| If the Creator Made the World, Why Not a Happier One? | | | Shonima Malhotra
A question often strikes my mind: If this world was created by a higher power, why did He not create a happier world—a world filled with joy, contentment, laughter and peace?
Why did He create a world where happiness and sorrow exist side by side, where love is often accompanied by loss, and where life can sometimes feel unbearably difficult? I find myself questioning that higher authority in the simplest of words: “Duniya banane wala, kya tere mann mein samai, kahe to duniya banaye…?” If He had the power and choice to create this world, why was it not made a little kinder, gentler and happier for those who live in it?
Perhaps these are questions without simple answers. Yet they continue to occupy my and may be many other human minds because, at some point in life, many of us wonder whether the world could have been made a little less difficult and a little more compassionate.
We live in a world of contradictions – where every beautiful moment seems to have its opposite. Birth is followed by death, love can end in loss, wealth exists alongside poverty, and good health can suddenly give way to illness. One person may be celebrating a new beginning and suddenly the person might encounter some sad news. Gulzar has aptly composed, ‘ Jeena ke liye socha hi nahi gum sambhalane hoangae, muskuraye to muskurane ke karz chukane hongae’. Whenever a person gets reasons to smile it is mostly accompanied with hardships. Over the period of time, I have started relating so closely with these lyrics. The more I observe life, the more I realise that perhaps this is one of the greatest contradictions of human existence.
For centuries, people have tried to understand why suffering exists, and different traditions offer different explanations. It is a question that has no easy answer, yet it continues to trouble the human mind.
Many religious traditions describe suffering as a test of faith, a part of destiny, or a journey through which a person grows stronger. They often explain it through the theory of karma, which suggests that our present joys and sorrows are the result of actions performed in this life or previous ones. For many believers, this belief provides hope and strength during life’s most difficult moments. Yet, when I look at the way this world functions, I struggle to find this explanation convincing. I see people who are generally good carrying the heaviest burdens, while those who inflict pain on others often appear to live without consequences. The world offers countless examples that make this question difficult to ignore: children who die young, elderly people spending their final years in pain, individuals living with chronic illnesses, and children growing up without parents.. I have personally known people who lived honest, compassionate lives, harmed no one, and still suffered more than anyone should have to bear. Their lives force me to ask a difficult question: If goodness is rewarded, why does suffering so often seem to fall on those who least deserves it? The theory of karma explains this by attributing present suffering to past actions, even from previous lives. But ultimately, this remains a matter of belief rather than something that can be proven. These contradictions remind me of Karl Marx’s famous observation that ‘Religion is the opium of the masses.’ His argument was that religion can comfort people in the face of suffering, but it can also lead people to accept suffering rather than question it.
There is another contradiction that often puzzles me. On one hand, people say, “Bhagwan ki marzi ke bina patta bhi nahi hilta”—not even a leaf moves without God’s will. On the other hand, they also say, “Jaise karoge, waise bharoge”—as you sow, so shall you. If everything is already pre-planned or predetermined, then how can human beings be held responsible for their actions? The two ideas seem difficult to reconcile.
I do not want to look at suffering only through Auguste Comte’s theological lens. The humanist perspective too cannot be ignored that shifts the focus from divine purpose to human responsibility. I do agree that many times sufferings of humans and other living beings are the result of human actions themselves. Global warming, extinction of some species, animal killings in the name of sacrifices or otherwise, discrimination on various bases and natural calamities around us is not inevitable but is the result of choices, systems and attitudes created by society. It suggests that the world is imperfect, but people have the ability—and the responsibility—to reduce suffering through kindness, justice, equality and empathy.
Philosophers have often viewed suffering differently. They argue that pain is an unavoidable part of human existence, and that without sorrow, we might never fully understand the value of happiness, compassion or love.
None of these perspectives completely answers the question. Yet together they show that humanity has always searched for meaning in suffering, even when the answers remain uncertain. |
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