Satisfaction is not in possession! 

King Dasarath paced his palace balcony. Ina pensive mood he surveyed the scene around him. People thronged the inner courtyard below. Feudal kings & princes came with their retinues to pay tribute. From his seventh-story terrace, Dashrath could see much of his city Ayodhya, which stretched to the horizon in all directions. Crowds of citizens moved along the well-planned roads, which was interspersed with mango groves & orchards

The broad central highway, built entirely of red stone, ran the full hundred-mile length of the city. Large white mansions lined that road, with many coloured pennants waving in the breeze on their roofs. The road was sprinkled with perfumed water & strewn with flowers. Above the city the king could see the golden airplanes of apsaras, the consorts of the gods

Looking over his capital, Dasharath was plunged in an ocean of anguish. He entered the palace & walked slowly towards the inner chambers. As he descended the wide marble stairways, he heard his priests chanting sacred Sanskrit texts. The sound of mantras mingled with that of drums & lutes being beautifully played by the royal musicians. Even that sound, which normally gave him so much joy, could not placate him

The king entered his rooms, leaving his personal guards at the door. Declining the food & drinks offered to him by his maidservants, he went over to the large-latticed window. He moved aside the silk drapes & continued gazing out of the city. Ayodhya has been constructed by Manu, a son of all powerful Sun god. Manu had been the first of the kings in Dashrath’s line, all of them emperors of the globe. He sighed & turned back into his rooms

Seeing the anxious king, his three queens gently tried to console him. They sat him on a large golden couch covered with silk pillows & studded with gems. His senior wife Kaushalya, gently massaged his feet, while Sumitra & Kaikeyi fanned him with snow-white chamara whisks

The king sat lost in thoughts. He was perturbed that he had no son & there was no one who could succeed him after his retirement

Our material possessions can not provide satisfaction. Today’s culture indoctrinates us into believing that satisfaction lies in the possessions we don’t have. Indeed, the craving for such possessions is the fuel that drives millions. However, even if we get those possessions, we still won’t get satisfaction

The craving doesn’t come from the lack of possessions-it comes from the mind that is contaminated by materialism. Even if we satisfy the passionate mind’s craving for something, it will soon start craving for something else. Living in passion sentences us to incurable dissatisfaction

We can only find satisfaction through purification. We need to purge our mind of passion and situate it in goodness and eventually in transcendence

Thoughts? #gameoflife