In plain words
Joy too is nothing but your imagination.
Whatever God does is for your good!
God is not someone who exists apart, somewhere else. But, unable to recognise the principle of God rightly, you imagine God in many ways; you pass your time in a weakness born of the feeling of duality. First of all you must recognise that there is only one God. ‘Ekaṃ sat viprāḥ bahudhā vadanti’. Yet, like actors putting on roles in a play, Avatāras come down to earth. When Duryodhana, Duśśāsana and the rest were insulting Draupadī before the full assembly, Bhīma, in a fury he could not hold back, was ready to kill them. But even in such a situation God did not resolve to kill them. Whatever hardship we may have to undergo, it is vital that we bear it, thinking it to be God's own will. Whatever happens is for our good! We must give no room to distinctions such as ‘this is bad, that is good’. Still, to bear things in that way is somewhat hard. We perform pūjās, vratas and such good deeds for the sake of the strength to bear these hardships. Today there may be sorrow; by tomorrow the situation may change. Hardship and sorrow are not things that last forever. Pleasure is an interval between two pains. Joy comes only in between two pains. Happiness is union with God. To be united with God is itself Ānanda. God has no sorrow, grief or hardship. Whatever you do, He says ‘Tathāstu! Tathāstu!’ He keeps blessing you, that everything may turn out for your good. If we recognise the principle of God well, we will have no sorrow at all. We must think, ‘God makes us go through these hardships in order to give us some good.’ Pleasure without hardship, or hardship without pleasure, cannot be. Since you have taken a human birth, you must gain the strength to bear sorrow and hardship. You must think, ‘All this is for my good.’