Gita Rahasya -Tilak 109

Karma Yoga Sastra -Tilak

CHAPTER V THE CONSIDERATION OF HAPPINESS AND UNHAPPINESS (SUKHA-DUHKHA-VIVEKA) that is, "the living being is superior to the dead; the intelli- gents are superior among the living; men are superior among the intelligent; Brahmins, among men; learned Brahmins among Brahmins; doers, among the enligtened-minded, and brahmavadin (those who belong to the cult of the Brahman), among the doers "; and on the same basis, it is stated in verna- cular treatises, that out of the 84 lakhs of forms of life (yoni) the human life is the most superior; that among men, he who desires Release (mumuksu) is most superior; and, that among mumuksus, the perfect (siddha) is the most superior. That- is also the purport of the proverb " life is dearer than anything, else", (sabase jiva pyara); and for this very reason, if someone commits suicide, finding life full of unhappiness, people look upon him as insane, and the religious treatises count him as a sinner ; and an attempt to commit, suicide is looked upon as a crime by law. When in this way it has been proved that one cannot, from the fact that a man does not commit suicide, properly draw the conclusion that, life is full of happiness, we must, in deciding the question, whether life is full of happiness or unhappiness, keep aside for the time being the natural blessing of having been born a human being oil account of previous destiny, and consider only the events of the post-natal worldly life. The fact that man does not commit suicide or continues to live is accounted: for by the Energistic principle of life; it is not any proof of the preponderance of happiness in worldly life as stated by Materialistic philosophers. Or, saying the same thing in other words, we must say that the desire not to commit suicide is a natural desire; that this desire does not arise as a result of the weighing of the happiness and unhappiness in life; and that therefore, one cannot from that fact draw the conclusion that life is full of happiness. When in this way we do not, by confusion of thought,. mix up the blessing of being born a human being with the nature of his subsequent life, and recognise ' being a human, being ' and ' the ordinary life or the usual activities of men ' as two distinct things, there remain no other means for deciding, the question whether there is more of happiness or of un- happiness in worldly life for the being which has taken the superior human form, than considering low many of the ' present ' desires of every man are satisfied and how many disappointed. The reason for saying 'present ' desires is that,, those things which have become available to all persons in. civilised life, become every-day happenings, and we forget the happiness they produce; and we decide the question of the happi- ness or unhappiness of worldly life by considering only how many of the things, which have newly become necessities, are obtained by us.