BLISS in Sanskrit

I love the language Sanskrit. It's a beautiful language. Many linguists consider it the perfect language because of its grammar and structure. It's an ancient language like Hebrew or Latin. Many consider it to be the first language ever created.

Some folks have a hard time dealing with Sanskrit because it's the liturgical language of Hinduism and Buddhism which makes it an anti-Christian language. My thought is, that while it is the "official" language of mantras and such, God was god then and well....whatever.

It's a beautiful language nonetheless and I can't NOT look at what such an ancient language has to say of BLISS.

In Sanskrit, there are 36 different ways to say bliss. Each one has a different variation of the meaning that we commonly think of when we think of BLISS. And yet, the interesting thing to me is that BLISS is not really what we think it is at all really. It's like forcing a square peg into a round hole somehow.

I'm choosing one BLISS word in Sanskrit. This is what it looks like:

निर्वृति

The first thing I noticed is that it is balanced. I love balance. So hard for me to achieve in any area of my life, but I do love it and I look for it constantly.

The word is translated "nirvRti". I have no idea how to pronounce it. It means favorable, gracious. benign, kind. An adjective. How weird is that!

In English, BLISS is a noun. Something to be possessed. In Sanskrit, it's an adjective. Something used to describe.

favorable = expressing approval

gracious = marked by kindness and courtesy

benign = of a gentle disposition

kind = of a sympathetic or helpful nature

In this Sanskrit word, my pursuit of BLISS should be marked by my disposition. Who I am, not something that I experience. We Americans are well known for our pursuit of happiness....pursuit of BLISS.

BLISS should be something I am described as....something I should be pouring out on others.

I am self-absorbed and I am the first person to admit it. I have spent the last two years looking within so that change occurs.

I don't have a gentle disposition nor do I always function in kindness or courtesy....just try and cut me off in traffic.

I try to have a sympathetic or helpful nature and yet I have come to believe that no good deed ever goes unpunished. Didn't say I was done working on myself now did I?

If I am to pursue BLISS this year, shouldn't I want to embrace the word no matter what it means? I feel I am missing the mark here. If I embrace this definition of the word, I have a lot of work to do.

I'm thinking that perhaps I should take a look at the other 35 Sanskrit words and see if I like one of those better.....but then again.....the whole purpose of this journey is to find what I'm missing in my life and learn from it. Bummer.