What positive emotion do you feel most often?
The content reflects on the concept of happiness, questioning whether people genuinely experience joy or merely pretend to be happy. It highlights that while material pursuits are common, true happiness lies within oneself and can be found through spirituality and self-satisfaction rather than wealth. Celebrations, such as Sri Krishna Janmashtami, serve as communal sources of joy and symbolise hope amidst despair. The narrative includes the story of Lord Krishna’s birth, illustrating the triumph of righteousness over tyranny. Ultimately, it emphasises the importance of embracing life’s various emotional phases, finding purpose in challenges, and being grateful for every experience.
Positive emotion? An obvious answer to the question would be happiness. Although it seems straightforward and easy, it is not as simple as it sounds. Most of us would naturally answer “joy” or “happiness”, but is it true in real life? Do we not pretend to be happy and buoyant? Do the laugh and guffaw not sound hollow? Most of the time, it is true. Is it not that people are ridiculing themselves by denying their actual state?
People want to live in an illusion rather than face the harsh situation that life poses before a human being.
People search their happiness in diverse activities. Some feel happy in devotion and “spirituality”, while others find joy in physical satisfaction. It is, because most of us, if not all, try to search for happiness in material things. It is an oft-repeated statement that happiness doesn’t rest in material things but within us. The thing is how one pursues it and to what extent. This is pertinent because everything has a life, beyond which it doesn’t attract. Probably this was the reason why the Almighty has provisioned the end of life and will ultimately vanish into the ether.
Celebrations are the occasion for collective enjoyment. Being social, human beings need company to enjoy. Our wise forefathers annexed celebrations with specific occasions. It can be anything, from celebrating the incarnation of God as a human who takes birth and comes to the mundane world to save humanity from vice and unrighteousness or an occasion when new crops arrive. It is also linked with changing seasons. Celebrations give joy and a rapturous feeling. It gives a feeling of closeness to the one who is omnipotent and omnipresent.
People are celebrating Sri Krishna Janmashtami. In the Sanatan tradition, it is the occasion when Lord Krishna was born under precarious circumstances in a dungeon.
They believe that it was an oracle which changed everything. The autocratic king Kaṅsa imprisoned his sister Devki and her husband Vasudev. The Oracle had declared, the eighth son of Devki would end the life of Kaṅsa. Therefore, each time a child was born to Devki, the tyrant would take the infant from their parents soon after they were born. Things were, nevertheless, differently ordained than he thought.
It was the dark eighth night of the Bhadrapad month of the Vikrami calendar when, in the pitch darkness of the prison cell, a column of pure white light appeared. A deep Divine sound reverberated, audible only to the couple. The voice commanded Vasudev to take the child to Nandgaon, crossing the river Yamuna, and exchange the child with a girl child born at the same time. Soon after the child was born, the jail guards fell asleep, and the doors opened ajar. Putting the wrapped infant in a basket, Vasudev crossed the swelling Yamuna River amidst torrential rain. A huge serpent, “Sheshnāga”, with its huge hood, acted as an umbrella to protect the infant from the rain. Reaching Nandgaon, Vasudev exchanged the child and returned to his cell in the jail. As he entered the cell, things came back to usual.
Hearing about the birth of the eighth son, Kaṅsa came running. As he lifted the infant, she slipped and appeared as a Goddess “Yogmaya”. Scolding and cursing Kaṅsa, she said that his impending foe was born elsewhere and do the needful when the time came.
The story symbolises several things and teaches mortal people not to worry when the time is not favourable. The dungeon is symbolic of lust, greed and mendacity. Number eight has a special significance in this story. It tells that even in deepest of the deepest despair, gloom and pain, there runs a silver line of hope and optimism. The excess of autocratic behaviour and atrocity has its end. In the Gita, Lord Krishna says:
Yadā Yadā Hi
Dharmaschah
Glānirbhavati Bhāratah,
Abhuthānam Adharamasya Tadātmānam
Srijāmyaham.
Paritrānāy sādhunām,Vināshāy Cha Duskritām,
Dharma Sansthāpnāye, Sambhavāmi
Yuge Yuge.
He, who is the Almighty, arrives to restore righteousness and order whenever virtues are overpowered by vice, honesty and modesty are overpowered by mendacity and selfishness. It is when the gloom becomes thick and the miasma of falsehood shrouds innocence and prudence, the Lord shows the way. He is not here in physical form, but He is felt everywhere. He is seen in blooming flowers, hovering insects, rippling water of a stream and cascading falls. One can feel Him in one’s inner consciousness.
He is seen in blooming flowers, hovering insects, rippling water of a stream and cascading falls. One can feel Him in one’s inner consciousness.
The pure bliss lies in self-satisfaction, not in wealth accumulation. It would, though, be an exaggeration to say in absolute terms. To sustain oneself needs money. It is a necessity of life in the set of life human beings live. In a situation when one is compelled to “earn” their livelihood by himself or herself, money loses its significance.
In his famous book “Robinson Crusoe”, Daniel Defoe described it vividly. The protagonist’s ship was wrecked, and he swam with difficulty to come to an island full of vegetation but devoid of human beings. He was alone on the island and saw none, but he did not give up and started living. He collected the necessary things from the ship wreckage and established a shelter for himself. A dog and a wild parrot were all who accompanied him. He lived an isolated life for eight and twenty years!
While looking for something to eat in the wreckage, he found gold coins in large numbers. The coins were of no use to him as there was nothing that could be purchased. Gradually, he became accustomed to the isolated life. He fulfilled every need with natural supplies from the surroundings. He met a man belonging to a cannibalistic tribe who somehow escaped from their clutches and named him Friday, the day he met him.
Choosing between life and fortune is not difficult. It is an obvious and natural choice to choose life if a situation arises. Money eases the woes because of the compulsive setup humans have made for themselves. It is a system where each one is dependent upon the labour of others since no one does every work. The tokenisation of physical or mental labour gave rise to the concept of money.
Cupidity, lust, and wish for more are but a few strong negative traits. The longing is intrinsic, but it needs to be controlled. As excessive torrential rain like a cloudburst causes havoc and destruction, intense craving for more leads to many avoidable conditions, which are disastrous for an individual at every level.
Lord Krishna gave precious things to humanity. He sided Pandavas because they were on the right path. He preached the Gita to his most favoured Arjuna amidst the battlefield, which became a torchbearer for everyone. Rightful deeds are the only thing that a human can do. Without waiting and expecting anything, one should carry out duty diligently. It gives positivity that fuels motivation to lead a purposeful life and gives joy.
Despite the obvious first choice of happiness, one can’t escape the arduous and harsh phases of life. It needs to be accepted as a necessary evil that does not go to waste. The hard times are an opportunity which teaches a lot of things and adds a few bags of valuable experiences. Life is a mix of various emotions, actions, reactions and stages. One has to go through all phases. There are no shortcuts. Considering them a reward of the Almighty, one needs to be grounded. Accepting everything offered by Him as a gift and enjoying life in every stage is a practical means to stay healthy and happy.
Do you agree? What say?
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