Shloka 39
भीष्मविक्रमदर्शनं तथा क्रौञ्चारुणव्यूहविधानम् | Bhīṣma’s Ascendancy and the Organization of the Krauñcāruṇa Formation
यदग्रे चानुबन्धे च सुखं मोहनमात्मन: । निद्रालस्यप्रमादोत्थं तत्तामसमुदाह्तम्,जो सुख भोगकालमें तथा परिणाममें भी आत्माको मोहित करनेवाला है, वह निद्रा, आलस्य और प्रमादसे उत्पन्न सुखःई तामस कहा गया है
yad agre cānubandhe ca sukhaṁ mohanam ātmanaḥ | nidrālasyapramādotthaṁ tat tāmasam udāhṛtam ||
Arjuna said: That pleasure which, both at the beginning and in its aftermath, deludes the self—arising from sleep, indolence, and heedlessness—is declared to be tāmasic. Ethically, it warns that comfort rooted in inertia and negligence clouds discernment and leads one away from responsible action (dharma).
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Pleasure that begins and ends in delusion—born of sleep, laziness, and heedlessness—is tāmasic; it undermines clarity and ethical responsibility, so it should be recognized and restrained.
In the teaching on the three guṇas and their effects, the speaker classifies kinds of happiness; here, the verse identifies the tamasic form as the comfort of inertia and negligence that clouds judgment.