There was a king called Vedanta, living in Varanasi, a few centuries ago. He had three sons, Virananda, Nrityananda, and Ananda. He was ruling his kingdom for a long time, until the day, he died. Taking this opportunity, his minister Gopichand took the reign of the kingdom in his hands. The three princes were very young, so they could do nothing.
The minister behaved as if he cared a lot for the princes. He told them, ‘You all are too young to take care of the large kingdom. So, I will take care of this place, and when you grow old, I will hand over the kingdom to you.’ He arranged a small house for the three princes, which was outside the kingdom. He did this, so that they could not find out, what was going on.
The three princes discussed over the matter, sitting inside their small house. The eldest one asked, ‘what is the most extraordinary attribute in this world?’ The younger one said, that he knew nothing about that. The second prince said, ‘It is power’. According to Nrityananda, if they had power, the minister could not have ousted them from their rightful place.
However, the eldest one said, ‘No, it is money. If I have money, I can buy power.’ He promised his brothers, that he would go abroad and raise a lot of money, and then he would return to claim the kingdom. The three decided to part ways, and each decided to get something that could help them to get back their kingdom from the greedy minister.
A decade passed. One day, a big army came from the west, and huge horse carts with jewels came from the east. They were guided by Nrityananda and Virananda, respectively. Both came face-to-face. Virananda told Nrityananda, that he had so much money, that he could buy Nrityananda’s army. Then they started looking for the younger one, Ananda.
He came from the same direction, where the small old house was located. Ananda told his brothers, that he had found the biggest and most precious thing in the world, ‘contentment’. The other two agreed on that. However, Virananda and Nrityananda still wanted to fight with the minister. Ananda told them that he had died long back.
After the minister’s death, the others wanted Ananda to take the throne. However, he was living a contented life in the small house, with his wife and two children. So, he did not move back to the kingdom.
Moral – So, you see that Ananda was happy with what he received. That is why, he was living a peaceful family life. While the other brothers were living a life full of targets, and had not started their family yet. They also happened to be stressed all the time. If you are happy with your present situation, you will never have regrets.
Santosha – From A Yogic Standpoint…
Contentment is the second ‘Niyama’. But, how do we practice it? Is it that easy? Everyone thinks, that if they have a certain thing, they will be content. However, yoga teaches one to look within and find out things that are already there. Today, people are chasing money, mansions, and foreign holidays. People buy insurance policies in dozens for the times ahead. ‘Possession’ has become the greatest culprit of all times. This is something which can hinder your spiritual growth. Most people chant mantras, but still chase wealth. This creates an obstacle between what you are saying, and your actions. So, the universe also gets confused.
The day, you stop doing the two extremes, you can become happier than ever. Chant more and read scriptures, as these will take you a long way.
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