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Be Happy and Content

Sri Isopanishad mantra 1 it is mentioned:
ishaavasyam idam sarvam / yat kinca jagatyaam jagat
tena tyaktena bhunjeethaa / maa grdhah kasya svid dhanam
 
"Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong."
 
But most of the time we forget that the Lord is the Supreme controller and Owner of everything. As a result we keep hankering for things which do not belong to us and make our lives miserable. As our beloved spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj always says, "If something belongs to us, then it should accompany us all the time." But in reality neither house, family, land nor any other asset will accompany us, not even in this world, then what to speak of our final journey? Even a broken needle will not accompany us to our grave. So when we are alive, we should simply be satisfied with whatever Lord blesses us and always remember our role as trustees of the same.
 
In his purport to the above verse Srila Prabhupada says, "One should therefore be intelligent enough to know that except for the Lord no one is a proprietor of anything. One should accept only those things that are set aside by the Lord as his quota. The cow, for instance, gives milk, but she does not drink that milk: she eats grass and straw, and her milk is designated as food for human beings. Such is the arrangement of the Lord. Thus we should be satisfied with those things He has kindly set aside for us, and we should always consider to whom those things we possess actually belong."
 
In this regard, we came across a nice moral story about a farmer who was happy and content. He was happy because he was content. He was content because he was happy. One day a wise man came to him and told him about the glory of diamonds and the power that goes along with them. The wise man said, "If you had a diamond the size of your thumb, you could have your own city. If you had a diamond the size of your fist, you could probably own your own country." And then he went away. That night the farmer couldn’t sleep. He was unhappy and he was discontent. He was unhappy because he was discontent and discontent because he was unhappy. He was getting good yield from his farm and was leading a fairly decent life. But unfortunately the greed for diamonds made him forget that bird in hand is worth two in the bush. So the next morning he made arrangements to sell off his farm, took care of his family and went in search of diamonds. After several months of search, he was emotionally, physically and financially broke. He got so disheartened that he threw himself into the river and committed suicide.
 
Back home, the person who had bought his farm was watering the cows at a stream that ran through the farm. Across the stream, the rays of the morning sun hit a stone and made it sparkle like a rainbow. He thought it would look good on the mantle piece. He picked up the stone and put it in the living room. That afternoon the wise man came and saw the stone sparkling. He asked, "Is the farmer back?" The new owner said, "No, why do you ask?" The wise man said, "Because that is a diamond. I recognize one when I see one." The man said, "No, that’s just a stone I picked up from the stream. Come, I'll show you. There are many more." They went and picked some samples and sent them for analysis. Sure enough, the stones were diamonds. They found that the farm was indeed covered with acres and acres of diamonds.
 
In the above story we find that farmer's mind simply got misdirected when the wise-man came and glorified the diamonds. It is important that we always remember not to be misled by others' words. If Krishna wants to give us something, we cannot refuse it with our two small hands. Similarly if Krishna wants to take away something from us, we cannot prevent it or hold on to it with our two hands. Lord is our kind father and He will always bestow whatever is good for us. So remembering His kindness and recognising His authority, we should simply abide by His laws and thereby lead a peaceful and content life.
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