1 Gita Sloka Every Day - Chapter 18 - Moksha Sanyasa Yoga - Sloka 35

The entire content of this mail is from Shri V N Gopala Desikan's  Srimad Bhagavad Gita, published by Vishishtadvaita Research Centre, Chennai and The Bhagavad Gita by Swami Chidbhavananda published by Ramakrishna Mission

The grades in the firmness of mind are being described now:

The Three Gunas Give Impetus to Karma - 18-40

1 Gita Sloka  Every Day - Chapter 18 - Moksha Sanyasa Yoga - Sloka 35

45TH Azhagiyasingar of the Sri Ahobila Mutt

Yaya swapnam bhayam shokam vishadam madam eva cha I

Na vimunchati durmeghah dhriti sa partha tamasi II sloka 35

यया स्वप्नं भयं शोकं विषादं मदं एव च I 

न विमुञ्चति दुर्मेषाः धृति स पार्थ तमसि II श्लोक 35

That by which a stupid man does not give up sleep, fear, grief, despair and conceit, that firmness, O Partha, is Tamasika

Tamas and ignorance are interrelated. Sleep and insentience are alike.A dream being vague is ignored as a part of sleep. Daydreamers are not uncommon in society, given as they are to tamas. In their case, there is hardly any difference between their wakeful engagements and dreamy visions, as there is no firmness at all in any of their doings. Neither does the world derive any benefit from their undertakings. 

The blind king Dhritarashtra is a typical example of a man with tamasika firmness. His blindness is a physical symbol of the lack of discrimination and forethought. And his sons, Duryodhana and others befitted his make up. This blind king was inordinately attached to his empire though he was physically unfit to reign. The fear lest the empire should slip out of the  hands of his sons, lurked in his heart. Hearing of the atrocities perpetrated by his unscrupulous sons, he was very much grieved. Still he took no stern action against them. Pondering over the ill-fame to which he was exposed, he became overwhelmed with despair. Still he was not prepared to be guided by the counsel of Bhishma, Drona and Sri Krishna; for the conceit that he was the monarch over all of them lay concealed in his heart. The firmness of King Dhrutarashtra was verily steeped in tamas and hence produced nothing good.

There are people at all times in this world, who are in the mould of King Dhrutarashtra. What their ancestors have bequeathed to them is their sole property. They are incapable of adding to it. Neither  discrimination nor right understanding is found in them. Endeavour is unknown to them. They are blind of the mind if not of the body. Their chief occupation is to eat and sleep away their time. The fear is there in them that their money will be all expended and nothing earned. After exhausting the whole of their resources they come to grief in their helplessness. They who wallowed in money now do so in the mud of despondency. Chewing the cud of their past opulence, they cherish themselves with nothing but conceit. Stupid as they are this is the wretched life that they carry on. The firmness of these people is all born of tamas.