Sorrow and pain manifest when we are unaware of certain underlying realities. Maharshi Vasishtha while explaining to Lord Rama the cause of sorrow says that it is spiritual ignorance (Ajnana or Maya). This ignorance can be overcome via attainment of divine wisdom via the path of Yoga of Wisdom (Jnana Yoga). As per the scripture Yoga Vasishtha:
"AAYADHO VYAADHAYASHCHAIVA
DWAYA DUKHASYA KAARANAM.
TANNIVRITIHI SUKHAM VIDYAAT
TATKSHAYO MOKSHA UCHYATAY."

MEANING: "This material world gives us to types of sorrows i.e. bodily and mental. They can be overcome via wisdom (Jnana) based austerities. Moksha or salvation is nothing but this overcoming of material sorrow in totality."

Thus it is a spiritual law that salvation is attained only when all sorrows are destroyed lock, stock and barrel. Eternal spiritual bliss means destruction of all sorrows. Thus salvation and divine bliss (Ananda) are synonymous. If material sorrows are overcome totally salvation oriented divine bliss manifests in our psyche eternally. Many a times we see people attaining joy time and again in their life. They laugh, sing, dance, crack jokes etc and thus experience joy. The question asked is that is their inner state liberated? Meaning have they attained Mukti or salvation?

Definitely not! The above inner state of man can never be called salvation or Mukti. The state of salvation is ceaseless, balanced, imperishable and uniform and it does not require an external cause to manifest it. This state does not ‘come' from anywhere nor does it ‘go' anywhere. It is not created due to an external factor nor is it destroyed by it. It is self manifesting and causeless. It is attained in totality, experienced in totality and exists eternally. It is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent eternally. After attaining the true bliss of salvation no other bliss remains to be achieved. True salvation or Moksha is devoid of any desire, self fulfilling and infinite bliss in nature.

The previously mentioned material pleasures like watching TV, dancing in discos, drinking alcohol, drug addiction etc do not have the qualities of the true bliss of salvation. Material pleasures require external causes and mediums. It manifests due to a cause and when the cause is removed the pleasure too ends. Many a times even if the cause persists, the pleasure diminishes and leads to aversion. Material pleasures are fleeting because they ultimately lead to sorrow and strife. Today is someone is happy because of a certain cause/medium, later at some point in time he/she will definitely get pain precisely because of this very cause. Even if you get intense material pleasures yet your psyche is never satiated and hence begs for more and more. Material pleasures can never satiate us nor can they lead to complete contentment. How can it e called eternal bliss if it is plagued with discontent and lack of a sense of fulfillment? Even if someone is surrounded with innumerable pleasures, it takes only one undesirable event that makes him/her wallow in sorrow. Such a person's smile is totally wiped off in a second and so does his previously overjoyed bosom experience pain. THUS IT IS CLEAR THAT THE BLISS OF SALVATION CAN NEVER BE COMPARED TO FLEETING MATERIAL SENSE PLEASURES.

Material pleasures are an exercise in futility because they are false and illusory in nature. Their experience is akin to sighting a mirage in a dessert. This illusory experience is the root cause of labeling material pleasures as lowly. True bliss can only be experienced at the soul level and that too without the influence of any external cause/object/event. It is only the bliss of salvation/liberation/Moksha that is true and eternal in the absolute sense. We are dealing with the subject of the illusory nature of fleeting sense pleasures so as to caution world humanity that we are all wasting our entire life span in amassing material pleasures and clinging on to them as though they are our very lifeline. Since our psyches are immersed in this delusion we fail to first even understand what absolute reality is let alone making sincere efforts to attain it. A deluded mind whose sole aim is to amass fleeting pleasures can never even think about the absolute reality. Thus how will it even think of attaining it? A deer in a dessert chases mirages in search of water to quench its thirst. Time and again it thinks ‘just a few feet of running and the water is mine'. Alas! It results in delusion and nothing but tiring delusion. The deer's thirst thus remains unquenched. If this deer had only realized that this mirage is not a water pond but an illusion of its eyes, it would have instead endeavored to hunt for a real water area and could have quenched its thirst easily. But no! The lure of the mirage makes it run madly in that direction only to end its life without quenching its thirst. Similarly mankind is running after mirage like sense pleasures for his entire precious lifetime. Ultimately he dies discontented and devoid of satiation. Instead if he had realized that material pleasures are like illusory mirages he would have first tried to realize where he could find absolute eternal bliss and then would have made necessary efforts to attain it. It is in this sense that material pleasures are called illusory and fleeting like dessert mirages. True bliss lies not in amassing material pleasures but lies in the eternal bliss of the salvation. One should intensely work hard to attain true salvation since it is the true goal of all human lives.

Thus it is clear that sorrow after all is sorrow because material joy ultimately results in anguish only. It is only when the burning desire for fleeting material pleasures is overcome that eternal divine bliss can be attained. Hence the important question asked is: How does one attain this eternal bliss? An Indian scripture called YOGAVASISHTHA gives the answer:
"JNAANAANNIRDUKHATAAMAYTEE
JNAANAADANAANA SANKSHAYA.
JNAANAADEVA PARAASIDHIR
NAANYASYAADRAAM VASTUTAHA."

MEANING: O Rama! Only divine wisdom can ward off all sorrow. Divine wisdom destroys spiritual ignorance. Divine wisdom leads us to or ultimate goal of life. There is no other way to do so.

Further elaboration says:
"PRAJNAAM VIJNAATA VIJNAYAM
SAMYAGA DARSHAN MAADHAYAHA.
NA DAHANTI VANAM VARSHAAM
SIKTAMAGNISHIKHAA IVA."

MEANING: He is a realized saint who knows what is truly to be known with the help of his sacred hindsight (Viveka). Such a saint is never overcome by sorrow just like fire can never burn a forest which is wet with rain water.

WHAT EXACTLY IS DIVINE WISDOM OR TATTVA-JNANA?

At this point before understanding the true nature of divine wisdom it is important to know as to what exactly is the root cause of the manifestation of sorrow and strife? Actually at the root level all creatures are blissful (Ananda) in nature. Thus it is clear that a definite cause exists which creates sorrow, pain, anguish etc. This too has been dealt with in YOGAVASISHTHA:
"DEHA DUKHA VIDURVYAADHI
MAADHYAAKHAM MAANASAAMAYAM.
MAURKHYA MOOLAY HATAY VIDYAA
TATTVAJNAANAY PAREEKSHYAHA."

MEANING: Bodily pain is called Vyaadhee and mental anguish is called Aaadhee. Both of them are Maurkhya i.e. are created from spiritual ignorance or Ajnaana. Thus they can be destroyed only via spiritual/divine wisdom.

The fundamental cause of all material sorrows of the world put together is none other than spiritual ignorance (Avidya). Just as lack of light results in darkness and vice versa, in the same way lack of divine wisdom leads to spiritual ignorance and vice versa. Divine wisdom helps us attain eternal bliss, peace etc and spiritual ignorance results in pain, sorrow etc.

For eons together it has been proved beyond doubt that sorrow is the creation of ignorance or spiritual darkness. This priceless truth has been accepted by great thinkers, saints, scholars etc of the entire world at all times. In this manner none should doubt this age old truth proclaimed by all great souls of the world. One of them called Chanakya says: There is no other greater foe of mankind apart from spiritual ignorance. The great philosopher Plato says: It is better to remain unborn instead of remaining a spiritually ignorant being because ignorance is the root cause of all our miseries. The great bard of Avon, William Shakespeare writes: Spiritual ignorance is equivalent to darkness.

The root cause of all life's distortions, sorrowful experiences, problems, discontent etc is spiritual ignorance of man's psyche. It is the greatest enemy of entire mankind. It is solely due to ignorance that man finds himself in a demeaned/downfallen state like other creatures. Lack of divine wisdom leads to diminishing of ones discriminative faculty (Viveka) and thus our minds remain steeped in sorrow and anguish. Spiritual ignorance induces man to make wrong decisions in life by veiling the true goal of human life. Thus he executes undesirable acts and weaves a net of misery and pain for himself. Thus in order to ward off sorrow if one understands its underlying cause, one can overcome it and thus one can dispel strife and pain lock, stock and barrel in our day to day lives. The result will be bliss and only bliss on a permanent footing. SPIRITUAL IGNORANCE CAN BE DISPELLED ONLY VIA DIVINE WISDOM. COLD CAN BE DESTROYED BY ITS OPPOSITE FIRE ONLY. DARKNESS CAN BE DESTROYED ONLY BY LIGHT. THUS IT IS THE RIGHTEOUS DUTY OF ALL MANKIND TO TREAD ON THAT PATH WHICH AIDS IN THE DESTRUCTION OF OUR SPIRITUAL IGNORANCE SO AS TO MANIFEST DIVINE WISDOM IN OUR SOUL.

What exactly is the true nature of knowledge? Mere information about the material world and its objects cannot be called knowledge. True knowledge is that which helps man realize God whose nature is infinite, eternal bliss. Knowledge means understanding ones true self and its relationship with the world. Man should know the difference behind desirable and undesirable actions and thus he should follow the path of Truth after renouncing unwholesome activities. The definition of knowledge cannot be limited to merely undergoing school, university etc education, that help us earn money and solve day to day problems. Knowledge is that which not only gives us a deep understanding of life-death, bondage-liberation, action-inaction and truth-falsehood but that it also helps us in imbibing that which is apt and renouncing unwholesome activities for both material and spiritual gains.

Spiritual ignorance is the root cause of our unwholesome actions. All the joys and sorrows of the world are but the results/fruits of our past actions. It is but natural that unwholesome actions are executed under the influence of spiritual ignorance and thus man gets penalized in the form of sorrow, pain, strife etc. Apart from this righteous actions carried out with the sense of doer-ship (‘I' eat, ‘I' sleep etc) no doubt gives joy but this joy is transient because it later gets converted to sorrow. Thus it is action (Karma) that gives bondage and hence pain to mankind.