Smt. Hansaji Yogendra on Purushartha (Motivations) at the Satsang

Hansaji Jayadeva Yogendra

“Having been born a human, one has to understand how one must live. Animals have no problem, if they are hungry, they eat, if they are thirsty, they drink. But animals live for themselves. Humans are different. We have intelligence, wisdom, and we understand that we cannot live alone. In order to eat, we have to grow fruits, vegetables, wheat, etc. We cannot live like animals – just kill and eat. So we must always remember that if someone is supporting us, we should support someone. If every human does his / her duty properly, the world will work smoothly, otherwise there will be problems. This is why the Yoga Shastra gives importance to Dharma (Duty). The first Sloka in the Mahabharata has Vyasa shouting at the top of his lungs that everyone should do their duty. If you do your duty, everything else will follow – name, fame, money, etc. Others will keep telling what to do, but we must concentrate on what we ourselves have to do. Yoga tells us to look within. I should uplift myself and do my part in the world because I have been looked after by the world. So it begins with Duty. Firstly keep yourself in the correct state of mind. Take care of your body and mental balance. Do not get too excited or too sad. If there are problems, it is easy to get unhappy, but we have to use our intelligence and not get affected when problems come.

A man was once told that since you are born, you will get 50 % happiness and 50 % unhappiness. This holds true for every human’s life. Since we are born, we have to go through certain experiences, which include unhappiness as well as happiness. So the man was asked, which he wants to experience first? Unhappiness or happiness? In our life, the cycle goes on like waves of an ocean, coming and going. It is all temporary. This too shall pass, remember this and live your life. Do not wish that things should go your way. We have been given a lot and we should live peacefully. This understanding should be there. So the man thought for a while and chose to experience happiness first. So when it came, he did not get excited but managed it well. He got money, but did not live lavishly, he had physical strength, so he cultivated good habits so that he wouldn’t fall sick. Preparing for the future, he also bought land so that in difficult times, even if business wouldn’t work, he would have something to survive on. This is just an example of how a man did not waste his time of happiness in just experiencing it. He used his intelligence. When unhappiness followed, he was prepared. Many people whom he had helped in good times, returned the favour and he did not feel unhappy. Yoga tells us to keep a balanced state of mind in every situation. After that, we must maintain our relations with family. The point is, that when it comes to our duties, our likes and dislikes do not come into the picture. Do not bring in your emotions that I hate this father-in-law or I hate this mother-in-law, etc. So do your duty to your satisfaction.

Yoga is nothing else but a science of awareness. Do how much you can for others. A life lived for others gives happiness. So we have duty towards our near and dear and then towards our work. We have a duty towards household staff also. We can at least smile at them and ask how they are. We find it easier to criticize others but not praise. Last Saturday a good point had come up in our talks. A man here shared a joke and the audience laughed heartily. He then shared the same joke again, only a few people laughed. He shared the same joke the third time and this time, no one laughed. How many times can a person laugh at the same joke? The point was, why can we not do this with our unhappy experiences? We keep complaining and feeling unhappy about the same things. In this, we forget to do our duties. Till we are alive, it is our choice to live happily or unhappily. A certain internal satisfaction comes when we do our duty, whether others are happy with it or not.

Artha means earning money. Respect money, spend only how much is necessary. Excess money brings its own problems, children get spoilt, etc. Where there is pleasure, there is pain, so do everything in the right proportion.

Kama is pleasure. One should definitely watch movies or dramas or listen to music. It is necessary for every person. Derive happiness from it. Share a joke or two every day. Husband and wife hardly talk to each other, instead at least smile at each other and share happiness. We don’t know how long we are going to live.

Moksha comes into the personality slowly. Remember that we do not want to live like animals, we want to move towards the divine. Put in effort for self development. Make sure we are improving and becoming better than what we were yesterday. If our life is based on Dharma and Moksha, it will be beautiful.”