BHAGAVAD-GITA 5:22

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 5:22

 

ye hi samsparsa-ja bhoga

duhkha-yonaya eva te

ady-antavantah kaunteya

na tesu ramate budhah

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

ye--those; hi--certainly; samsparsa-jah--by contact with the material

senses; bhogah--enjoyments; duhkha--distress; yonayah--sources of;

eva--certainly; te--they are; adi--beginning; anta--end;

vantah--subject to; kaunteya--O son of Kunti; na--never; tesu--in

those; ramate--takes delight; budhah--the intelligent person.

 

TRANSLATION

 

An intelligent person does not take part in the sources of misery,

which are due to contact with the material senses. O son of Kunti,

such pleasures have a beginning and an end, and so the wise man does

not delight in them.

 

PURPORT

 

Material sense pleasures are due to the contact of the material

senses, which are all temporary because the body itself is temporary.

A liberated soul is not interested in anything which is temporary.

Knowing well the joys of transcendental pleasures, how can a liberated

soul agree to enjoy false pleasure? In the Padma Purana it is said:

 

ramante yogino 'nante

satyanande cid-atmani

iti rama-padenasau

param brahmabhidhiyate

 

"The mystics derive unlimited transcendental pleasures from the Absolute

Truth, and therefore the Supreme Absolute Truth, the Personality of

Godhead, is also known as Rama."

 

In the Srimad-Bhagavatam also (5.5.1) it is said:

 

nayam deho deha-bhajam nr-loke

kastan kaman arhate vid-bhujam ye

tapo divyam putraka yena sattvam

suddhyed yasmad brahma-saukhyam tv anantam

 

"My dear sons, there is no reason to labor very hard for sense pleasure

while in this human form of life; such pleasures are available to the

stool-eaters [hogs]. Rather, you should undergo penances in this life

by which your existence will be purified, and as a result you will be

able to enjoy unlimited transcendental bliss."

 

Therefore, those who are true yogis or learned transcendentalists are

not attracted by sense pleasures, which are the causes of continuous

material existence. The more one is addicted to material pleasures,

the more he is entrapped by material miseries.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.