Shloka 38

भीष्मविक्रमदर्शनं तथा क्रौञ्चारुणव्यूहविधानम् | Bhīṣma’s Ascendancy and the Organization of the Krauñcāruṇa Formation

Devanagari script

विषयेन्द्रियसंयोगाद्‌ यत्तदग्रेडमृतोपमम्‌ । परिणामे विषमिव तत्‌ सुखं राजसं स्मृतम्‌,जो सुख विषय और इन्द्रियोंक संयोगसे होता है, वह पहले--भोगकालमें अमृतके तुल्य प्रतीत होनेपर भी परिणाममें विषके तुल्य है; इसलिये वह सुख राजस कहा गया है; जो पुरुष मुझमें परम प्रेम करके इस परम रहस्ययुक्त* गीताशास्त्रको मेरे भक्तोंमें+ कहेगा,+ वह मुझको ही प्राप्त होगा--इसमें कोई संदेह नहीं है?

Transliteration

viṣayendriya-saṁyogād yat tad agre amṛtopamam | pariṇāme viṣam iva tat sukhaṁ rājasaṁ smṛtam ||

Translation

Kesenangan yang timbul dari pertemuan indria dengan objek-objeknya tampak bagaikan nektar pada awal saat dinikmati, namun pada akhirnya menjadi seperti racun; karena itu kesenangan demikian disebut rajasa.

Word by Word

विषयin/with respect to sense-objects

इन्द्रियby the senses

संयोगात्from/owing to contact (union)

यत्that which

तत्that (same)

अग्रेat first, in the beginning

अमृतोपमम्like nectar

परिणामेin the end/result

विषम्poison

इवlike, as if

तत्that

सुखम्pleasure, happiness

राजसम्rajasic (of rajas)

स्मृतम्is considered/said (to be)

Speaker

अजुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Arjuna

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Sense-based pleasure is seductive at the beginning but tends to produce suffering later through craving, dependence, and adverse consequences; hence it is classified as rajasic (born of passion and attachment).

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Gītā’s teaching on the three guṇas, Arjuna voices (as given here) the characterization of rajasic happiness: pleasure from sense-object contact that feels sweet initially but turns harmful in its results, set within the broader battlefield dialogue between Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna.