Bhagavad Gita 18.36
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 36 of 78
सुखं त्व् इदानीं त्रिविधं शृणु मे भरतर्षभ । अभ्यासाद् रमते यत्र दुःखान्तं च निगच्छति ॥
sukhaṃ tv idānīṃ tri-vidhaṃ śṛṇu me bharatarṣabha | abhyāsād ramate yatra duḥkhāntaṃ ca nigacchati ||
Hear the three-fold happiness from Me, O Bharata-bull — learned through practice, leading to the end of pain.
Word by word (3)
- sukhaṃ tv idānīṃ tri-vidhaṃ śṛṇu me bharatarṣabha
- — now (idānīm) hear (śṛṇu) from Me (me) the three-fold (tri-vidham) happiness/pleasure (sukham), O bull of the Bharatas (bharata-ṛṣabha = Bharata-bull, Arjuna) — the announcement of the final guṇa-classification: sukha (happiness)
- abhyāsād ramate yatra duḥkhāntaṃ ca nigacchati
- — in which (yatra) one finds delight/rejoices (ramate = from ram = to delight) through practice/repetition (abhyāsāt = through repeated engagement), and (ca) where one reaches/attains (nigacchati = goes down to, reaches) the end of pain/suffering (duḥkha-antam = duḥkha-end) — the TWO qualities of all genuine happiness: it grows through practice AND leads to the end of pain
- abhyāsāt ramate
- — rejoices through/with-practice; abhyāsa (practice/repetition) as the means by which the happiness of V37-38 is experienced; this distinguishes deeper happiness from mere sensation — sāttvic happiness (V37) requires repeated practice before it blossoms; rājasic (V38) is immediately pleasant but requires no practice beyond simple sensory contact
Now hear from Me the three kinds of happiness, O bull of the Bharatas — in which one finds joy through practice and attains the end of pain.
A modern analogy
This verse is the chapter heading for the three-fold analysis of happiness. Krishna frames all happiness by two criteria: (1) it grows through practice, and (2) it leads to the end of pain. Immediate pleasure that disappears with repetition and does not reduce overall suffering fails both criteria and tends toward the tāmasic.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
MISSING from index. [1]
And now hear from Me, O bull of the Bharatas, of the threefold happiness that one learns to enjoy by habit, and by which one comes to the end of pain. [4]
MISSING from index. [9]
Hear from me of the three kinds of happiness. That in which one finds pleasure from repetition of enjoyment, which brings an end to pain. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Equal in pleasure-pain, clod-stone-gold, agreeable-disagreeable, censure-praise — the guṇātīta abides in self.
The self-conquered yogi finds the Supreme Self equally present through cold, heat, joy, pain, honour and dishonour.
Not hating, friendly, compassionate, without 'mine' or 'I', equal in pain and joy, forgiving — the dear devotee!
Move through the world free from longing, free from 'mine,' free from ego — that is how peace is reached.
Equal to enemy and friend, honor and dishonor, cold and heat, pleasure and pain — free from all attachment!
Even food is threefold in its appeal to each person; so too yajña, tapas, and dāna. Hear their distinctions.
Verse 36 of 78 · back to Chapter 18