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Adhyāyas / Mokṣa-Sannyāsa Yogaḥ / verse 38

Mūla — the verse

Gita Press numbering
विषयेन्द्रियसंयोगाद्यत्तदग्रेऽमृतोपमम्। परिणामे विषमिव तत्सुखं राजसं स्मृतम्
viṣhayendriya-sanyogād yat tad agre ’mṛitopamam pariṇāme viṣham iva tat sukhaṁ rājasaṁ smṛitam
Anuṣṭubh(!!) irregular in source

Translation

Swami Gambhīrānanda · follows Śaṅkara-bhāṣya

That joy is referred to as born of rajas, which, arising from the contact of the organs and their objects, is like nectar in the beginning but like poison in the end.

हिन्दी अनुवाद — Swami Tejomayānanda

जो सुख विषयों और इन्द्रियों के संयोग से उत्पन्न होता है, वह प्रथम तो अमृत के समान, परन्तु परिणाम में विष तुल्य होता है, वह सुख राजस कहा गया है।।

Pronunciation — Vaamshii

from Vaamshii
विषयेन् द्रिय सँय् योगात्
यत् तदग्रे ऽमृतो पमम्
परि णामे विष मिव(!!)
तत् सुखं राजसं स्मृतम्
॥ ३८ ॥
Read each split group as one breath-unit; hyphens join pādas kept whole for the meter or a compound word. Symbols: # upadhmānīya (visarga before p/ph), % jihvāmūlīya (visarga before k/kh), ऽ avagraha (an elided a). Full method →

Word by word

padārtha
viṣhayawith the sense objects
indriyathe senses
sanyogātfrom the contact
yatwhich
tatthat
agreat first
amṛita-upamamlike nectar
pariṇāmeat the end
viṣham ivalike poison
tatthat
sukhamhappiness
rājasamin the mode of passion
smṛitamis said to be

Themes

from The Thematic Companion to the Bhagavad Gītā

Meaning — Questions & Solutions

from Q&A with KnA
18.29–18.40Intellect, firmness and happiness, each threefold.

K completes the great analysis by running buddhi (intellect/judgment), dhṛti (firmness/resolve) and sukha (happiness) through the three strands. Intellect (18.30–32): sattvic buddhi knows rightly what to do and not do, what to fear and not fear, bondage and liberation; rajasic buddhi confuses right and wrong, dharma and adharma; tamasic buddhi, wrapped in darkness, takes adharma to be dharma and sees everything upside-down. Firmness (18.33–35): sattvic dhṛti is the unwavering steadiness that holds mind, breath and senses in Yoga; rajasic dhṛti clings, with attachment, to duty, pleasure and wealth, craving their fruit; tamasic dhṛti is the stubbornness that will not let go of sleep, fear, grief, despair and conceit. Happiness (18.36–39): sattvic sukha is “like poison at first and nectar in the end”, born of the serenity of Self-knowledge — hard at the outset, blissful at maturity; rajasic sukha is “nectar at first, poison in the end”, born of the contact of sense and object; tamasic sukha, deluding from beginning to end, springs from sleep, sloth and heedlessness. This last triad is a jewel of practical wisdom: the worthwhile joys cost effort up front and reward later (the discipline of 6.16); the cheap joys reward instantly and cost dearly after; the worthless ones are pleasant only to a dulled mind. By this test alone one can sort one’s own pleasures.