whatever we call it, is a very peculiar situation that is created, and not a substance, as
such. It is a condition which is brought about by other conditions—namely, the
actions of the past.
The objects as they are cannot be regarded as sources of pleasure because the same
object can act adversely or positively, as the case may be, in respect of different
individuals. What I like immensely, you may dislike wholeheartedly for various
reasons. While ‘like’ is the background of a pleasurable experience in respect of an
object, ‘dislike’ is the opposite thereof, so the moment we dislike an object, it ceases
to be a source of pleasure. Pleasure is accompanied by ‘like’. This is very important to
remember. If dislike is present, there cannot be pleasure. The pleasure is a
circumstance brought about by a psychological condition of ‘like’ for a particular
object, a group of objects or a set of circumstances. Therefore, it is difficult to accept
the commonplace notion that the object as such, inherently, is the cause of pleasure
uniformly to all individuals, at all times, under every circumstance.
What this sutra tells us is that pleasures and pains are not inherent in the object;
they are only instrumental in evoking certain sets of circumstances which bring
about these experiences. What pleasures we are to enjoy in life, and what sufferings
we have to undergo—all these are already determined at the time of the manufacture
of this body-mind complex in the womb of the mother, because this complex of body-
mind, this individuality of ours which shapes itself into a form in the womb of the
mother, is nothing but the form taken by the conditions which are to bring pleasure
and pain in life after the birth of the individual. It is not the physical substance called
the body of the individual coming in contact with another physical substance called
the object outside which will generate a third something called pleasure or pain. All
this is a mutation of values—a revolution of the gunas of prakriti which form the
substance of not only the body but also the mind of the experiencing individual, and
also the objects which become instrumental for the experiences of the individual.
Even the link between the subject and the object is constituted of the gunas of
prakriti, so that we may say that the whole drama of experience that is universal is
nothing but an activity that is taking place within the bosom of prakriti. Therefore,
as the sutra points out, meritorious deeds are the causes of our pleasurable
experiences. If certain things cause happiness, it is because we have done some deeds
in the past which have to bear fruit in the form of these experiences.
Why certain deeds bring pleasure and why others bring displeasure or sorrow is also
to be explained; and it is easily explained by the nature of things. Anything—any
action, any tendency of the mind—which takes a step in the direction of the unity of
things will certainly become the cause of a pleasurable experience, and any tendency
or step taken in the opposite direction will become the cause of sorrow or pain. Any
intention of the mind, any affirmation, any conviction or feeling, or any action based
on these feelings, etc., confirming the diversity of things, will become the source of
sorrow, either in this life or in a future life.
An affirmation of the diversity of things is contrary to the law of things as they really
are. So, an intense egoism—a self-assertive nature which cuts oneself off from the
reality of others and asserts an utterly selfish mode of behaviour—naturally prevents
the entry of positive forces from outside into its constitution and consequently
suffers the agony of separation, the sorrow of isolation, and all the difficulties that