nurses; otherwise there is an obnoxious smell. While he is lying in this condition
some friends come to him and ask how he is feeling. “Yes, I am feeling well.” What is
this well? Lying in bed uncomfortably taking bitter medicine, and unable to move!
Yet despite all these inconveniences he says, “I am well.” Similarly, in our material

|
+

conception of life, if we think,”! am happy,” that is foolishness. There is no
happiness in material life. It is impossible to have happiness here. In this condition,
we do not know the meaning of happiness. That's why this very word is used,

manisinah—thoughtful.

We seek happiness by some extraneous, artificial means, but how long does it last?
It will not endure. We again come back to sorrow. Suppose, by intoxication, we feel
happy. That is not our actual happiness. Suppose I am made unconscious by
chloroform, and I don't feel the pain of an operation. That does not mean that I am
not having an operation. This is artificial. Real pleasure, real life exists.

As is commanded in the Bhagavad-gita by Sri Krsna, the thoughtful give up the
reaction of work, being situated on the level of pure consciousness. The result is that
this bondage of birth and death, disease and old age comes to an end. This end is in
union with the true identity, Krsna, the reservoir of pleasure and eternal bliss.
There, indeed, is the true happiness for which we are intended.
