Dharma and Happiness

Radhe Radhe
Jai Gurunath
Would like to share with you a beautiful piece from a Bhagavtam Saptaah spoken by our senior GOD-Brother, His Grace Shri Ramanujam Ji
Often hear people say: I follow all the rules and regulations religiously, but i am not rewarded.
Dont we have this problem now? Is this not a ground-level issue we all face or come across with? Once we read Bhagavatam, we wont have that question. Because Bhagavatam says following Dharma is not for promotion or artha or worldly things. The moment we understand why we should follow Dharma, then we wont have all these questions. We will follow Dharma because it is grand.
Once the Pandavas were all camping on the foot hills Himalayas. Dropadi, who is Dharma Personified once lost patience with all the adversities in life, and asked Yudhisthara, Can you tell me, What did we gain by following Dharma. Every second it is Dharma Dharma Dharma. See where we have ended up because of your Dharma.
Yudhisthara: Dropadi! YOu are asking me why I am following Dharma. Just look at this wonderful mountain - the Himalayas. I love it. Not because Himalaya gives me something in return. I love it because it is GRAND! BEAUTIFUL! Look at the beautiful rives flowing at the foothills. I cannot help but love it.
Likewise DHarma is GRAND, DHARMA is Beautiful. That is why I follow/love Dharma. The moment we expect something from Dharma, then it has become a little bit of a business. And Bhagavatam talks about Pure Dharma. Dharma only for one purpose since it is a bhakti Shastra. Only to make sure our Thakurji is happy and he smiles at us. Thats why i follow Dharma. The objective of my Dharma is HAri Toshanam. Happiness of my GURU. If I follow Dharma then Krishna will be happy. If I follow Dharma my Guru will be happy.
Do we want a greater reward than this?
Yogi Rram Surat Kumar Maharaj gives a beautiful explanation. Everybody wants to be happy? Correct! We do everything in our lives to be happy.
And Srimad Bhagavatam explains it so simply in the 2nd chapter of 1st canto -just 2 lines.
EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE HAPPY. TO WANT TO BE HAPPY IS TO MAKE THE LORD HAPPY.
WHY? HOW?Because, for instance, we have a mirror and we know we can see the reflection in the mirror.
Now imagine the LORD to be the Original person and we are all his images.[MAMAIVAMSHO JIVALOKE JIVABHUTAH SANATANAH - The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts. BG- 15]So if you want to put the smile in the image, where should the smile originate from? It should originate from the original object, which is HIM (BHAGAVAN).

If Bhagavan is happy with us, we will also be happy.
To want to be happy is to make the LORD happy. So simple. I tell you this.Bhagavat Dharma is simple - which is why it is so difficult and rare! We always expect complications. Mind expects complications and struggle.Bhagavat Dharma is straight and simple - Direct path.
So to want to be happy is to make the LORD happy. So how do I make the LORD happy?
To make the LORD happy is to chant HIS Names. THis is Bhagavat Dharma. 7 days of lectures if it gives this little conviction in our hearts, then Bhagavan has done his job on all of us. So Bhagavat Dharma says, whether it is DHARMA ARTHA KAMA OR MOKSHA - if it is directed at HARI TOSHANAM - then we have led our lives in full.
If the LORD is happy with what we are doing, then we have led a proper life. Dharma means making the LORD happy.
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Shloka referenced in above passage can be found in Srimad Bhagavatam 1:2:13atah pumbhir dvija-sreshtha / varnasrama-vibhagasah
svanushthitasya dharmasya / samsiddhir hari-toshanam
O best among the twice-born, it is therefore concluded that the highest perfection one can achieve by discharging the duties prescribed for one's own occupation according to caste divisions and orders of life is to please the Personality of Godhead.