18.38 vishayEndhriyasamyOgAdh

SrI:  SrImathE SatakOpAya nama:  SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama:  SrImath varavaramunayE nama:

Chapter 18

<< Chapter 18 Verse 37

SlOkam – Original

vishayEndhriyasamyOgAdh yath thadhagrE’mruthOpamam |
pariNAmE visham iva thath sukham rAjasam smrutham ||

word-by-word meaning

vishayEndhriya samyOgAth – Due to senses coming into contact with objects (like food, beverages etc)
agrE – in the beginning stages (of enjoyment)
yath thath amruthOpamam – that happiness which feels like nectar
pariNAmE – in the end (when the result of such enjoyment arrives)
visham iva – that which gives poison like sorrow
thath sukham – that happiness
rAjasam smrutham – is said to be caused by rajO guNam

Simple Translation

The happiness which feels like nectar in the beginning stages (of enjoyment) due to senses coming into contact with objects (like food, beverages etc) and which gives poison like sorrow in the end (when the result of such enjoyment arrives), is said to be caused by rajO guNam.

Rendering based on ALkoNdavilli gOvindhAchArya swAmy’s English translation of gIthA bhAshyam

‘That is declared Rājasa-Happiness, which by contact of sense with object, is at first as nectar, but venom in the end.’

What, when enjoying objects by means of the senses, seems as nectar, but which in the end, —when no more relish or hunger remains for obtaining such sense-gratification, when it is realized too as a premium paid for infernum—, is felt as if a potion were taken of poison, that is said to be Rājasa-Happiness.

>> Chapter 18 Verse 39

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