Bg. 18.38 · Bhagavad-gita As It Is

Devanagari

विषयेन्द्रियसंयोगाद्यत्तदग्रेऽमृतोपमम् । परिणामे विषमिव तत्सुखं राजसं स्मृतम् ॥ ३८ ॥

Verse text

viṣayendriya-saṁyogād yat tad agre ’mṛtopamam pariṇāme viṣam iva tat sukhaṁ rājasaṁ smṛtam

Synonyms

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.

Translation

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.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

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.

Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

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.

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.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

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

Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

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.