Beyond Desire: Finding Freedom from Discontentment
A silent epidemic seems to be reshaping the landscape of human psychology: discontentment. It knows no boundaries. It is everywhere, at work and at home, in our relationships and routines, in classrooms and boardrooms, and even in the private spaces of our hearts.
When did we become a world so restless, so dissatisfied? Is being discontent really a modern-day illness, or has it always plagued the human mind?
The Timeless Nature of Discontentment
If we turn to the Bhagavad Gita, we find that this unease is not new at all. On the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Arjuna is overcome with despair. His mind is clouded with sorrow, doubt, and fear, and he is unable to face the duty before him.
कार्पण्यदोषोपहतस्वभाव:
पृच्छामि त्वां धर्मसम्मूढचेता:
यच्छ्रेय: स्यान्निश्चितं ब्रूहि तन्मे
शिष्यस्तेऽहं शाधि मां त्वां प्रपन्नम् || 2.7||
“My very nature is overpowered by weakness and confusion. I am bewildered about my dharma and ask You to guide me.”
In Arjuna’s Vishāda (despondency), we see the very same struggles that haunt us today. Shri Krishna reminds him that the roots of discontent lie in desire, anger, and delusion and that the way forward is to live as a karmayogi, one who acts with dedication to dharma, without attachment to the fruits of action.
क्रोधाद्भवति सम्मोह: सम्मोहात्स्मृतिविभ्रम: |
स्मृतिभ्रंशाद् बुद्धिनाशो बुद्धिनाशात्प्रणश्यति ||2.63||
“From anger arises delusion; from delusion, loss of memory; from loss of memory, destruction of intellect—and with the destruction of intellect, one perishes.”
The human heart has always carried this turbulence. Only the outer forms have changed. However, in our present world, discontent seems sharper, louder, more constant. We live surrounded by comparisons, measuring our lives against carefully curated versions of others. The pressure of daily responsibilities—deadlines, household duties, parental demands, financial worries—creates a relentless hum of stress.
We seek quick comforts: a scroll through social media, a little retail therapy, a holiday, the fleeting joy of external validation. For a moment, the weight lifts. But the emptiness soon returns. Beneath it all, the inner life remains a turmoil: strained family ties, toxic relationships, the fear of missing out, the endless climb of ambition.
No wonder anxiety feels like the background music of modern existence.
The Way Forward
Yet the wisdom of the Gita is clear. To live well is to be anchored in the Self: steady, purposeful, unmoved by the noise of comparison. Shri Krishna’s counsel to Arjuna is timeless: do your duty, live by your dharma, and act without clinging to results.
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन |
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ||2.47||
“You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results, and never be attached to inaction.”
When we begin to live from this place, our actions gain clarity and strength. Life stops being a frantic chase and becomes an expression of alignment with what truly matters.
Steps Towards Alignment
The path back to ourselves need not be dramatic. It begins with simple awareness: recognizing that we are what we consume, not just in food, but in thoughts, emotions, and relationships. It deepens when we ask honestly, What drives me? Am I aligned with my true self, or merely following society’s script?
Practices like meditation and the mantra So’ham (“I am That”) remind us of our essence. True meditation is not an escape but a return home. Small, steady steps—choosing what resonates with us and our families, living with radical honesty, aligning life with values rather than social expectations—are what slowly anchor us.
Family and seva bring nourishment that selfish pursuits rarely provide. Yet this does not mean neglecting oneself. Balance is essential: giving to others while caring for one’s own body, mind, and soul. And when the burden feels too heavy, seeking help is not weakness but wisdom.
Anchored in the Present
Every crisis, deadline, or chore, however painful, has one hidden gift: it traps us in the present. And in that very present lies freedom. At that moment we have a choice: how to act, react and respond. Clarity and patience allow for wisdom to flow; a clouded mind, frustrated and angry will only sow the seeds for further despair and discontentment.
Discontentment may be a universal human inheritance, but the way we respond to it is ours to choose. The path out of it is not in endless consumption or comparison but in returning to our center, to our dharma, to our truth.
To live anchored in the Self is to move through the storms of life with a quiet steadiness: rooted, purposeful, and free.
The epidemic of discontentment surrounds us, but the cure has always been within. Not in escape, but in alignment. Not in possession, but in purpose. Not in comparison, but in the stillness of the Self.
