54. Cause-and-Effect in Spirituality
K rishna says that the intellect of the contented is steady and all their dukh (sorrows) are destroyed (2.65). Firstly, Sorrow is the result of an oscillating intellect, and when the intellect is steady, sorrow disappears. Secondly, this verse runs contrary to our belief that we become content once our desires are fulfilled, once we attain sukh and once dukh is destroyed. But Krishna says we just need to be content first and that the rest will automatically follow. For example, we conclude that we are not healthy if we have symptoms like fever, aches etc. The suppression of these symptoms won’t make us healthy unless the underlying condition is treated. On the other hand, a nutritious diet, good sleep, fitness regime etc. provide us with good health. Similarly, bhay (fear), krodh (anger) and dwesh (hatred) are indications of a lack of contentment and their suppression won’t automatically make us content. Numerous quick fixes are promoted and practiced to suppress...