Speaker: Śrī Kṛṣṇa
विषयेन्द्रियसंयोगाद्यत्तदग्रेऽमृतोपमम् ।
परिणामे विषमिव तत्सुखं राजसं स्मृतम् ॥३८॥
viṣayendriya-saṁyogād
yat tad agre 'mṛtopamam
pariṇāme viṣam iva
tat sukhaṁ rājasaṁ smṛtam
Word for word (synonyms)
- viṣaya
- objects of sense
- indriya
- senses
- saṁyogāt
- combination
- yat
- that
- tat
- which
- agre
- in the beginning
- amṛta-upamam
- just like nectar
- pariṇāme
- at the end
- viṣam iva
- like poison
- tat
- that
- sukham
- happiness
- rājasam
- in the mode of passion
- smṛtam
- is considered
Translation
That happiness which is derived from contact of the senses with their objects and which appears like nectar at first but poison at the end is said to be of the nature of passion.
Defined in the Gītā
Happiness
What is real happiness?
O best of the Bhāratas, now please hear from Me about the three kinds of happiness which the conditioned soul enjoys, and by which he sometimes comes to the end of all distress. That which in the beginning may be just like poison but at the end is just like nectar and which awakens one to self-realization is said to be happiness in the mode of goodness.
Purport
A young man and a young woman meet, and the senses drive the young man to see her, to touch her and to have sexual intercourse. In the beginning this may be very pleasing to the senses, but at the end, or after some time, it becomes just like poison. They are separated or there is divorce, there is lamentation, there is sorrow, etc. Such happiness is always in the mode of passion. Happiness derived from a combination of the senses and the sense objects is always a cause of distress and should be avoided by all means.
What this verse teaches
Happiness (sukhaṁ) in three modes
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.