The Key To Happiness Is Control Over Desires

Gokul was a small time trader of Gopalpur. When he was twenty, his parents died in an accident. From then on, he felt lonely and lost all interest in life. His friends and relatives advised him to get married. 'Why should I marry when I don't have any interest in life?' he argued with them whenever he was forced to give an answer. Otherwise he preferred to remain silent. 'One has to live till death, once he is born. I would prefer to lead a lonely life which, god willing, may not last long.' he would add if they still persisted. 'Whatever is one's fate, one will have to abide by it,' some friends would say. 'Why should you waste your life and hate living just because your parents are not alive? Better take a wife, bring up a family, and lead a call on Gokul. He received the yogi with due reverence. 'What's this I hear, my son?' he chided the young man. 'People tell me that you're disgusted with life and all that. Your attitude is wrong. This is the time you should lead a happy life. That's what nature says. Don't forget that!' 'If life means only doing some work, eating and sleeping,' said Gokul, 'O muni, I don't have any fancy for that kind of life! Then, what type of life do you wish to have?' queried the yogi. 'Oh! I must have great wealth,' answered Gokul, 'my wife should be called a queen, and people should always praise me. That, I will say, is peaceful, happy life. Take it as your duty to society. Don't think you'll remain young for ever. This is the time you enjoyed life. You just remarked that one has to abide by one's fate, didn't you?' retorted Gokul. 'You leave me to my fate. If a solitary life has been willed for me, let it be so!'
A stage came when his friends and relatives were frustrated. They then stopped adivising him, pleading with him, or persuading him. One day, a yogi named Sadanand arived in Gopalpur. People gathered in large numbers to listen to his discourses or to meet him personally and discuss their problems. Gokul was not keen to meet him, so he did not attend his discourses.