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Adhyāyas / Mokṣa-Sannyāsa Yogaḥ / verse 39

Mūla — the verse

Gita Press numbering
यदग्रे चानुबन्धे च सुखं मोहनमात्मनः। निद्रालस्यप्रमादोत्थं तत्तामसमुदाहृतम्
yad agre chānubandhe cha sukhaṁ mohanam ātmanaḥ nidrālasya-pramādotthaṁ tat tāmasam udāhṛitam
Anuṣṭubh

Translation

Swami Gambhīrānanda · follows Śaṅkara-bhāṣya

That joy is said to be born of tamas, which, both in the beginning and in the end, is delusive to oneself and arises from sleep, laziness, and inadvertence.

हिन्दी अनुवाद — Swami Tejomayānanda

जो सुख प्रारम्भ में और परिणाम (अनुबन्ध) में भी आत्मा (मनुष्य) को मोहित करने वाला होता है, वह निद्रा, आलस्य और प्रमाद से उत्पन्न सुख तामस कहा जाता है।।

Pronunciation — Vaamshii

from Vaamshii
यदग्रे चानु बन्धे च
सुखम् मोहन मात् मनः
निद् रालस्यप् रमादोत् थम्
तत् तामस मुदा हृतम्
॥ ३९ ॥
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
yatwhich
agrefrom beginning
chaand
anubandheto end
chaand
sukhamhappiness
mohanamillusory
ātmanaḥof the self
nidrāsleep
ālasyaindolence
pramādanegligence
utthamderived from
tatthat
tāmasamin the mode of ignorance
udāhṛitamis 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.