Two very lazy persons lived jointly in a room. One winter night the house they lived in caught fire. Their room soon was burning on all sides. One of the lazy persons, feeling extreme heat on his back, awoke. But he was too lazy to even open his eyes. He alerted his friend by merely saying “B-B”, which stood for “Back Burning.”

The other lazy man, not bothering to even open his eyes, said “M-A”, for “Move Aside.”

The first man moved around in the bed a little, but finding no comfort anywhere, said, “The night must be over and the sun must be up. How else could it be so hot? Look and see if you left a window open through which the sunshine is now burning my back.”

The second man said, “Oh, too much bother. How can I open my eyes?”

And so the two lazy friends were roasted in the flames.

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This story illustrates the plight of a person who, after taking to devotional service, succumbs to laziness and is caught in the fire of maya. Even though maya is comsuming him from all sides, he does not make a real effort to save himself. In is blind slothfulness he supposes that his problems are not so bad and thus risks total ruination in spiritual life.