Bhagavad Gita 18.38विषयेन्द्रियसंयोगाद्यत्तदग्रेऽमृतोपमम्।परिणामे विषमिव तत्सुखं राजसं स्मृतम् ॥
viṣhayendriya-sanyogād yat tad agre ’mṛitopamam
pariṇāme viṣham iva tat sukhaṁ rājasaṁ smṛitam
Sanskrit recitation
Knowledge, work, and the worker · 18.29–18.40 · Teaching
Translation
That happiness which arises from the contact of the senses with the objects, which is initially like nectar but eventually like poison, is said to be Rajasic.
Hindi translation
जो सुख इन्द्रियों और विषयोंके संयोगसे आरम्भमें अमृतकी तरह और परिणाममें विषकी तरह होता है, वह सुख राजस कहा गया है।
Meaning
Sensual pleasure is mixed with pain, fear and sin. A small grain of sensual pleasure is mixed with a mountain of pain. He who indulges in sensual pleasures will have to experience pain also, side by side. He is afraid of losing the objects that give him pleasure. He is attached to them. Attachment is death. It brings him again and again to this world of death. Fear and attachment coexist with sensual pleasure. He has to exert a lot to get money. He can obtain the objects through money. During exertion he commits many sinful acts and he will have to suffer in hell. The next birth will be of a very low nature. He tells lies and cheats people to obtain money. The senses also lose their vigour through indulgence in sensual pleasure. He loses his strength, vigour, wealth and energy. His intellect becomes dull, weak, impure, turbid and perverted. He loses his money and proper understanding. (Cf.V.22)
After Swami Sivananda
Knowledge, work, and the worker· 18.29–18.40→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 18.29Hear thou the threefold division of intellect and firmness, according to the Gunas, as I…
- 18.30The intellect which knows the path of work and renunciation, what should be done and what…
- 18.31That by which one wrongly understands dharma and adharma, and also what ought to be done…
- 18.32That intellect, O Arjuna, which is enveloped in darkness and sees Adharma as Dharma and…
- 18.33The unwavering firmness, through which Yoga restrains the functions of the mind,…
- 18.34But that, O Arjuna, by which one holds fast to Dharma (duty), enjoyment of pleasures, and…
- 18.35That firmness, O Arjuna, by which a stupid man does not abandon sleep, fear, grief,…
- 18.36And now, O Arjuna, hear from Me of the threefold pleasure, in which one rejoices through…
- 18.37That which is like poison at first but in the end like nectar—that happiness is declared…
18.38That happiness which arises from the contact of the senses with the objects, which is…
- 18.39That happiness which at first, as well as in the end, deludes the self, and which arises…
- 18.40There is no being on earth or in heaven among the gods that is liberated from the three…
Word-by-word→
- tat
- that
- yat
- which
- agre
- at first
- sukham
- happiness
- indriya
- the senses
- rājasam
- in the mode of passion
- sanyogāt
- from the contact
- smṛitam
- is said to be
- viṣhaya
- with the sense objects
- pariṇāme
- at the end
- viṣham iva
- like poison
- amṛita-upamam
- like nectar
Read this when you feel
Related verses
- 3.14From food come forth beings; from rain, food is produced; from sacrifice arises rain, and…
- 14.12Greed, activity, the undertaking of actions, restlessness, and longing—these arise when…
- 4.42Therefore, with the sword of knowledge (of the Self), cut asunder the doubt of the self,…
- 18.51Endowed with a pure intellect, controlling the self through firmness, relinquishing sound…