Definition

    Happiness is the pleasant sensation experienced by the soul through the five senses, mind and/or intellect. Similarly, unhappiness is an unpleasant sensation experienced by the soul through these media.

    One notices that although initially it is necessary for the sense organs to have contact with external objects for the generation of happiness and unhappiness, man actually experiences this happiness and unhappiness through the mind. Thus, happiness or sorrow is always psychological. In essence, since both happiness and unhappiness are experienced through the mind, it becomes possible to restrain either through the mind.

    Hence, Manu (a Hindu sage) has described happiness and unhappiness as follows:

“All that, which is in control of external objects, is unhappiness,
while that which is in control of one’s mind is happiness.
This is the concise feature of happiness and unhappiness.”

Signs of unhappiness

    Sadness and a downcast countenance are the signs of unhappiness.

Futility of worldly life regarding bestowal of happiness and unhappiness

    Worldly life gives a mixture of happiness and unhappiness. The same object, which gives one some happiness, can become a cause of one’s unhappiness. For example, one feels happy when one builds a house, but feels unhappy when one has to pay taxes or make repairs on it. Similarly, one feels happy when a child is born to one, but becomes unhappy when the child is disobedient. In this manner, everyone is constantly going up and down in the vast ocean of happiness and unhappiness. His Holiness Ramdas Swami has aptly captured this truth in His compilation, Shri Dasbodh:

“He who feels happy in the world is the greatest of fools.
There is no sorrow like the ocean of worldly life.”

(To be continued in the next Issue.)

[Reference taken from the Sanatan organization’s publication, Vol. 1B: Spirituality, compiled by His Holiness Dr. Jayant Athavale and Her Holiness Dr. Mrs. Kunda Athavale.]