Gita Rahasya -Tilak 102

Karma Yoga Sastra -Tilak

CHAPTER V THE CONSIDERATION OF HAPPINESS AND UNHAPPINESS (SUKHA-DUHKHA-VIVEKA) After "saying that : " When our mouth becomes dry on account of thirst, we drink sweet water in order to remove that un- happiness; when we suffer on account of hunger, we eat nice food in order to alleviate that suffering ; and, when the sexual desire is roused and becomes unbearable, we satisfy it by sexual intercourse with a woman ", Bhartrhari in the last line of the stanza saysr- pratikaro vyadheh sukham iti viparya yati janah I that is, " when any disease or unhappiness has befallen, you, the_ removal of it is, by confusion thought, referred- to as happiness """! There is no such independent thing as- happiness which goes beyond the removal of unhappiness. It is not that this rule applies only to the selfish activities of men. I have in the last chapter referred to the opinion of Anandagiri, that even in the matter of doing good to others, the feeling of pity invoked in our hearts on seeing the unhappiness of another becomes unbearable to us, and we do- the good to others only in order to remove this our suffering in the shape of our being unable to bear it. If we accept this position, we will have to accept as correct the definitions of pain and happiness given in Mahabharata in one place,, namely : — trsnartiprabhavam duhkham duhkhartiprabhavam sukham I that is, "some Thirst first comes into existence; on account Of the suffering caused by that Thirst, unhappiness comes into existence; and from the suffering caused by that unhappiness, happiness subsequently follows". In short, according to these philosophers, when some Hope, Desire, or, Thirst has first entered the human mind, man thereby begins to suffer pain, and the removal of that pain is called happiness,; happiness is not some independent thing. Nay, this school has even gone further and drawn further inferences that all, the tendencies of human life are Desire-impelled or Thirst- prompted; that Thirst cannot be entirely uprooted, unless all the activities of worldly life are abandoned ; and that, unless Thirst is entirely uprooted, true and permanent happiness, cannot be obtained.