Patanjali Yoga Sutra Knowledge Sheet 74
Contd. from knowledge sheet 73
I will tell you another Mullah story.
Mullah Nasruddin used to grumble all the time. He was a farmer and so he would grumble that there were no rains for many years. He would say, “Oh, there is no rain. No crops are coming and it is so difficult”.
He kept grumbling, and it so happened, that year there was very good rainfall and he got great crops in his field.
So people thought that this year Nasruddin would not grumble because his crops have come out so good. Now there was no problem and he must happy. So people went to greet him.
“So Mullah, how are you? You seem to be doing very good. Your field is simply flourishing”.
Mullah had the same long face, and he said, “Yes, but see I have so much work to do now. All these years I had nothing to do because there were no crops. But now there are so many crops. I have so many things to do. I have to go to the market and sell the crops. It is a big headache”.
Whether there were crops or no crops, grumbling continued.
In the same way, in life you are unhappy about things you don’t have and unhappy about things you have Isn’t it?
Someone who does not have a car is unhappy because he does not have a car. Someone who has a car is unhappy because he has to maintain the car, and it is such a big headache. They have to pay the tax and do so many things. They feel, “Previously I would simply take public transport and go out. Now I have to service the car. When I go out, I have to keep it somewhere. When the battery goes down I have to do something about it. There are a hundred and one things to do now”.
Santosha, developing the habit of being happy. You have to do it; nothing else can give you that. Nobody else can do it for you. If anybody or anything else does it, that will only be temporary. You take a step.
This strength in you is Santosha. This is an attitude to develop.
<<Being unconditionally happy is a practiceShoucha and Santosha>>
(This is part of a series of knowledge sheets based on Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's commentaries on Patanjali Yoga Sutras.)
