Walking the Path of Happiness - Sandeep Wakchaure

A man was spending his day begging. Sitting on the street, he held out his hand for money. Passersby would drop loose change into the bowl he held. He looked at each person with immense hope. If someone gave him five rupees, he was delighted. Even if someone gave him a single rupee, his face would light up with happiness and contentment. If just one rupee could bring such satisfaction, one might wonder how much happier those with millions must be. But are they truly happy? An honest search for the answer would reveal that they are not. No matter how much wealth or fortune one possesses, it is no guarantee of happiness. The beggar asking for alms often appears more content than the owner of a multi-million-dollar empire. So, what exactly brings happiness? This question remains unanswered. In truth, everyone’s idea of happiness is different. There are as many definitions of happiness as there are people, yet one thing is certain: everyone desires it. Often, when we see people living on the streets, we notice they have no home, none of the comforts of a conventional family life. They have no gas stove, no cot or mattress for sleep, no fan, no air conditioner. And yet, these people are often more joyful. The other day, on a bridge's footpath, a few families were cooking their morning meal. A light rain was drizzling from above. The women were cooking over a three-stone stove, feeding it with firewood. The children stood under the gentle rain, as if taking a bath, cleansing themselves under the open sky. They had little to cover their bodies, but these bare children were joyfully embracing the rain. Their faces overflowed with a happiness that no amount of money could buy. The mothers watched their children, seemingly savouring this pure joy without a hint of frustration. At that very moment, a wealthy person was crossing the same bridge, holding her child under an umbrella. When a few drops of rain touched the child, the mother grew irritated and scolded him for not walking properly under the umbrella. The child wasn't doing it on purpose; it was simply difficult for two people to walk under one small umbrella. The child wanted to enjoy the rain, while the mother was consumed by worry. Here, the situation for both children was the same, yet their experiences of joy and contentment were vastly different. Do people who spend their lives searching for happiness ever truly find it? This question, too, has no easy answer. Happiness and satisfaction depend on our attitude of acceptance. What matters is how we face our circumstances and how positively we view our lives. Today, we want everything, but this wanting is not born of need, but of greed. As long as there is greed, the touch of happiness cannot be felt in life. Our saints not only spoke of happiness but also showed us the path to it. Even if we consider the wisdom of great thinkers alongside the saints, it is possible for a person to find the path to happiness. But for that, one's perspective on life must change. The greed in one's heart must be relinquished. The path of ego must be forsaken. People journey through life in search of happiness and contentment. This ceaseless journey is, in essence, a chase after happiness. Everyone desires it. Gandhari, however, was unique. She prayed to God not for happiness, joy, or satisfaction, but for sorrow. She may be the only devotee in history to have asked for suffering. People do all sorts of things to avoid sorrow in life! They make vows, accept humiliation, and lose their self-respect. In a world where people will do anything for happiness, why would Gandhari ask for sorrow? The question arises. She asked for sorrow simply to remain in remembrance of God, to never forget Him. It is when a person is in sorrow that they try to get closer to God, with the feeling that His companionship will ease their pain. This sentiment is experienced even today. There is no shortage of people who endure present suffering for the hope of future happiness. The idea of tomorrow's joy makes today's sorrow bearable. But when we weigh them, sorrow is as large as a mountain, while happiness is as small as a grain of barley. Still, man continues to chase after that tiny grain. Consider the story of a donkey that worked for an acrobat. The donkey toiled relentlessly but was never given good food. The acrobat moved from one village to another every day, performing new shows. The donkey carried a heavy load on its back during each journey. The burden was unbearable, but the donkey endured it all. After unloading his goods, the acrobat would leave the donkey at the village dumping ground to eat whatever it could find. It never got to eat fresh grass or grain, nor was it ever given clean water by its master. During its travels, it met a potter's donkey. Seeing its friend's plight, the potter's donkey felt pity and said, "Come and work for my master. He is a very good man. I work all day, carrying clay for him, and in return, he gives me fresh green fodder, regular water, and grain every evening." The acrobat's donkey was delighted to hear this and felt envious of its friend. Yet, it refused to go. Puzzled, the potter's donkey asked for the reason. The acrobat's donkey replied, "My friend, I would have come... but whenever my master's daughter walks the tightrope, he tells her, 'Look, my girl, if you fall from this rope, I will marry you off to our donkey.' So, I wait here in the hope that sooner or later, she will fall, and I will get to marry her." That donkey lived its entire life enduring hardship, all for a fantastical future happiness. The same is true for humans. People carry the burden of present-day sorrow for the sake of future happiness. But does the happiness we strive for ever truly materialize? When we take stock of a person's life, we find that it is always a confluence of happiness and sorrow. No single person's life is composed solely of happiness. The saint Samarth Ramdas Swami asked, (Who in this world is completely happy? O mind, think and find out for yourself!). Happiness is always scarce; a truly and perpetually happy person is impossible to find. We must understand that no one's life is woven only with the thread of joy. No matter how far we travel in search of it, it is hard to find a person truly cloaked in happiness. The saint Tukobarai gave the answer in one of his (devotional poems): (When you look for happiness, it is as small as a grain of barley, while sorrow is as large as a mountain.) When we reflect on life, we realize that happiness merely touches us, but that fleeting touch makes life more joyful. For these few moments of happiness, people are willing to endure immense sorrow. The philosophy that the saints discovered through their experiences was expressed in very few words. The devotional poems born from this wisdom have given meaning to life. Therefore, as we walk the path of discovery, we must consider the way paved by these saints. One may find happiness and contentment in life, but for that, one must undertake a search for life's meaning. The saints have given us beautiful examples. A man was running desperately in search of happiness. Many people told him, "Do this, and you will find happiness; do that, and you will find it." He followed their advice, running constantly. One day, while running, he was about to fall into a well but managed to grab onto the branch of a tree growing on its edge. He was relieved to have saved his life, but now he was worried about how he would escape. As he hung from the branch, he looked down and saw a cobra below. He felt fortunate not to have fallen. However, his impact on the tree had disturbed a beehive. The bees began to sting him. Amidst the stinging, two drops of honey from the honeycomb fell onto his tongue. As he tasted those drops, he felt a moment of bliss. His life was in grave danger, yet those two drops of honey gave him an experience of happiness. In life, happiness comes to us like these two drops, but we must remember that the rest of our existence is filled with sorrow. If we listen to the experiences of those who have known both great joy and deep sorrow, we find that many are on a quest for happiness. Some have even found it. Many thinkers have shown the way. The founders of many religions and philosophers have walked the path of truth to discover the road to happiness. Many have said that if you let go of ego and greed, sorrow automatically disappears. We suffer because we are attached to accumulating things. There is no lasting happiness and contentment in a worldly life built on possession. To find a person who has truly found happiness is rare. Wherever there is accumulation, sorrow is certain. Once, a crow was soaring high in the sky with a piece of meat in its beak. Seeing the morsel, many other birds began to chase it. To protect its prize, the crow flew higher and higher. As it ascended, the other birds followed. Soon, there were fifty birds chasing that one crow. It felt its life was in danger, and as fear grew, so did its misery. Finally, in a desperate attempt to escape, it opened its beak, and the piece of meat fell to the ground. ...And in that instant, all the birds that had been attacking it turned back. Now, the crow was alone, flying higher and higher, soaring freely in the sky. All its pursuers were gone. Seeing this, its sorrow vanished. When we practice renunciation in life, the path to happiness reveals itself. The state beyond happiness is —bliss. It is a state of such high order that in the Marathi language, there is no antonym for it. It is a state of being, much like the divine. To experience bliss in human life is, in a sense, to attain God. To live every moment in bliss is salvation (). Therefore, if we heed the words of those who have found this path, what is to stop us from choosing it for ourselves as we walk the path of happiness? - Sandeep WakchaureLitterateur and Educationist (This article is the translated version of the original article सुखाची वाट चालताना written bySandeep Wakchaure published in the Sahitya Chaprak Diwali Ank 2025 )

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