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.
Table of contents
Key Takeaways
- The article explores the true nature of Happiness, questioning if people genuinely experience joy or merely pretend to be happy.
- It emphasizes that true happiness comes from within, through spirituality and self-satisfaction, rather than material pursuits.
- Celebrations, like Sri Krishna Janmashtami, provide communal joy and symbolize hope amidst struggles, illustrating the triumph of righteousness.
- The narrative includes Lord Krishna’s birth story, symbolizing hope and the end of tyranny in dark times.
- Ultimately, the article stresses embracing life’s emotional phases and being grateful for every experience as key to finding happiness.
Truth of life
The obvious and instantaneous response to a question about positive emotion would be happiness. Although it seems straightforward and easy, it is not as simple as it sounds. Most people 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? Sound harsh, but for most of the time, it is true. More often than not, people ridicule themselves when they deny their actual state.
People want to live in an illusion rather than face the harsh situation that life poses before them.
Happiness
Seeking happiness through diverse activities is common among humans. 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. An oft-repeated statement that happiness doesn’t rest in material things but within us is broadly true. It depends upon the degree and manner of its pursuit. It is pertinent because everything has a lifespan, beyond which its attraction wanes. Possibly this was the reason why the Almighty provisioned the end of life, and wishes ultimately would vanish into the ether. (Science News Today)
Manifestation of happiness
Celebrations are the occasion for collective enjoyment. Humans are social beings who want company to enjoy. Our wise forefathers attached celebrations to specific occasions. It could 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.
Celebration of Sri Krishna Janmashtami is the occasion when Lord Krishna was born under precarious circumstances in a dungeon. Similarly, celebrations of Sri Ram Navami are the occasion of Sri Ram’s birth.
The interesting birth story of Lord Krishna starts from an oracle which terrified the atrocious demon king Kansa.
The oracle
An oracle changed everything. It declared that the eighth son of Devki would end the life of Kaแน sa. This terrified Kansa. The desperate autocrat, therefore, put his sister Deoki and her husband Vasudev behind bars. Each time a child was born to Devki, the tyrant would snatch the infant from their parents soon after their birth. Things were, nevertheless, differently ordained than what the autocrat thought.
darkness of the dungeon
On the dark eighth midnight of the Bhadrapad month of the Vikrami calendar, a column of pure white light appeared amidst the pitch dark dungeon. A deep Divine voice reverberated, audible only to the couple, commanding Vasudev to take the child to Nandgaon, crossing the river Yamuna, to exchange the child with a girl child born at the same time. Immediately after the childbirth, 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, “Sheshnฤga”, 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.
Kaแน sa came running
Hearing about the birth of the eighth son, Kaแน sa came running. Happiness was writ large on his face. As he lifted the infant, she slipped and appeared as a Goddess “Yogmaya”. Scolding and cursing Kaแน sa, she said that his impending foe was born elsewhere and would do the needful when the time came.
Symbolism
The birth story symbolises several things and teaches mortal people not to worry when the time is not favourable. The dungeon is symbolises lust, greed and mendacity. Number eight has a special significance in this story. It tells that even in the depths of the deepest despair, gloom and pain, there runs a silver line of hope and optimism. Everything has an end. The excess of atrocity has its end too. It is why Lord Krishna says that whenever there would be atrocity and loss to righteousness, He would come to annihilate the atrocious and restore righteousness (Dharma). In the Gita, He says:
Yadฤ Yadฤ Hi
Dharmaschah
Glฤnirbhavati Bhฤratah,
Abhuthฤnam Adharamasya Tadฤtmฤnam
Srijฤmyaham.
Paritrฤnฤy sฤdhunฤm,Vinฤshฤy Cha Duskritฤm,
Dharma Sansthฤpnฤye, Sambhavฤmi
Yuge Yuge.-Srimad Bhagwat Gita Chapter 4, Verse 7
Omnipresent
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, that the Lord shows the way. He is not here in physical form, but He is felt everywhere. Omnipresent and omnipotent, 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.
Pure happiness
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 themselves, money loses its significance. The famous book of Daniel Defoe meticulously underscores it.
Robinson Crusoe
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!
Food, not gold coins
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 group who somehow escaped from their clutches and named him Friday, the day he met him.
Tokenisation
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, though it doesn’t give happiness in all situations.
Happiness, not greed
Cupidity, lust, and the wish for more are but a few strong negative traits. The longing for wealth is intrinsic, but it can’t replace the necessity of bodily requirements and happiness. Desire for more needs control. 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.
Good deeds lead to happiness
Lord Krishna gave precious things to humanity. He sided with the 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 humanity. 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.
Life: a mixed bag of experiences
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.
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Kamal Kishore Srivastava
A retired government officer turned writer and photographer, Kamal Kishore Srivastava is a regular blogger and essayist who explores lifeโs deeper meanings through immersive reflections on nature, impermanence, and happiness. On his blog Natureโs Narrative, he blends philosophical storytelling with practical insights. Writing 1,200โ1,500 words or more regularly, Kamal is committed to refining his craft, expanding his audience, and building a sustainable space where thought and feeling intersect.
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