In the Bhagavata Purana, there is a story about Indra, the king of Gods. He once insulted Guru Brihaspati and was cursed to become a pig. He was born as a pig on Earth and the throne of Indra in heaven became vacant. When the duration of the curse was over, everyone expected Indra to return to heaven, but, to their surprise, he didn’t. Lord Brahma decided to investigate. He came down to earth and visited the place where Indra was living. He was shocked to see Indra living in a giant drain that was full of garbage and filth. Indra seemed very happy living in that muck. He had a wife and a number of small piglets who were his children. He had pig relatives and was the leader of the pigs in his area.
Lord Brahma said, ‘You are not really a pig but have become one due to a curse. You are the king of Gods. Leave this form and come back to heaven.’ Indra said, ‘I am perfectly happy here. I have my wife and children and my pig friends. What do I care about heaven?’
All the gods were at their wits end about how to get their king back. After some time, when nothing worked, they killed all the pigs. Seeing this, Indra started weeping. Then, the gods cut open his pig body and Indra came out of it. When he looked at himself, he started laughing. He said, ‘What a bad dream I had! I, the king of Gods, had become a pig and imagined that life as a pig was all there was. I never wanted to come out of it. I wanted everything to come to me in that life.’
Just like Indra was the king of the Gods, we are souls—pure and infinite. We are living in this material world, which is like a dream. We think that whatever we experience through our senses is all that there is in the world. This is similar to how Indra, after living for some time as a pig, began to believe that pig-life was everything. He could not imagine that there was heaven beyond that life.
In the same way, we are unable to see beyond this material world. All material things are transient—they come and go. When they go, with them goes our joy. Thus, our happiness and joys are short-lived, and we keep running after newer things to become happy. To attain everlasting peace and happiness, we need to be aware of and realise our soul. It is a fact that we have to live in this world, and the experiences of this world teach us many things, but let us never forget our true nature.