Patanjali Yoga Sutra Knowledge Sheet 79
Contd. from knowledge sheet 78
“Santoshadnuttamaha sukha labhaha’’ (II Sūtra 42)
Santoshat = by happiness, contentment; Anuttamaha = greatest; Sukha = joy; Labhaha = gained.
“By contentment, the greatest joy can be gained.”
Happiness or contentment gives you great joy. Anuttama means the greatest happiness will be received. Just cultivate this habit of being happy. It does not give you misery. It is not just a mood making. An attitude of “Okay I will be happy. I will work through this” brings you the greatest and incomparable happiness in life. It cannot be compared to anything. Anuttama sukha labaha. You will experience the best quality of pleasure in your life. See; when you are not happy from within, nothing can bring you pleasure. If you try to appease somebody who is so depressed, if you try to make them happy and take them to nice movies, they are not interested. If you try to take them to shopping they say “Oh! What shopping?” They do not enjoy anything in life. They will not laugh at the best jokes. When there is santosha, they will rejoice life. They will enjoy anything they do. They even enjoy the company of a stupid person.
Instead of banging on your head, “Oh! This stupid person is my company”, enjoy them. Make some jokes on them. You know, there are all types of crazy people on this planet. It is up to you to either be put off by them or make fun of the whole thing, and create a lighter atmosphere. If people are above your standards, you are not comfortable. With people who are stupid, below your bench mark, you are not comfortable. People who are at par with you, you are envious of them and not comfortable with them. Then with whom are you comfortable? You are all done in life, left with nobody.
You are seeking for some joy, some happiness, and some freedom which is not there. Where are you going to seek them? If you feel that you are much more intelligent than the people around you and if you feel they are all fools, then good. Enjoy their company. Fools make this world more fun. If there are no fools, then the whole world will be totally devoid of fun. You should love the company of fools. At least you can induce some wisdom into their lives whether they like it or not. If you are in company of people whom you think are above you, then be in their company happily and learn something from them. With people who are at par with you, just rejoice with them, just exchange knowledge, and exchange everything with them. You can do business with them. If you have santosha, every situation can be a win-win situation for you. Be determined to spread happiness around you.
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(This is part of a series of knowledge sheets based on Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's commentaries on Patanjali Yoga Sutras.)