Password : *******

forHappiness*******
*

Name: ____________________________________College:____________________
 For Private Circulation Only!
Compiled by Radheshyam Das
Printed by Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture and Education (VOICE)

Head Office
Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture and Education (VOICE)
S.No. 50, Katraj Kondhwa Bypass, Opposite to Shatrunjay Temple, Pune 411048

Branch Office
Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture and Education (VOICE)
4, Tarapore Road, Next to Dastur Boys School, Camp, Pune 41100
 1

Password for Happiness

Why can‟t we experience continuous Happiness at every moment?

One thing that we all are looking for in life is happiness. We go to school, to get a
degree, get a job, earn money and buy happiness with that. We marry, to become
happy. We play, to become happy. We eat to become
happy. We don‟t do anything, unless we can get
some happiness out of it. Still, if we observe our
lives carefully, our happiness is thwarted at every
moment by some impediment, that supplies us
suffering instead of happiness. This may put us to
shock and pain. Most people try to work around
sufferings, still desparately looking for and hoping
for happiness. Different people respond differently
when sufferings come in life.
Some people ask, “Who said I am suffering?”
Others say, “We have to learn to live with this
menace. What to do”
Some argue, “How can life be truly happy if it is not
mixed with some sorrow also. Let‟s learn to love
sorrow.”
A creator of any commodity has the best knowledge about his product. Similarly
Lord Sri Krishna is accepted by all authoritative sources to be the Supreme
Personality of Godhead and as the source of everything including material world.
Who can give us better information about the world we are living in than Him? He
labels this world as „dukhalayam‟ which means „abode of miseries‟ just as we call
„himalaya‟ „abode of snow‟. Sometimes we find a board, `beware of dogs‟ or
`trespassers will be persecuted‟. Anyone who ignores such warnings should be
prepared to face dangerous consequences. Thus one who is serious about life‟s goal
should take note of the Lord‟s teachings in Bhagavad gita.

Quiz 1 : Hurry and worry from Womb to Tomb

We can easily observe that we are living in a world where there is anxiety from womb to
tomb:
Pair up Quiz: Pair up and think of the life of a average person from childhood upto his
death. What are all the different possible anxieties that he undergoes? Match the following
and put appropriate numbers into the empty brackets on the right side column, „Age group‟ :

Camp organized by Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture and Education[VOICE]

 2

Anxiety experienced Age group

(1) Demanding toys, chocolates ( ) Boy in Tenth standard

(2) Better paying job with more prestige. ( ) Engineering student

(3) Parents pressure, peer pressure you

work hard day and night at the cost of ( ) School going child
health and play.
(4) When you work hard for competitive
exams, there is always the anxiety of ( ) After Marriage
winning or losing both for you and your
parents.
(5) you‟ve to complete about fifty subjects
and give exams. You‟re tossed from
happiness to distress and back and forth ( ) Five year old Child
based on the results.Then there is anxiety
of not failing in exams, getting a dream
job, overcoming incompetence etc.

(6) Not wanting to go to school ( ) Caring for a baby

(7) Parents are also put to anxiety to

protect you from sickness, fire, blade, ( ) Boy before getting into Engineering
reptiles, accidents etc.
(8) work 16 hrs a day that forces you to
put relationships, good health, personal ( ) Having a boy child
time – everything to backseat, with money
as the only goal.
(9) if you don‟t get a child for next five
years, relatives and friends will ask you,
„Where is the child?‟ You go from one ( ) Grown up teenagedaughter
doctor to another, one astrologer to
another with the anxiety of having a child.
There is fear of misunderstanding and
divorce.
(10) body is not co-operating; eyes are
blurred; ears are hard of hearing; knees ( ) After doing job
and joints are paining; digestive system is for a couple of years
dead; you can‟t pass urine or stool;
sometimes you pass them in the bed

Camp organized by Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture and Education[VOICE]

 3

without knowledge; white hair shows up

notice for death and warning of death
seems bitter and painful. No one seems to
want you anymore. Your advice and
suggestions fall in deaf ears of others.
That causes suffering.

(11) growing him up without falling prey

to drugs, bad company, not to become a ( ) Marriageable age
vagabond, but become responsible.
(12) nobody should exploit her; or she
should not elope with a boy and bring ( ) When you get old and diseased
disgrace to the family.
(13) spouse should not be a demon, else ( ) a high paying job
whole life will be miserable.
Microsoft
Infosys

Quiz 2 : Seven stages of Life

Fill in the ( ) on the right column
matching with items on left column :

Age Activity or Situation

(1) Bedridden in old age ( ) Drills

(2) After Marriage ( ) Ills

(3) Prior to death ( ) Spills

(4) School going child ( ) Thrills

(5) Old age ( ) Wills

(6) Newborn Child ( ) Bills

(7) Teenage ( ) Pills

Camp organized by Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture and Education[VOICE]

 4

Let us identify the Cause of our Suffering

Is suffering automatic or is it inflicted by someone?

Although everyone is looking for unlimited happiness and no suffering, they get
the opposite. All of us have experience that suffering comes in our lives unasked
for. Are we supposed to just endure it without questioning? Most people do just
that. When they get some pain, they just try to cover it up with some medicine
without asking who is causing it and why. But an intelligent person
understands that suffering can never be automatic; it has to be inflicted
by someone. For example suppose someone pinches you when
your eyes are blindfolded. Although you can‟t see who is pinching
you, you know for sure that the pain is not automatic; someone is
causing it.

Story: ‘A Sparrow’s struggle against Superior arrangement’

Camp organized by Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture and Education[VOICE]

 5

QUIZ 3 : Struggling against Superior arrangement

Give one/two examples from modern times, for each of the statements below :
“….the materialistic persons, though having eyes, are unable to see how maya,
the material energy, is supervising all their efforts.

They simply struggle on,

making adjustments, hoping to improve their lives and

secure their place in the material world,

not understanding that maya is watching their every move and defeating them at every step.”

Dealing with our Material Desires

If you ask someone to make a list of his desires, he

will realize that they are more than the number of
stars in the sky!

We have desires for :

 Sense pleasure - seeing, hearing, touching,
smelling, tasting
 acquiring and keeping things, land, money etc to
make up for feeling of inadequacy
 making connection with those in big positions, to
make up for feeling of insecurity
 more and more physical and material comforts
 ego satisfaction – attainment of name, fame, status,
power, children, family etc

We cannot fulfill all our desires, because…….

(1) Everybody wants a car; if 40 lac people of pune have their own car, will they be able to
drive it on pune roads? Also one who has a cycle wants a scooter,
Cycle Scooter Car Helicopter Chartered plane
Villageboy City USA go to other planets
Everybody wants everything. Hence by sheer logic it is impossible for anyone to fulfill all
his desires.

Camp organized by Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture and Education[VOICE]

 6

(2) Desires multiply faster than you can satisfy them : If your power to satisfy desires
increases in Arithmetic progression, the power of desires increases in Geometric progression.
If you satisfy one desire, it gives rise to ten more desires.
Lust means, “I want to enjoy” “I want to enjoy” “I want to
enjoy”
Greed means, “I want more” “I want more” “I want more”
Anger means, “Why can I not get what I want?”
Lust turns into Greed, when a desire is fulfilled.
Lust turns into Anger, when a desire is not fulfilled.
Even if a man be handed over all the objects of the world to enjoy,
still he will not be satisfied and will desire more of them. After
becoming king of the whole universe, Hiranyakashipu became
stressed and disturbed, because one small five year old boy refused to accept his authority!
Unfulfilled desires keep the mind agitated even at death and becomes the cause of next birth.

QUIZ 4 : Insatiable Material Desires is the cause of all

problems
Fill in the blanks with fitting names from the box below :
(1) Hiranyakashipu (2) Sisupal (3) Kichaka (5) Alexander (4) Ashwatthama
(6) Vishwamithra (7) Aurangazeb (8) Duryodhana (9) Duhsasan (10) Dhrtarashtra
(11) Kaushika (12) Narakasura (13) Indra (14) Ravana (15) Shakuni
1. One who lost his life due to carrying away another man‟s wife :
______________________
2. One who lost his whole dynasty and sons due to greed for property :
__________________
3. One who poisoned his cousin to kill him and become unrivalled king :
_________________
4. One who forcibly stole the Kamadhenu cow of Vasishta :
__________________________
5. One who sends apsaras to bewilder sages due to insecurity :
________________________
6. One who greedily conquered practically the whole world at age of 29 :
_______________
7. One who killed his brothers and put his father in prison, to become king :
_______________
8. One, who, due to his lust was killed by Bhima in disguise of Draupadi :
_________________
9. One who sent a brahmastra to kill the last child of Pandava dynasty :
___________________
10. One who tricked Brahma by asking boons to almost become immortal :
________________

Camp organized by Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture and Education[VOICE]

 7

Three reasons why material objects cannot satisfy our heart

QUIZ 5 : Drawing Exercise

Read the description given below and draw pictures on a flip chart, with philosophical
punch lines on the top fitting the theme of the picture. For the themes, look for the
examples given below in italics. Apart from the punch line or lines at the top, make
sure you give a caption to your drawing alongwith the name of group members and
the college name. Now you can paste it on the wall of the seminar hall. The best
drawings with best punch lines and captions will receive special prizes.

(1) Changeable and Perishable things cannot give lasting happiness

All material objects that we hanker for – be it woman, vehicles, posts and positions – they all
depreciate and can give only temporary and illusory thrills. Our mind longs for MORE and
MORE of the same thing and when it gets BORED, it becomes restless and then it demands
VARIETIES of things, to hop and jump from one to another searching for happiness. But
just as a misinformed man was trying to squeeze out sweet juice from a bamboo which
appeared like a sugarcane, a man can never become happy by trying his best with material
objects of this world.

The soul and Supreme Lord Sri Krishna are „cidvastu‟, conscious
living beings, whereas the objects that one desires in this
world are all „jadavastu‟ or dead matter. Since Lord and
soul are of the same quality, real happiness can be achieved
only in relation with Him. Unfortunately the living entity is
trying to get happiness from TV, movies, electronic
gadgets, eating, sexlifeetc but he will never be satisfied.

Material Pleasure is Limited

If somebody tells you, “I am enjoying life”, you may ask them two questions `how much‟ and
`how long‟ can you enjoy?‟ that easily expose the nature of material pleasures.

There may be a dozen five star hotels in the city where every day over fifty varieties of items
may be in the menu. Like a cow tied to a pole cannot enjoy grass beyond the radius of the
rope, even the wealthiest man cannot enjoy beyond a limit.

The desire to enjoy sex life is like an itching sensation which can never be satisfied by
scratching. By continuous scratching, one may start bleeding. The solution to stop itching is
stop scratching apply medicine. Similarly giving up illicit sex and chanting the holy name is
the way for happiness.

Yogis are connoisures of pleasure. They don‟t become satisfied with petty pleasures
achieved by body, mind, intellect or ego. They relish the unlimited bliss that comes by
surrendering to the Lord.

Camp organized by Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture and Education[VOICE]

 8

Material Pleasure is a Chase after Mirage

The material world is a perverted reflection of the spiritual world. Just like the mananquin of
a beautiful girl cannot give any satisfying relationships similarly material bodies cannot
quench our thirst for happiness. Sometimes it appears that material pleasures are more easily
reachable than spiritual bliss; but it is not true. A moving image of a seductive woman can
make a passionate man lusty but cannot give him tangible enjoyment.

Once a crane that spent a lot of time near a lake in search of fish happened to see a bull‟s
testicle hanging. He thought to himself, if fishes are so easily available why do people
struggle hard to get it from the lake. Thinking in this way, he put his beaks in between the
two legs on the bull and got a severe kick from the bull. Not able to understand what is
happening, the crane tried again and again and and got repeated kicks. This is the condition
of one pursuing material pleasures. The material objects are like mere shadows that are
imitation of spiritual objects and cannot give us satisfaction that we are looking for.

Material Pleasure ceases to be Pleasure after sometime

No same material object can give us pleasure for a long time.
For example, if you are mad for eating gulabjamuns, eat one,
two, three…. A stage will come when you will not want to eat
anymore and if it is given forcefully, you will feel repulsion
and vomit.

When you go to a picnic to some hillstation with your friends,

initially, you may enjoy the experience but after sometime you
start feeling bored and ask others, “When are we returning back?”

If somebody gives you a birthday gift nicely packed in a shining golden paper pack, how
eager are you open and see what the gift is! But once the gift is opened, you turn it around
left, right, up, down and see it, you keep it aside. Now probably you may not touch it again
ever in future !

A newly wedded couple hold several dreams about

marriage and life with the new partner. They feel, as they
often show in a movie – nightingales are singing, peacocks
are dancing, flowers are showering from the heaven and
whole world is celebrating our marriage etc. But the bride
groom with a beautiful king-like turban is raised on a horse
and given all respects for one day, only to tolerate all
kinds of problems throughout his life. Once marriage is
over, the couple has to face the harsh realities of life –
getting a job, purchasing a flat, procuring furnitures,
raising the newly born child, admitting him in school, household chores and facing crises etc.
Besides that their beautiful bodies which was like a plumpy grapes turns into raisins like
dried up grapes! They may proudly proclaim that they have been united by `love marriage‟,
but they may fight almost like cat and rat.

Thus the charm of material pleasures are short lived and turn into boredom or dryness after
sometime.

Camp organized by Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture and Education[VOICE]

 9

Material Pleasures : Not New

A chewing gum has a good flavour in the beginning, but becomes tasteless within
a short time. Still sometimes children keep chewing them again and again.
Similarly, the living entity has done the same activity of eating, sleeping, mating
and defending in every life, in a dog‟s body, cat‟s body etc. Prahladmaharaj calls
it, `punahpunahcarvitacarvananam‟ meaning `chewing the chewed‟.

(2) Whole material world is built on principle of Duality

Duality means everything here is made of two opposite aspects eg day-
night, life-death, summer-winter, pleasure-pain, joy-sorrow, association-
dissociation etc. These two aspects cannot be separated from each other,
like the two faces of the same coin. This means, any object that gives you
pleasure also gives pain. Any person or thing which is associated with you
must also dissociate or leave you at sometime. If you have some advantages
of something, you will have some disadvantages also.
When you marry, there is some pleasure, but there are
disadvantages in the form of extra responsibilities, burdens and
adjustments.
When you buy a house somewhere, you have the joy of having aown
house, but there are also anxieties of maintaining it, repairing it and
paying the bills and taxes.
To find real happiness and bliss, we will have to transcend the duality
of the world and return back home back to Godhead. Till that time, one
tolerates all dualities as mercy of God and pushes on life dutifully.
Once we attain the shelter of Supreme Lord Krishna, then we will never be dissociated from
Him. We will never die; He will never die; our services to Him will be eternal and
imperishable.

(3) All worldly things are Relative

Whatever you get in this world, there are always better things available and you start looking
towards them and in this way, you remain always dissatisfied, no matter what you get.
For example, suppose you purchase a car and now you became owner of a car. Now after
sometime you see a car with more facilities and better looks, then you develop a desire to buy
that car. This is how this vicious circle goes on endlessly.
For example, you wanted to occupy a particular post and you got your desire fulfilled. Now
you see some person at a higher post than you, enjoying higher privileges and power. Again
a desire is born in you to achieve that post.
For example, a man fell in love with a beautiful woman and somehow got married to her. He
is happy to see her beautiful slim body, but within a few years she becomes stout like an
elephant. Now he is unhappy and looks towards other young girls for happiness.
So the conclusion is that the possession of the desired object only feeds or ignites the desire
further instead of quenching it because the mind always searches for better facilities and
greater comforts.

Camp organized by Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture and Education[VOICE]

 10

Also in this world, no one possess all qualities that one may want in them :
Arungobil has a beautiful facecut to act as Lord Rama only in a movie, but he smokes
cigarette.
A cinema actress has a beautiful body, but she needs LataMangeshkar to give dubbing voice
behind.
A singer has a cuckoo like voice, but her body is like an elephant, not matching her sweet
voice.
A man may have a name, „sundergopal‟ but be ugly, or „laxmipati‟ and still be a begger.
Key to Happiness
So, no one or nothing of this material world has the ability to completely satisfy us. On the
contrary, Lord Sri Krishna is called the summumbonum – the sum total of all good. He is all
beautiful, all knowledgeable, all strong, all famous, all wealthy and all renounced. He is
emperor of sweetness as glorified by the song – „adharammadhuram,
vadanammadhuram…..‟.
Lord Krishna and His abode are Permanent and imperishable. When all material worlds will
be destroyed, Lord and His abode will never be destroyed : „yah
sasarvesubhutesunashyatsunavinashyati‟. In spiritual world, there is only ever expanding
bliss; there is no suffering or duality.
Krishna is absolute and everything else is relative to Him. Thus attaining His eternal service
alone can give everlasting bliss to us. And while living in this world, we don‟t have to give
up our desires, but we need to transform our material desires into spiritual desires.
If aold woman while walking on the road drops her gold ring by mistake, what will you do?
If one takes it to sell it and enjoy the money, he is a „bhogi‟. If one just ignores it
considering, „it is not mine‟, he is a „tyagi‟. But if one picks it up and gives it to the owner,
the lady, then he is the most intelligent man. Similarly a „‟bhogi‟ tries to grab and enjoy the
property of God, „jnani‟ renounces it and goes to seclusion; but a „bhakta‟, understanding
everything in this world to be a property of Krishna, uses everything in Krishna‟s service.
Thus a bhakta attains unlimited bliss even while being in this world, what to speak of, when
he returns back home back to Godhead. This is the right method of approaching the objects
of this world.
Why does Durga inflict Suffering upon us ?

Camp organized by Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture and Education[VOICE]

 11

Quiz 6 : Be smart enough to sense maya’s beating: Match the equivalents :

(1) Dhananjay ( ) devotees who plan to go back to God

(2) Father-in-law‟s house ( ) Maya, who punishes jivas
(3) son-in-laws who left ( ) one planning to stay in material world
(4) „good‟ beating ( ) Material world
(5) Brother-in-laws ( ) Threefold miseries offered by maya

What is the cause of suffering?

Why should God, the Supreme, cause us suffering if He is an all-loving father? Suffering is
caused not by God, but by our own desire to enjoy separate from God. A child who
wants to leave the safety of the hands of his parents and cross the busy road alone, will
undoubtedly feel frightened by the huge lorries and elephants.
If we live our life in harmony with God, like a citizen living in harmony
with the state, then we can certainly achieve happiness.

Every human being should therefore take advantage of the Vedic

instructions; otherwise one will be bound by his whimsical
activities and will be without any guide.

Camp organized by Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture and Education[VOICE]

 12

Returning to Harmony
The symptom of suffering is good, because it gives us an opportunity to look for the root
cause. All suffering has a purpose behind it. A thief is beaten so that he gives up his stealing
propensity. When our bodily system is disturbed, it gets heated up showing fever so that we
understand the need to go to a doctor. Thus the symptom of pain or heat is not bad, as it
allows us to take positive action to rectify the bad situation in the system.
Similarly we find that in this world, despite our prolonged endeavors for happiness, suffering
persists. This indicates that we are in a foreign atmosphere.

The king puts the disobedient citizens within the walls of the jail, but sometimes the king,
desiring the prisoners' relief, personally goes there and pleads for reformation and on his
doing so the prisoners are set free. Similarly, the Supreme Lord descends from His kingdom
upon the kingdom of illusory energy and personally gives relief in the form of the Bhagavad-
gita, wherein He personally suggests that although the ways of illusory energy are very stiff
to overcome, one who surrenders unto the lotus feet of the Lord is set free by the order of the
Supreme.

Quiz 7 : Symptoms of disturbance indicate some disorder to be setright

Give answer for the following questions in one/two sentences :

(1) Is fever good or bad? Give reason for your answer.

(2) What is the fever compared to above?

(3) Why does Krishna comes as avatar to this world of maya?

(4) What is the method for becoming free from maya‟s clutches?

Durga is an obedient maidservant of Krishna

This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to
overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it. [BG 7.14]
Though material world is a place of sufferings, still there is a good news for all suffering
souls. There is a way out. There is a way to attain everlasting happiness. Fortunately, the
jailkeeper of this material world, Durga is not the all-in-all controller of everything. Thus life
is not like a hopeless ocean for a drowning man suffering alone. There is way to transcend
the modes and sufferings.

Lord Krishna states in the Bhagavad-gita [9.10]: “mayaadhyakshenaprakriti” “This material

nature is working under My direction”. In Bhagavad gita [7.14] Lord Krishna says that
“daivihyesagunamayi mama mayaduratyaya” “This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the
three modes is difficult to overcome.” Thus the words „mama maya‟ means „my illusory
energy‟ that indicates that mayadevi or Durga is a obedient servant of Krishna.

Camp organized by Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture and Education[VOICE]

 13

Story: ‘Caught by the Dog’

Once a man went to visit a wealthy friend, living in a posh bunglow surrounded by garden.
He forgot to notice the board outside the gate that read, „beware of dogs‟. When he opened
the gate and as proceeded inside, a hugesize bulldog came running, barking at him and started
catching his clothes firmly and biting it. When he tried
to run away, the dog chased him and caught hold of him
more firmly. Then he tried to pick up whatever stick
was around to beat it; the dog got more wild and showed
all its teeth, getting ready to bite him. The man was
totally frightened and did not know what could be the
best idea to escape from this dangerous situation. At last
he remembered his friend and loudly called out his
friend‟s name. His wealthy friend heard the loud call
and came out of his house. Seeing the plight of his
friend caught by the dog, he gave a whistle. And sure
enough, the dog stopped any more attempts to attack
him and ran back to the feet of the wealthy master,
wagging its tail.
Moral: In the same manner, Krishna is our friend and Durga is entrusted to trouble us with
the threefold miseries for our reformation. If we call out Krishna‟s names loudly,
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare,
Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare
then Lord will call maya and tell her, “Release this poor soul; He is now my devotee. He has
no inclination to enjoy separately from Me. He wants to return to spiritual world and join My
eternal pastimes.” Mayadevi will gracefully open the doors of the jail to let us return back
home back to Godhead.
Thus chanting the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra and engaging in devotional service to Sri
Krishna is the PASSWORD for everlasting Happiness.

* * * * *

Camp organized by Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture and Education[VOICE]