Why does one slog for 10 hours a day, may be 5 days a week? Obviously, to earn money and enjoy! We acquire things, amass wealth, with a single point agenda – enjoyment. All our focus in life is around enjoyment! Whether it is a street dog or an advanced Yogi, all want to enjoy. It is just that each has a different definition for enjoyment 😉
One well known ancient Indian quote is
Enjoy as long as you are alive
Enjoy even if you have to borrow
Once you die and your body burns to ashes, there is no way you can come back!
Yaavat jeevEt sukham bhOgEt
rNam krtvaa ghrtam pibEt
bhasmee bhootah dEhasya punaraagamanam kutah ?
This is an often-quoted verse from Charvaka Sruti. Though no such written composition survives today, one can find references to it in many ancient Indian philosophic books including Buddhist scriptures and even in the Bhagavad Geetha. The word Charvaka is derived from two words – charu meaning sweet, Vaak meaning words – sweet words! The idea is to enjoy at all cost.
No one knows for sure who was the author of this composition which is often quoted even today.
No matter who composed it, this is more or less how we live today. Most of us are so busy chasing enjoyment, that we rarely think of consequences – worldly or otherwise. We take loans, use our credit cards, and go on acquiring things in an endless chase for enjoyment. But do we really get it?
Unless you are a teenager just opening your eyes to the world around, with little worldly experience, we all know that this chase never gets us what we crave for. This chase is driven by insatiable desires. More we chase, the more we are lured and more we get disillusioned. But that does not stop our chase and we hope to succeed someday.
Buddha took an extreme view. He said “Shun all desires. Desires are the root cause of all our suffering – Aaashaa dhuhkasya kaaraNam”. Buddha recommended controlling of the mind and curbing of desires. If there are no desires, Buddha said that there would be no suffering. And eradicating the desires completely, frees us from the biggest of the suffering, namely the endless cycles of births and deaths.
But this was not the typical ancient Indian way of thinking before Buddhism.
For example, the great Indian lawmaker Manu says
One who does not have any desires, cannot do anything. That is because desires are the driving force behind all our actions. And it is through these actions that we do anything – good or bad.
So, shunning all desires is neither practical nor useful. Even a Buddhist monk strives with a desire to attain liberation!
The Samkhya philosophers of ancient India never looked down totally on enjoyment. They said that the purpose of the body is to enjoy the world. Body is like a tool used by the soul to enjoy the world. But this enjoyment has its own consequences. It puts one in an endless trap of more desires.
The freedom from this trap is also achieved through the body. That is the path of liberation. When one had enough of worldly enjoyment, one needs to strive for liberation. One can choose to tread the path of liberation, if one is bored with worldly enjoyment provided by the body. The very same body can also be a tool in that journey.
The companion school of Samkhya, namely Yoga, provides the path of meditation to achieve that goal. In Yoga, one uses the body as a tool to march towards liberation. To attain Kaivalya – final beatitude.
But even this is a rather extreme choice. The Upanishads, which are parts of the ancient Vedas, have a better suggestion. This is brought out beautifully in one of the Upanishads, namely the Isaavaasya Upanishad. It says
One should aspire to live on for full 100 years, doing once’s duty. But we need to enjoy the world without much attachment to it. Also, we need to refrain from snatching what is rightfully someone else’s share. Afterall, whatever is there in this world all belong to the very same Lord.
Isaavaasyamidam sarvam
yatkimca jagatyaam jagat
tEna tyaktEna bhunjeethaa
maa grdhah kasyasviddhanam
kurvannEvEha karmaaNi
jijeevishEcchatam samaah
Detachment is recommended so that you will not suffer by the endless craving for enjoyment. Not snatching someone else’s share ensures that your chase for enjoyment does not adversely affect others. Both of these are possible, if you remember that you don’t own this world, but you only share it with others. Theistically put – this world belongs to the Lord or God and all of us are co-sharers.
The bottom line is – enjoy if you wish but avoid over indulgence. At the same time, don’t be so greedy that you overlook someone else’s legitimate need. You don’t need to shun enjoyment altogether, but enjoy with moderation while being sensitive to the needs of others around you. Live for hundred years, if you so wish, but keep doing your duty.
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