Shloka 38
भीष्मविक्रमदर्शनं तथा क्रौञ्चारुणव्यूहविधानम् | Bhīṣma’s Ascendancy and the Organization of the Krauñcāruṇa Formation
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?
viṣayendriya-saṁyogād yat tad agre amṛtopamam | pariṇāme viṣam iva tat sukhaṁ rājasaṁ smṛtam ||
Arjuna said: The pleasure that arises from the contact of the senses with their objects seems like nectar at first, during the moment of enjoyment; but in its outcome it becomes like poison. Therefore, such pleasure is remembered as ‘rajasic’—driven by passion and attachment, attractive at the start yet harmful in consequence.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
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).
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.