Bhagavad Gita 18.39
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 39 of 78
यद् अग्रे चानुबन्धे च सुखं मोहनम् आत्मनः । निद्रालस्यप्रमादोत्थं तत् तामसम् उदाहृतम् ॥
yad agre cānubandhe ca sukhaṃ mohanam ātmanaḥ | nidrālasya-pramādotthaṃ tat tāmasam udāhṛtam ||
Tāmasic sukha: deluding of the self both at start and in consequence — arises from sleep, laziness, and carelessness.
Word by word (3)
- yad agre cānubandhe ca sukhaṃ mohanam ātmanaḥ
- — that (yad) happiness (sukham) which is deluding/confusing (mohanam = causing moha) of the self/ātman (ātmanaḥ = of the self), both at the beginning (agre) and (ca) in the sequel/consequence (anubandhe = in-what-follows), — tāmasic happiness = delusion BOTH at start and at end; no nectar phase
- nidrālasya-pramādotthaṃ tat tāmasam udāhṛtam
- — arising from/born of (uttham = arisen, from ut + sthā = standing-up-from) sleep (nidrā) + laziness (ālasya) + carelessness/heedlessness (pramāda), that (tat) is declared (udāhṛtam) tāmasic (tāmasam) — three tāmasic sources: nidrā + ālasya + pramāda
- mohanam ātmanaḥ agre cānubandhe ca
- — deluding (mohanam) of the self (ātmanaḥ), both at the start (agre) and in consequence (anubandhe) — this is the key difference from rājasic: rājasic has a nectar phase (agre) before the poison; tāmasic has no nectar phase at all — it is deluding from beginning to end; there is no moment where it actually satisfies; it only obscures and confuses
That happiness which deludes the self both at the beginning and in consequence, arising from sleep, laziness, and carelessness — that is declared tāmasic.
A modern analogy
Tāmasic happiness is numbing — not the pleasure of rājasic sensory enjoyment, but the dull relief of unconsciousness: sleeping too much, zoning out, avoiding engagement, the 'comfort' of pure inertia. It neither satisfies nor causes lasting pain in the way rājasic does — it simply keeps the soul in the fog of tamas, deluded from beginning to end.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
The pleasure which at first and in the sequel is delusive of the self, arising from sleep, indolence, and heedlessness, that pleasure is declared to be Tamasic. [1]
That happiness which begins and results in self-delusion arising from sleep, indolence, and miscomprehension, that is declared to be Tamasika. [4]
MISSING from index. [9]
That which at first and in its consequences deludes the soul, and springs from sleep, indolence, and stupidity, is described to be of the quality of darkness. [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.
Steady wisdom begins here: when all desires fall away and the Self finds fullness in itself alone.
The self-conquered yogi finds the Supreme Self equally present through cold, heat, joy, pain, honour and dishonour.
Once that joy is found, no other gain seems greater — established in it, even the heaviest sorrow cannot shake you.
O Madhusūdana — I see no stable foundation for this yoga: the mind's restlessness defeats all steadiness.
OṀ Tat Sat: triple name of Brahman — by which brāhmaṇas, Vedas, and yajñas were ordained in the beginning.
Verse 39 of 78 · back to Chapter 18