________________
FROM IIM-AHMEDABAD TO HAPPINESS
The natural perfection of the soul remains hidden only so long as we do not renounce attachment to the fruit of action. The moment we stake our happiness on the result of work in hand, mind loses its tranquility, and intellect its foresight. It is also incumbent on the soul, at a certain stage of its spiritual progress, to rise above the sense of worldly duty, to attain to its highest good.
It is true that renunciation appears very unattractive and unpleasant at first, and few, indeed, there be who can or do appreciate its merit. Nevertheless, without renunciation no progress is possible in any department, physical, mental, or spiritual. It is always confined to giving up of such practices and habits as hinder the onward progress of the individual. The child who would acquire knowledge must give up toys and go to school; the young businessman who would make money must abandon the habit of going to the cinema halls; the general who would conquer the enemy must take leave of his hearth and home; and so forth. Similarly, he who would tread the path which leads to bliss, must retrace his steps from that which goes hellward for they lie in opposite directions!
Lord Rama took to the exile of fourteen years, to forests and other most inhospitable habitats, in the prime of his youth, without any regrets or lamentations, whatsoever, at the slightest suggestion of his father King Dashrath, who was forced to make such an unpleasant demand in order to keep his word, given to wife Kékayee. What Lord Rama was to leave behind was his kingdom, the majestic splendour and regal comforts of which one can only conjure up in one's mind! Wife Sita and Brother Laxman accompanied him on this arduous journey most willingly; in fact, notwithstanding resistance from Lord Rāma himself. Brother Bharat, for the sake of whose coronation as King, Kékayee had played the game with King Dashrath, refused to get himself anointed. He was, however, forced to stay back in Ayodhya in the
96
