Principle of happiness: Satisfaction in being Krishna's servant

When Bali Maharaj requests Vamana Dev to ask for anything in charity Vamana Dev asks for only three steps of land. Bali Maharaj requests Vamana Dev to ask from him as much land as will suffice to maintain Him according to His needs.

Vamana Dev beautifully responds to Bali Maharaj saying that :
SB 8.19.21 śrī-bhagavān uvāca

yāvanto viṣayāḥ preṣṭhās tri-lokyām ajitendriyam
na śaknuvanti te sarve pratipūrayituḿ nṛpa

The Personality of Godhead said: O my dear King, even the entirety of whatever there may be within the three worlds to satisfy one's senses cannot satisfy a person whose senses are uncontrolled.

Uncontrolled senses is the reason for one's implication in the uneneding cycle of birth and death. The cycle is uneneding because one is not happy with what one has in this life.Happiness is based power, sense enjoyment, family and friends in the materialistic sense The unstatisfied desires create different bodies for fulfillment. Srila Prabhupada explains in his purport:

"Thus according to Ṛṣabhadeva the human beings in this material world are just like madmen engaged in activities which they should not perform but which they do perform only for sense gratification. Such activities are not good because in this way one creates another body for his next life, as punishment for his nefarious activities. And as soon as he gets another material body, he is put into repeated suffering in material existence. Therefore the Vedic culture or brahminical culture teaches one how to be satisfied with possessing the minimum necessities in life."

Satisfaction as the principle of happiness in Vedic Culture
Reading the last line of the above excerpt reminded me of an entire lecture by HG Bhurijana Prabhu on this very principle. The lecture which is a summary of  SB 7.15 : Instructions for Civilized Human Beings is like a purport to Srila Prabhupada's statement in bold above.

He states that the householders generally have a tendency to expand and therefore the principle of satisfaction was explained in SB 7.15. He says:"In contemporary society everyone looks for happiness naturally but how one looks depends upon the culture one is in.In western materialistic culture people search for happiness - not even in family and friends but in power and sense - enjoyment and even isvaro aham aham bhogi- When one can control with money and power the result of that is sense gratification as well.
Previously family was considered happiness even in a materialistic way, eating luxuriantly, having land was considered security. But now when people buy their land 300 sq mts and their house is on it - this makes them deal with water and earth and other natural things - they would rather deal with supermarkets and other unnatural things. This complete separation from what is natural causes difficulties in the consciousness of every human being. Rather than becoming happy in this standard of civilization - instantaneous sense gratification people become full of anxiety and practically become mad.
The Vedic system has something that is quite incredible as the cause of happiness which is quite unimaginable and unlikely today - that is satisfaction. If one is satisfied with what one has - this is my fate in life, this is God's grace - if one has this simple mentality then whatever one has one is happy.If one doesn't have that mentality one is unhappy and dissatisfied. Satisfaction is the cause of happiness and dissatisfaction is the cause of misery. "

As stated by Narada Muni to Yudhishtira Maharaj in the verse SB 7.15.17

sadā santuṣṭa-manasaḥ sarvāḥ śivamayā diśaḥ
śarkarā-kaṇṭakādibhyo yathopānat-padaḥ śivam

For a person who has suitable shoes on his feet, there is no danger even when he walks on pebbles and thorns. For him, everything is auspicious. Similarly, for one who is always self-satisfied there is no distress; indeed, he feels happiness everywhere.

Why does Vedic Culture value satisfaction as the basis of happiness?
HG Bhurijana Prabhu states in his lecture :"Culture is a medium in which particular entiites grow. What grows in the the vedic culture in each human being is some advancement in spiritual life, understanding the eternal. Vedic culture valued eternal life and although understanding every person in the world was not a great transcendentalist - but how to satisfy those desires within the culture in such way so that eternal life is not neglected rather it is cultivated - slow or fast depending on the individual and their advancement but everyone will move forward.

The wise person does not use his time and energy to be materially ambitious - becuse if consciousness is involved in advancement in the material world there will be no consciousness to advance spiritually.

The externals are not the causes of satisfaction anyway - they lead to disturbance. Real happiness comes from internal state of mind. Thats what Vedic culture cultivates. "

Removing impediments to applying the principle of satisfaction:
 HG Bhurijana Prabhu states: "One may apply the principle of satisfaction and not over endeavor for material things. However being satified with what one has can mean one is very attached to what one has. If those are things of those material world it will cause great difficulty at the time of death."

So what is the key to the successful application of the principle of satisfaction in our lives?
HG Bhurijana Prabhu states "Thus one must be detached and one's satisfaction must come from inside and in one's relationship with Krsna."

• Satisfaction when correctly applied is being satisfied in becoming a servant of Krsna and satisfying Krsna through the service .When the principle of satisfaction is thus positioned one is raised to the spiriutual conception where happiness is boundless in serving Krsna in the true mood of a servant and not for position, fame, prestige of one's great abilities being showcased or used.
• When thus situated one becomes free from anxiety of safeguarding one's position in terms of riches, prestige, position and one's subtle sense gratification through the mind.One is only bothered about being a servant of Krsna and not about becoming a preacher or a congregation leader or being seen as a senior devotee and thus one gradually becomes non-envious. The agenda to perform service thus becomes only spiritual.
• The mindset truly becomes Krsna Consciousness: " I am completely satisfied being a servant of Krsna and doing whatever service that comes my way through the mercy of the devotees. I don't care about being seen as a rich person, as a beautiful person, as a famous person, as a nama hatta leader, as a congregation leader, or being seen as an advanced devotee. Those things do not fall in the scheme of my relationship with Krishna. They are not even a part of the color palette of my relationship with Krsna as his eternal servant"
• Another outcome of such a mindset is that since one feels so complete in the identity of being a servant of Krsna and His devotees that one doesn't try to fill the emptiness in the heart with deriving pleasure from one's job, one's children, one's spouse, etc. One relates with those relationships also through one's relationship with Krsna and develops a mood of service towards them and not one of enjoyment.One doesn't get as affected by any pains and tribulations that come through those relationships as one sees them as a part of Krsna's plan

Depending upon how much of this mood I carry I will be able to understand only so much of the Krsna Consciousness philosophy churned for our benefit by the various acaryas.I pray to Lord Krsna and the acaryas that I can develop such a mood of becoming Krsna's servant and doing services in that mood and not for personal aggrandizement. Real Peace, happiness and freedom from anxiety are present in the mood of becoming Krsna's servant and thus the servant of His devotees.