Variety is the mother of enjoyment

Of all the species man alone can enjoy many things in a variety of ways. Other animals also do enjoy but only in a very limited way. All animals enjoy food, all animals enjoy sex life and they also enjoy being in the group of their species or herds. There is no limit to what man can enjoy, from the very low, basic enjoyment he can reach the supreme level of enjoyment that is the spiritual bliss about which the sages and mystics have sung.

Now what is enjoyment ? We get a pleasant feeling through our senses which satisfies desire. Scientifically speaking our senses are supported and abetted by our brains. For example if the visual centre of the brain is damaged, the eye by itself cannot help us enjoy, it has to coordinate with the brains.

Man creates many things, for his enjoyment. That is the story of civilization. He has built cities and palaces, temples, mosques and churches. He alone can cook his food and many varieties of dishes to please the gourmet! He goes on creating, adding to the stock of things such that his life may not become stale and insipid. Whether it be in music or in art wonderful things are happening. Man can make use of the rare materials and recast them or reshape them for the sake of his enjoyment.

Now suppose man is not able to create, what will happen ? He will be leading a vegetative life. Then the very life itself would have no meaning. Life becomes worthwhile because man can enjoy it and get the best out of it by working hard. There is none who refuses the best and in fact everybody aspires to have the best in life. When we speak of the best it implies there are many to choose from. What nature provides appears to be not sufficient. Take the case of the mango. Man enjoys eating the mango fruit; but if it is the same variety, one may not enjoy it. So he goes in for different varieties of mangoes. This is true of very many things of life. So man looks for variety such that he can enjoy.

Without change life becomes dull and monotonous. Can we enjoy the croaking of the frog ? We enjoy the sky because it exhibits a variety of color in different tones. Man on earth can enjoy his sky but if he is transplanted to another planet he can’t enjoy the sky for it will be utterly dark there. The same thing may bring different degrees of enjoyment to different people.

For enjoyment there must be variety. All our senses bring different enjoyment. Whether it be taste or color or sound or smell, we want variety. Man’s genius consists in his adding to the variety. But for this ever-growing variety life would become unbearable and the very earth would become a prison.