Lord Rama's Discourse on the Ephemerality of Life on Earth

Aggrieved by the exile of his eldest brother, Lord Ramachandra, together with his consort and his brother Lakmana, Bharata besought Lord Ramachandra—whom he met in the hill-country of Citrakoota—to return to Ayodhya. Much as he essayed, his brother stood firm in his resolve to walk the path of dharma and to fulfil the wishes of Dasaratha and Keikeyi by remaining in the forest for the next fourteen years.

In the course of dissuading his brother from seeking to prevail upon him to disregard their father's command, Lord Ramachandra dilates upon the ephemerality of earthly existence and the futility of striving to make sense of the pain and tribulation attendant upon all our efforts to seek success:   

 "The embodied being, Bharata, is not a free agent; he is driven to and fro by the end-result of his own action. However, everything in this world has destruction as its end, all exaltation has fall as its end, all meeting has separation as its end, and all living has death at the end. The clear recognition that a fruit has to fall and that a man has to die, frees one from fear. All this is natural and inevitable. One does not grieve over death any more than one grieves over the ripening and falling of a fruit! Grieve not for another, Bharata, be alert and see that life is passing whether you are sitting or moving. Unwise men do not perceive the ebbing away of life. Similarly, people do not perceive that time brings people together and separates them, even as logs of wood are brought together and separated in water. Perceiving all this clearly, one should diligently work out one's own true happiness: for such true happiness is indeed the goal of everyone." [Translation: pages 104-105 (Book 2) of Valmiki's Ramayana --- Daily Readings).

When Lord Rama tells Bharata to "diligently work out one's own true happiness: for such true happiness is indeed the goal of everyone," he is referring not to transient pleasures or personal comforts, but to a deeper, dharma-aligned state of inner fulfilment and peace—what might be called sreyas (the ultimate good), as opposed to preyas (the immediately pleasurable).

What does “true happiness” mean here?

Lord Rama, throughout the Ramayana, embodies dharma—righteous conduct and duty—and sees the highest form of happiness as that which arises from:

• Performing one's duty (svadharma) without attachment to personal gain or loss,
• Living in accordance with cosmic order, even at personal cost,
• Renunciation of selfish desires, ego, and attachment,
• And ultimately, union with the divine or Self-realisation.

Thus, in context, Lord Rama is advising Bharata that real happiness does not come from attaining positions of power (such as ruling the kingdom), sensual pleasures, or emotional gratification, but from inner contentment that arises when one lives truthfully, performs one's duty without inner conflict, and cultivates virtues like truth, humility, and devotion.

Bharata is tormented because he does not wish to be king, seeing it as a betrayal of his elder brother. Rama tells him to find his own svadharma and follow it—to work out his true happiness—not by acting from grief, guilt, or emotion, but by discerning what is righteous, peaceful, and spiritually liberating for himself.

In short, “true happiness” here is the joy that arises from living in harmony with dharma, with a quiet conscience and a pure heart—untainted by ego, desire, or social ambition.

Ultimately, Lord Rama is referring to self-realisation—though in the Ramayana, especially in Valmiki's telling, this is often couched in the language of dharma, duty, and inner peace rather than overt metaphysical exposition.