FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Bhagavad-gītā 18.38

విషయేన్ద్రియసంయోగాద్యత్తదగ్రేఽమృతోపమమ్ । పరిణామే విషమివ తత్సుఖం రాజసం స్మృతమ్ ॥ ౩౮ ॥
viṣayendriya-saṁyogād
[vishayendriya-samyogaad]
yat tad agre ’mṛtopamam
[yat tad agre ’mritopamam]
pariṇāme viṣam iva
[parinaame visham iva]
tat sukhaṁ rājasaṁ smṛtam
[tat sukham raajasam smritam]
Word-for-word
viṣaya — of the objects of the senses indriya — and the senses saṁyogāt — from the combination yat — which tat — that 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 .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
viṣayendriya-saṁyogād
viṣaya
of the objects of the senses
yat tad agre ’mṛtopamam
pariṇāme viṣam iva
indriya
and the senses
saṁyogāt
from the combination
yat
which
tat sukhaṁ rājasaṁ smṛtam
tat
that
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 .
Important Words
  • saṁyogāt — from the contact
    Ablative. The source of rājasa happiness is named precisely: the saṁyoga between indriya and viṣaya. Every such contact produces a flash that the verse will then trace through time.
  • amṛta - upamam — like nectar
    Compound in the synonyms list — *likened to nectar*. The verse inverts 18.37: rājasa sukha starts where sāttvika sukha ends. The temporal mirror is intentional and devastating.
  • viṣam iva — like poison
    The synonyms-list phrase — *as if poison*. Here paired with pariṇāme: the ripening is into toxin. Sāttvika sukha matures into nectar; rājasa sukha matures into poison. Same plant, opposite fruit.
  • rājasam — in the mode of passion
    The classification. This is the happiness most cultures organize themselves around — productivity, romance, achievement, entertainment. Sweet at the front, costly at the back.
  • smṛtam — is remembered, is recorded
    Past passive of smṛ. The śruti/smṛti tradition has noted this pattern — it is not Kṛṣṇa's novel discovery. The collective memory of sages has tasted this many times and named it.
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.
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.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
38. That happiness which, arising from contact with objects of the senses, is like nectar in the beginning and like poison in the end, is known to be in the mode of rajas.
Commentary

Rajasic happiness is like nectar in the beginning, as in the case of enjoying sex with others’ wives.

Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa Gauḍīya
Translation
38. That happiness which, arising from contact with objects of the senses, is like nectar in the beginning and like poison in the end, is known to be in the mode of rajas.
Commentary

That happiness which arises from relationship(saṁyogāt) of the senses such as the eye and skin with the sense objects such as youthful form or touch, and which in the beginning is like nectar, being very enjoyable, but which becomes full of suffering like poison, because of causing one to attain hell, is happiness in the mode of passion.

Study Notes — Gauranga Priya Dāsa
Gauranga Priya Dāsa Study
Bhakti-śāstrī Notes, ISKCON Chowpatty (2009)
Theme

Happiness in passion

Derived from contact of senses with the sense objects
Like nectar at first but poison at the end
e.g. Young woman and young man meet and senses drive one to see, touch and have sexual intercourse (like nectar) – at the end there may be separation, divorce, lamentation etc. (like poison)
Classical Ācāryas
Śrī Śaṅkarācārya Classical
Translation
18.38 Tat, that; sukham, joy; is smrtam, referred to; as rajasam, born of rajas; yat, which; visaya-indriya-samyogat, arising from the contact of the organs and (their) objects; is amrtopamam, like nectar; agre, in the beginning, in the intial moments; but iva, like; visam, poison; pariname, at the end-at the end of full enjoyment of the objects (of the senses), because it causes loss of strength, vigour, beauty, wisdom, [Prajna, the capacity to understand whatever is heard.] retentive faculty, wealth and diligence, and because it is the cause of vice and its conseent hell etc.
Śrī Rāmānujācārya Classical
Translation
18.38 That which at the 'beginning,' i.e., at the time of experience looks like elixir because of the contact of senses with their objects agreable to them, but 'at the end,' i.e., when satiation or further incapacity to enjoy due to over-indulgence in them occurs, looks life poison - that pleasure is said to be Rajasika. In this latter state these so-called enjoyments cause the misery of Naraka.
Śrī Abhinavagupta Classical
Translation
18.38 See Comment under 18.39
Swami Sivananda Classical
Translation
18.38 That happiness which arises from the contact of the sense-organs with the objects, which is at first like nectar, and in the end like poison that is declared to be Rajasic.
Commentary

18.38 विषयेन्द्रियसंयोगात् from the contact of the senseorgans with the objects? यत् which? तत् that? अग्रे at first? अमृतोपमम् like nectar? परिणामे in the end? विषम् poison? इव like? तत् that? सुखम् pleasure? राजसम् Rajasic? स्मृतम् is declared.Commentary 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)

Swami Gambhīrānanda Classical
Translation
18.38 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 at the end.
Shri Purohit Swami Classical
Translation
18.38 That which as first is like nectar, because the senses revel in their objects, but in the end acts like poison - that pleasure arises from Passion.
Related values & verses
Related values
Daksya (Resourcefulness / Skill)Abhaya (Fearlessness)Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)
Related verses
BG 5.22 BG 2.14 BG 2.70 SB 11.14.9 SB 5.14.1 SB 11.8.5 CC Madhya 22.39 CC Antya 6.197 CC Madhya 24.87 Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.2.6Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.2.7
Concepts
Yoga
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Rajasic happiness — at first like nectar, in the end like poison — born of contact of senses with sense objects.
Practical Applications
  • Recognize sense-pleasure as front-loaded sweetness with poison tail.
  • Notice the tail before reaching for the head.
  • Choose accordingly.
Reflection Questions
  • What recent sense-pleasure had a poison tail?
  • How would foreseeing it change next time?
Analogy

A drink that tastes like nectar going down and turns to poison in the stomach. Sense-pleasures are precisely such a drink: golden in the cup, lethal in the body. Every honeymoon ends; every binge becomes hangover; every conquest reverses into emptiness.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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