, offer prayers, do seva and satsang and feel the peace within. Increase in rajo guna leads to action and a flurry of activity. Rajo guna is all about movement and pace. Tamo guna leads to lethargy, laziness and drowsiness. We fall asleep because nature makes it possible for us through tamo guna. If a person is rooted in body consciousness alone, then these three gunas take over body and mind functions and manipulate us. But, one who is an atmajnani, realised being, is unaffected by the gunas. Such a person is able to rise above gunas and starts managing them in the way he wants them to work. At night, when the Self-realised person goes to sleep, he is not affected by the tamo guna; he is ready to go into samadhi.

We can begin by practising yoga nidra before we go to sleep. When you go to sleep while experiencing your atmasvarupa, that’s not sleeping; it’s going into the state of samadhi. That is why it is said that the yogi never sleeps; while sleeping, a true yogi is actually in samadhi.