Only the liberated can fully grasp this
The joy of remaining liberated – chidananda – is unmatched. Compared to that all happiness in this world is painful.
We may believe staying in samadhi – deep mediation – without food etc for years together is painful / tapa. Contrary to what we believe those are great saints who are permitted to remain in samadhi prefer that status to everything. Yogananda said, in his next Life he will come back but most of his early life he will remain in samadhi. The later few years he will help others
Hence Ramana maharshi made this bold statement
Bhavin