Understanding the connection

Sunahu Sadhak Pyare - Part 2

आनंदो ब्रह्मेति व्यजानात्।

ānaṃdo brahmeti vyajānāt।

रसो वै सः। रसं ह्यवाऽयं लब्ध्वानन्दी भवति ॥

raso vai saḥ। rasaṃ hyavā'yaṃ labdhvānandī bhavati ॥

These Vedic Hymns say that God is Happiness. And only by attaining Him this jiva will attain happiness. Sometimes, to explain this fact, it is also said that "Happiness lies in God". Actually God and Happiness are not two different entities. God Himself is the ocean of Ras. Ras did not come from any other source in His being. The Vedas say,

आनंद एवधस्तात् आनंद उपरिष्टात् आनंदः पुरस्तात् आनंदः पश्चात् आनंदः उत्तरतः आनंदो दक्षिणतः आनंद एवेद्ॅ सर्वम ।
छांदोग्योपनिषद

ānaṃda evadhastāt ānaṃda upariṣṭāt ānaṃdaḥ purastāt ānaṃdaḥ paścāt ānaṃdaḥ uttarataḥ ānaṃdo dakṣiṇataḥ ānaṃda evedॅ sarvama ।
chāṃdogyopaniṣada

"There is unlimited happiness all around Him - Above Him, Below Him, to His North, South, East and West. Thus, the Entity that is bliss is called God". Hence Shri Maharaj Ji says -

तुम चाहत आनंद शाश्वत दिव्य चिन्मय प्यारे ।
ब्रह्म या आनंद दोनों एक ही हैं प्यारे ॥

tuma cāhata ānaṃda śāśvata divya cinmaya pyāre ।
brahma yā ānaṃda donoṃ eka hī haiṃ pyāre ॥

A Yaksha had posed 60 questions to Yudhisthir. The first question was - What is the biggest surprise in this world? Yudhisthir had answered, saying -

अहन्यहनि भूतानि गच्छन्तीह यमालयम्। शेषाः स्थिरत्वम इच्छन्ति किमाश्चर्यमतः परम्।

ahanyahani bhūtāni gacchantīha yamālayam। śeṣāḥ sthiratvama icchanti kimāścaryamataḥ param।

Every moment, jiva are leaving their material bodies and going to Yamlok, but those who are left behind think they will not die. Not Yet!!! There is no bigger surprise than this.

Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj says, I will tell you a surprise, bigger than this.

There is so much diversity in this world. There are 8.4 million different life-forms. One those, let us look at one life-form -human beings. All individual humans are different in every aspect - Looks, Intelligence etc. Even their thumb impressions are different. Despite such diversity, there is just one common element in all of them and that is - Everyone wants happiness and happiness Alone.

Take the example of an atheist - a disbeliever in God. What does he want - happiness, joy, peace, contentment. And what does a Saint want? He too wants happiness! All want happiness, regardless of caste, creed, religion, color, nationality etc. What to talk of human beings even plants, trees, animals, birds, insects-everyone wants happiness! If you hold an insect it squirms, as if to say "Don’t hold me. I don’t want this pain".

When you were born, what was the first thing you asked for? You asked for happiness. You’d say- happiness? But how could I ask for happiness, when I couldn’t even speak? It is true that you couldn’t speak. However, what was the first thing you did when you were born? You cried. Your cry was the first slogan to demand happiness. You cried, to relieve yourself of the pain experienced during the birthing process.

So, despite so much diversity in the world, everyone wants happiness. What could be a bigger surprise than this? Did anyone ever train you or teach you to desire for happiness. On experiencing the slightest discomfort, the child cries. He is hungry he cries. He cannot speak but he wants happiness. He cries fifty times a day to demand for happiness. Since then, you have done a lot of things, acquired big degrees, gained expertise in various fields, accumulated a lot of wealth, acquired numerous items of luxury etc. Why? To attain happiness!

However, there is one bliss that God grants free of charge. That bliss is unachievable, despite achieving all the luxuries of the uncountable universes. What is that bliss? That is the bliss of crossing over from the state of awakening to sleep. When you are trying to sleep…and you sleep. The bliss that you attain, when you enter the sleep mode, is such that you do not even care that your wife, who you had wanted to get married for 10 years and finally got married is lying down next to you. Such immense bliss is provided by God for free.

यथा प्रियया स्तिया संपरिष्वक्तो न बाह्यं किञ्चन वेद नांतरम्।
एवमेवायं पुरुषः प्रज्ञेनात्मना संपरिष्वक्तो न बाह्यं किञ्चन वेद नांतरम्।
बृहदा 4.3.21

yathā priyayā stiyā saṃpariṣvakto na bāhyaṃ kiñcana veda nāṃtaram।
evamevāyaṃ puruṣaḥ prajñenātmanā saṃpariṣvakto na bāhyaṃ kiñcana veda nāṃtaram।
bṛhadā 4.3.21

The Vedas say – just like a very lustful man gets such immense pleasure on embracing his beloved that he even forgets his beloved, in much the same manner, the individual jiva gets such immense pleasure, when he crosses over from the awake mode to the sleep mode, he becomes carefree. This is the time when the super soul-God embraces the individual jiva. In that state, if your son, who is dearer to you than life is lying next to you, burning with fever, happens to die, you are completely oblivious of the fact and enjoy you deep slumber.

Now there is a very wealthy man, who does not get proper sleep. He has to take sleeping pills to be able to sleep. And why does he acquire so much wealth? When asked- He saysSo I can sleep peacefully. After I make so much money, I will sleep in peace. So, happiness lies in a peaceful sleep. All this wealth is just a means to achieve that peaceful sleep. And God has granted that sleep, free of charge, just to show a sample of how much bliss is there in Him Then, imagine the joy you get, when you surrender to Him!!

Just like a mother drops few drops of milk in the child’s mouth, and when the child tastes the sweetness of the milk, he starts drinking it. God grants us the bliss of sleep everyday, to inspire us to go unto Him and be blissful forever. We do not understand that and keep aspiring for this and that and that… When the fact is that the bliss of sleep is much bigger than that of acquiring all material possessions.

So God and happiness are one and the same and every individual jiva desires happiness alone. Why? Because he, the jiva, is a part of that personified Happiness, called God.

As per scientific theory, a fraction wants to be one with its whole. The fraction is naturally attracted towards its whole. That is why Valmiki wrote in the Valimiki Ramayan -

लोके न हि स विद्येत यो न राममनुव्रतः ॥

loke na hi sa vidyet yo na raamamanuvratah

There cannot be anyone in this world, who is not a devotee of God. Why? Because God and happiness are one and everyone desires Happiness. In other words everyone desires God. Someone may not call him God, because he is obstinate, atheist. For e.g. I may address someone as my mother’s husband or my father. Are they any different? Both mean the same thing. Someone calls Him Brahm, someone calls Him Parmatma, someone calls Him God, someone calls Him Khuda and someone calls Him Anand. All these are synonyms and refer to the same entity.

So, we are a fraction of God

चिन्मात्रं श्री हरेरंशं सूक्ष्ममक्षरमव्ययम्॥
कृष्णाधीनमितिपाहुर्जीवं ज्ञानगुणाश्रयम्॥
वेद

cinmātraṃ śrī hareraṃśaṃ sūkṣmamakṣaramavyayam॥
kṛṣṇādhīnamitipāhurjīvaṃ jñānaguṇāśrayam॥
veda

अंशो नाना व्यपदेशात्
बह्मसूत्र

aṃśo nānā vyapadeśāt
bahmasūtra

ममैवांशो जीवलोके जीवभूतः सनातनः

mamaivānśō jīvalōkē jīvabhūtaḥ sanātana
Bhagavad Gītā

ईश्वर अंश जीव अविनाशी, चेतन अमल सहज सुख राशी ।
रामायण

īśvara aṃśa jīva avināśī, cetana amala sahaja sukha rāśī
Ramayan

Being part of happiness we desire happiness, we can desire for happiness alone. We cannot desire unhappiness, even after trying for millions of lifetimes. What a big surprise!

Being part of happiness, everyone wants happiness, be it a genius, an uneducated person, an animal, bird, anyone. Every part wants to unite with its whole. Just as any object when dropped, falls towards the earth, to unite with its whole- the earth and fire goes upwards towards the Sun, to unite with its whole-the sun, in much the same manner, the jiva naturally gravitates towards its whole – happiness. That is another matter that being ignorant, he does not know that. So, all the jiva, mobile (humans, animals, insects, birds etc.) or immobile (trees, plants etc.), even celestial Gods want happiness because they are part of Happiness.

Bibliography - Learn more

Why does the mind create desires?

Aim of Life

Search for Happiness