happiness and miseries follow each other

सुखमध्ये स्थितं दुःखं दुःखमध्ये स्थितं सुखम् ।

द्वयमन्योन्यसंयुक्तं प्रोच्यते जलपङ्‌कवत् ॥ १४ ॥

sukhamadhye sthitaṃ duḥkhaṃ duḥkhamadhye sthitaṃ sukham ।

dvayamanyonyasaṃyuktaṃ procyate jalapaṅ‌kavat ॥ 14 ॥

This couplet occurs in Adhyatma Ramayanam, Ayodhya Kandam Sixth Sarga, and Slokam 14. This is a statement by Lakshmana to Guha the angler chief.

The backdrop is this. The Divine Rama who deserved to be the emperor of Ayodhya is now leaving his kingdom for a sojourn in exile for 14 years. Guha, the Nishada chief is their host for the day Rama is camping in the banks of Ganga for a night in the company of Sita and Lakshmana. They are about to cross the great River next day

Rama and Sita have lived in supreme comfort in the Royal household all their lives until then. On that night, Rama and Sita are spending the night on coarse beds and Lakshmana and Guha are keeping guard.

Lakshmana is describing the situation and about the unfortunate patch of misery, that has visited Rama, Sit and Lakshmana Himself. It is in the conversation that the slokam quoted appears.

Life is an enigma and kaleidoscope where good and bad things show up vividly

In the midst of cosy comforts, deep misery too appears. In addition, even in situations of miseries some bright regions of comfort can appear. Happiness and misery are inseparably mixed, similar to the water flowing in the river and the collection of silt, mire or soggy slush underneath.

Here the Royal couple is sleeping in indigent environs. That is misery. However, even here they can sleep peacefully because Lakshmana and Guha are keeping guard with unflinching vigil .

In addition we can sense the spirit of stoic equanimity of Rama Lakshmana and Suta even when they are driven from the apex of comforts to the depth of misery

सुखमध्ये in the midst of comforts स्थितं stands firm दुःखं sorrow दुःखमध्ये in the midst of sorrows स्थितं stands fir सुखम् comforts द्वयमन्योन्यसंयुक्तं both are connected to each other as if inseparably प्रोच्यते it is saidजलपङ्‌कवत् like water and slush