BG 18.36-37 (1972)
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXTS 36-37
- सुखं त्विदानीं त्रिविधं शृणु मे भरतर्षभ ।
- अभ्यासाद्रमते यत्र दुःखान्तं च निगच्छति ॥३६॥
- यत्तदग्रे विषमिव परिणामेऽमृतोपमम् ।
- तत्सुखं सात्त्विकं प्रोक्तमात्मबुद्धिप्रसादजम् ॥३७॥
- sukhaṁ tv idānīṁ tri-vidhaṁ
- śṛṇu me bharatarṣabha
- abhyāsād ramate yatra
- duḥkhāntaṁ ca nigacchati
- yat tad agre viṣam iva
- pariṇāme 'mṛtopamam
- tat sukhaṁ sāttvikaṁ proktam
- ātma-buddhi-prasāda-jam
SYNONYMS
sukham—happiness; tu—but; idānīm—now; tri-vidham—three kinds; śṛṇu—hear; me—from Me; bharatarṣabha—O best amongst the Bhāratas; abhyāsāt—by practice; ramate—enjoyer; yatra—where; duḥkha—distress; antam—end; ca—also; nigacchati—gains; yat—that which; tat—that; agre—in the beginning; viṣam iva—like poison; pariṇāme—at the end; amṛta—nectar; upamam—compared to; tat—that; sukham—happiness; sāttvikam—in the mode of goodness; proktam—is said; ātma—self; buddhi—intelligence; prasāda-jam—satisfactory.
TRANSLATION
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 conditioned soul tries to enjoy material happiness again and again. Thus he chews the chewed, but, sometimes, in the course of such enjoyment, he becomes relieved from material entanglement by association with a great soul. In other words, a conditioned soul is always engaged in some type of sense gratification, but when he understands by good association that it is only a repetition of the same thing, and he is awakened to his real Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he is sometimes relieved from such repetitive so-called happiness.
In the pursuit of self-realization, one has to follow many rules and regulations to control the mind and the senses and to concentrate the mind on the Self. All these procedures are very difficult, bitter like poison, but if one is successful in following the regulations and comes to the transcendental position, he begins to drink real nectar, and he enjoys life.