Chapter 18 · Verse 36

Yoga through the Perfection of Renunciation and Surrender

सुखं त्विदानीं त्रिविधं श्रृणु मे भरतर्षभ।अभ्यासाद्रमते यत्र दुःखान्तं च निगच्छति
sukhaṁ tv idānīṁ tri-vidhaṁ śhṛiṇu me bharatarṣhabha abhyāsād ramate yatra duḥkhāntaṁ cha nigachchhati yat tad agre viṣham iva pariṇāme ‘mṛitopamam tat sukhaṁ sāttvikaṁ proktam ātma-buddhi-prasāda-jam

Word Meanings

sukham — happiness; tu — but; idānīm — now; tri-vidham — of three kinds; śhṛiṇu — hear; me — from me; bharata-ṛiṣhabha — Arjun, the best of the Bharatas; abhyāsāt — by practice; ramate — rejoices; yatra — in which; duḥkha-antam — end of all suffering; cha — and; nigachchhati — reaches yat—which; tat — that; agre — at first; viṣham iva — like poison; pariṇāme — in the end; amṛita-upamam — like nectar; tat — that; sukham — happiness; sāttvikam — in the mode of goodness; proktam — is said to be; ātma-buddhi — situated in self-knowledge; prasāda-jam — generated by the pure intellect

Translation

Now hear from me, O best of the Bharatas, about the threefold nature of happiness — that in which one comes to rejoice through practice, and by which one reaches the end of all suffering.

Commentary

सुखम् pleasure? तु indeed? इदानीम् now? त्रिविधम् threefold? श्रृणु hear? मे of Me? भरतर्षभ O lord of the Bharatas? अभ्यासात् from practice? रमते rejoices? यत्र in which? दुःखान्तम् the end of pain? च and? निगच्छति (he) attains to.Commentary A little of this pleasure experienced by the Self must result in the cessation of pain. This pleasure is threefold in its nature and I will describe its aspects in turn? O Arjuna. (Cf.VI.20?30).