– Goswami Tulsidas, Ramcharitmanas

This is one of the most recited & yet profound doha from Tulsidas encapsulating the spiritual essence of surrender and balance in life.

Translation : “As Lord Rama ordains (as per our destiny) , so should one live, and one should view happiness and sorrow with equal vision,” it serves as a timeless compass for navigating the turbulent seas of human experience.

Many may say but what relevance does a centuries-old wisdom hold in today’s fast-paced, modern life filled with ambition, stress, heartbreaks, and constant connectivity? Let’s dive into the spiritual core of this doha and explore how it continues to resonate in our sansarik (worldly) lives, not just as a poetic thought but as a practical philosophy.

I have somehow always been following lord Shiva and never really understood the essence of lord Rama, but then I thought of reading “Ramcharitmanas” a very difficult book to understand and relate to modern life’s. While connecting the essence of this doha to lord Rama’s life, I understood that in the Ramayana, lord Rama—the embodiment of Dharma—accepts both exile and the crown with the same grace. Whether it was being unjustly sent to the forest or losing Sita to fate, Rama never resisted Vidhi (divine will or destiny). His calm acceptance wasn’t born out of weakness, but from an inner spiritual strength and understanding that everything in life is temporary—joy and sorrow alike. By encouraging us to accept universe’s will, he teaches us the art of surrender—not to passivity, but to the higher wisdom that governs the universe.

In today’s world we see surrender as defeat or giving up, whether its smallest conversation or big challenge that we failed. But spiritual surrender, as advised in this doha, is not resignation. It’s alignment—an inner harmony with the greater flow of life. This is particularly important in modern times where we’re conditioned to fight, control, and fix everything. We’re told to hustle, to chase, to achieve, and when things don’t go our way, anxiety, anger, and despair follow.

But what if we paused, breathed, and reminded ourselves, “Jai Vidhi Rakhe Ram”? Could we allow life to unfold without constant resistance? Could we remain stable in the face of success and failure alike?

Our heartbeat is a subtle teacher in this philosophy. It rises and falls. It speeds up when we’re excited or scared, and slows down when we’re calm or at peace. But it never stays flat—because a flat line is death. Life, by its very nature, is rhythmic, a wave of ups and downs.

The high of joy and the low of sorrow—like the systole and diastole of the heart—keep us alive, keep us learning, growing, feeling. Just as we don’t panic at every faster heartbeat or celebrate every calm one as permanent, we must learn to witness the changes in life with equal vision.

This is what the second line of the doha points toward:
“Sukh Dukh Sam Darasahi Jaiye” – view happiness and sorrow equally. It is not about being numb or indifferent, but about cultivating detachment with compassion, awareness with acceptance.

Let’s face it—we are not monks living in forests. We live in homes, with jobs, responsibilities, relationships, desires, fears, and a need to belong and be loved. Is this philosophy practical for us?

Yes, absolutely. Here’s how we can apply it in day-to-day life:

1. Accept What You Cannot Control

2. Respond, Don’t React

3. Create Silent Moments of Surrender

4. Practice Detachment Amid Engagement (Believe in that your Right is only to Action not Result)

5. Keep a Gratitude-Sorrow Journal

A peaceful person is not someone who avoids storms, but someone who remains centered amidst them. The doha gives us the spiritual technology for that. It tells us: You are not your ups and downs, you are the witness, the presence behind them.

And as your heart continues to beat its rhythm, know that your life too will keep rising and falling—until one day, it will stop. Until then, live with grace, walk with surrender, and dance through both rain and sunshine.

Many modern spiritual masters—whether Ram Dass, Sadhguru, Eckhart Tolle, or Mooji—echo the same essence in different words: “Be with what is.”