Life's Arithmetic

Many aspects of life can be expressed using formulae to enable easy comprehension. Is it possible to express the essence of life itself using a formula? Can the life span of a human being explained through an equation? Has any attempt been made to explore Life's Arithmetic? Many people may have attempted this before. There may be many methods of explaining life's purpose. Everyone desires to be happy. Whatever may be one's pursuit; whichever may the direction in which the efforts are made, the ultimate aim is to be happy. Thus life's multiple goals ultimately lead to paths to find happiness. Hence the entire life span of a person is spent in chasing happiness. Life span and running behind happiness are two faces of the same coin. Finally there should be sufficient time to enjoy that happiness achieved with lot of efforts. We see many people around us who procure all the tools required for a happy life, after rigorous efforts. But when the time for enjoying the fruits of those efforts arrives, life itself ends.

Poet-Philosopher Bhartruhari has given a wonderful interpretation of Life's arithmetic. In his "Vairagya Shataka" he sums up the the relation between life span and finding happiness through a beautiful arithmetical formula. Bhartruhari takes the span of human life as one hundred years. Why only one hundred years? Human body has its own limitations. Even with best efforts it is difficult to preserve the body in working condition for a hundred years. Better health care facilities are no doubt increasing life span, but still very few live to celebrate their 100th birthday. A study has shown that 50 years ago, one in 67,000 people reached this milestone. One in 6,000 is able to celebrate 100th birthday now. In percentage terms it is less than 0.02%. Even in respect of these centenarians, very few are active and live by themselves at that age. Global life expectancy as per WHO reports is about 72 years. Let us accept Bhartruhari's stipulation of 100 years to start with.

Bhartruhari deducts half of this 100 years spent in night and sleep. It was true in his time, more than two thousand years ago. Activities then started with sunrise and ended with sunset. Not so in these times we live. Electricity has ensured that life goes on 24x7. Even then human beings require sleep for rest and recuperation. 50 years calculated by Bhartruhari as active life span can be accepted even today, considering the average life expectancy of 72 years. 

Human life can be broadly divided into three phases; childhood, adult and old age. Bhartruhari deducts half of this 50 years for childhood and old age. Why is it so and is it right? It stands to reason as he explains. Childhood is a phase when one does not know what to do and old age is a phase when one cannot do what he wants to do! A deduction of 25 years allowed for these two phases is also fair and the real productive life span thus further gets shrunk to 25 years. 

This 25 years is the core life span for being happy. But Bhartruhari says it is not that simple. Further deductions are required from this 25 years for sickness, separation from loved ones, and serving others. You cannot be happy when you are sick. You cannot be happy when you are away from your loved ones. You cannot be happy when you are serving others because you are not living for yourself! Ultimately, there is not much time available for being happy and enjoying fruits of one's hard labor during the productive years. Bhartruhari concludes by saying that there is no time left to be happy in one's life.

Bhartruhari's formula for life is this:  

आयुर्वर्षशतं नृणां परिमितम् रात्रौ तदर्धं गतं |

तस्यार्धस्य परस्य चार्धमपरं बालत्व वृद्धत्वयोः ||

शेषं व्याधि वियोगदुखभरितं सेवादिभिर्नीयते |

जीवे वारितरङ्ग चञ्चलतरे सौख्यं कुतः प्राणिनाम् ||

Ayurvarsha shatam nrunaam parimitam ratrou tatardhamgatam

Tasyardhasya parasya chardhamaparam baalatva vruddhatvayoh

Shesham vyadhi viyogadukhasahitam sevaaadibhirneeyate 

jeeve vaaritaranga chanchalatare sowkhyam kutah praaninam?

Life span is hundred years, half of it is gone in the night

Half of the remainder is lost in childhood and old age

Rest of the period is spent in sickness, separation and service

In life, uncertain like a wave on a water body, where is the time for happiness?

*****

All this leaves us to ponder over a very important issue. Is it never possible to be happy? Then does it mean that Life's arithmetic leads us to conclude that the very purpose of life is futile? It is not so. Real happiness lies in enjoying the process of life. It is not at all separated from other aspects of life. Happiness is to be found in the hard earned rest at the end of a tough day's work. Happiness is to be found in childhood innocence and old age maturity and wisdom. Happiness is to be seen in the service of others one receives when he is sick. Happiness is to be identified when one reunites with the loved ones after long separation. Happiness is to enjoyed while serving others selflessly or even while serving for earning one's livelihood. 

If and when we understand this secret of life, we have solved the problems of Life's Arithmetic. Do we not find happiness everywhere now?

Who is a happy man?

Every human being wants to be happy. We do not know about animals. But we can make out by their behavioral pattern that even animals want to be happy. The way they respond to our love or anger do indicate that they also want to be happy. Is there any human being who wants to be unhappy? Perhaps there is none. Any human being who wants other human beings to be unhappy? There are plenty. In fact many people are miserable not because of their own unhappiness. They are unhappy because others are happy! Some people do not mind even if they lose one eye if their enemy loses both the eyes. Of course, there are some great people who are prepared to lose both their eyes if their enemy loses at least one eye!  People do every thing in their control to be happy. They even attempt to do things not in their control also to attain their perceived state of happiness.  

"साधन में सुख होता नहीं है, सुख जीवन की एक कला है", says the movie song "कितने अटल थे तेरे इरादे"  written by Indeevar and composed by O P Nayyar for the 1982 film "Ek Baar Muskura do",  meaning that happiness does not depend on physical things, but it is an art of life. Even if one agrees that happiness is an art of life and depends on the state of mind, there should be some elements or components of happiness for there should be some measure and understanding of even abstract things.

Who is a happy man? What is the measure of happiness? What are the components to be assessed to measure happiness? Has anybody attempted to measure this before? What are the answers? Is there any lesson for us from such efforts? These are questions that beg for an answers. These questions appears to have been answered by Vidura several centuries ago. Yes, Vidura of Mahabharata. He is never refereed as just Vidura. He is always referred to as Mahatma Vidur. He was one of the finest thinkers and philosophers of his time. And of course, his thinking is relevant even today. While advising King Dhritarashtra,  he says:

अर्थागमो नित्यमरोगिता च  प्रियास्च भार्या प्रियवादिनी च |

वश्यश्च पुत्रः अर्थकरी च विद्या षड्जीवालोकस्य   सुखानि राजन  ||

arthAgamo nityamarogitA cha priyashcha bhAryA priya-vAdinI cha |
vashyashcha putro'rthakarI cha vidyA ShaD jIvalokasya sukhAni rAjan ||

Vidura identifies six components or sources of happiness in this mortal world. ArthAgama (Cash flows). Health. Friends. Sweet (pleasant) speaking wife (spouse). Obedient Children.  Fruitful knowledge. Each of these can be discussed at length. But let us see them briefly.

The actual meaning of Arthaagama is Cash flows and not just Income. It is to be noted that Vidura did not use the word Sampatti which means Wealth. Wealth alone does not make a man happy. Imagine a man who owns a palace worth say 100 crore rupees or 100 million dollars. If he has no liabilities, a banker will put his net worth at a whopping 100 crores or ten million dollars. If he does not have any cash flows, how will he sustain himself? Another person who has a salary of 10000 per month but no other assets is happier since he can meet his daily needs. The palace owner cannot even maintain the palace without cash flows and in due course it will become Bhoot bangla or a haunted house. If he sells the palace and invests the money in fixed deposits (as for stock markets, better read "Stock Markets or Monkey business") the position drastically changes. His net worth would remain high, he will also have a regular income and he can live a comfortable or even a luxurious life. Liquidity is often a better indication of financial health than net worth. Hence bankers place a high value on Current Ratio. A person can lead a comfortable life as long as receipts on any day is equal to or more than the outgo of cash for that day. Cash flow may be comprising of Income, Capital Receipts or even borrowed funds. That is why Liquidity Management has assumed high importance now in Financial Management as well. Mahatma Vidur has rightly identified this as the first of the six sources of happiness.

The second source or component is good health. Vidura refers to daily health. Any human being may have an occasional cold or fever. Or headache and body ache. That is not sickness.  But there should not be any regular ailment or permanent disease. Something that requires frequent hospitalisation and surgery etc. Even if all other sources of happiness are available, an unhealthy person cannot be happy as his mind and body always suffer. We have to again agree with Vidura.

The third source of happiness is good friends. Volumes can be written or spoken about the happiness derived from good friends. This is something we all know from experience.

The fourth source of happiness identified by Vidura is a pleasant speaking spouse. He refers to a sweet speaking wife since he is addressing King Dhritarashtra. He may have used the word भर्ता  (husband) if he were addressing Queen Gandhari. Importance is usually given to facial beauty while fixing alliance for marriage. An advertisement for wrist watches once said  "The face you see often while waiting for somebody should not be a bore!". The voice you hear for the rest of your life (assuming that divorce is not on the agenda). Voice used  should also not be harsh, both in content and delivery. We know many men and women who have golden hearts but are very bitter in their talk. The voice should be sweet as well as the words used. Some spouses meet all the requirements of a good spouse, but there is an unnecessary bitterness in their words when they talk to the spouse.  Some spouses do not know giving a straight answer to any question of the other and the answer is always in the form of a counter question. A harsh spouse will make life miserable even if other five sources or components are available. Of course, a person without a spouse is compared to a blind man. Unmarried persons are denied the pleasure as well as pain of having a spouse and can be ignored for this analysis.We have to perforce agree with Vidura's statement.

The fifth source or component of happiness is Obedient children. This is something that Dhritarashtra did not have. And he was not happy even for a day of his life after his children were born, due to this problem. Instead of being under his control, he had the misfortune of surrendering to the wishes of his eldest son all his life. Definition of obedience may vary from time to time during the life time of a person. Children do need independence and should be allowed to lead their own lives. But parents find life miserable if they are to lead a life obedient to their own children. But as Vidur meant, a good relation with children and children who show deference to the parents is a vital component of happiness in life.

The sixth and last source or component identified by Mahatma Vidura is Fruitful knowledge.  The knowledge acquired by a person during his life time should be useful to himself as well as to the society. Considerable time and resources are spent in educating a man or woman. If the knowledge so acquired with much effort is not used for the benefit of the person concerned and the society, it is a colossal waste as well as can be a source of unhappiness in life for that person. Vidura is again right in his identification.

Thus when we consider the six sources or components identified by Mahatma Vidura, we can see that they are truly representative of the real happiness of a human being in this world. Not for nothing Vidura is recognised as a scholar and Philosopher for a long time.

Now that we know the six components or sources of happiness, we can evaluate ourselves against these yardsticks and decide where we stand; whether we are happy or unhappy or somewhere in between!