Bhagavad Gita BG 5.22
Chapter 5, Verse 22 — Meaning, Translation & Explanation
ये हि संस्पर्शजा भोगा दुःखयोनय एव ते । आद्यन्तवन्तः कौन्तेय न तेषु रमते बुधः ॥
ye hi samsparshaja bhoga duhkha-yonaya eva te ady-antavantah kaunteya na teshu ramate budhah
Meaning
The pleasures born of contact between senses and objects are indeed the wombs of suffering. They have a beginning and an end, O Kaunteya — the wise one does not delight in them.
Understanding
A clear-eyed statement: samsparshaja bhogah (pleasures born from the contact of sense-organ with sense-object) are duhkha-yonayah — literally 'wombs of suffering.' Not that they are evil, but that they inevitably carry their own ending. Ady-antavantah — they have a beginning AND an end. A pleasure with a beginning must have an end. The budha (wise one) does not ramate (delight, become absorbed) in them — not because pleasure is wrong but because its impermanence makes it an unreliable foundation for happiness.
Word by Word
| Word | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| संस्पर्शजाः | samsparshajah | born from contact (sense-organ with object) |
| भोगाः | bhogah | pleasures, enjoyments |
| दुःखयोनयः | duhkha-yonayah | wombs of suffering, sources of pain |
| आद्यन्तवन्तः | ady-antavantah | having a beginning and an end, finite |
| बुधः | budhah | the wise one, the intelligent one |
| ये | ye | those which / they which (contact-born pleasures) |
| हि | hi | for / indeed |
| एव | eva | certainly / indeed (they are sources of misery) |
| ते | te | they / those (pleasures) |
| कौन्तेय | kaunteya | O son of Kunti (Arjuna) |
| न | na | not (the wise one does not delight in them) |
| तेषु | teṣu | in them / in those (pleasures) |
| रमते | ramate | delights / rejoices / takes pleasure |