Gita 18.36 Some pleasures are the start of sorrow – and some the end of sorrow

Transcript

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Bhagavad Gita 18.36 sukham tvaidanim trividham shunume bharat arshabha abhyasadramate yatra tukhantam chani gacchati here now Krishna is going to speak about happiness in the three modes sukham tvaidanim trividham sukha is of three types trividham shunume bharat arshabha here Arjuna abhyasadramate yatra abhyasad by engaging in this through practice through regular engagement in it abhyasadramate yatra one can delight in it tukhantam chani gacchati and dukha anta the end of sorrow chani gacchati can attain the end of misery so here Krishna is telling that each kind of happiness that we indulge in abhyasadramate yatra we have to become habituated to it consider for example alcohol now when people drink alcohol for the first time it is not that they enjoy it first time itself no it’s acquired taste and it takes time to be acquired sometimes alcohol tastes so bitter people say no i don’t want to take it at all but then they take it after sometime and the same person who might have for the first time taking alcohol might have vomited or coughed very severely so after sometime they get hooked to that taste and so hooked in fact that they can’t live without it so abhyasadramate yatra when we indulge in something and when we get some pleasure through it that pleasure is not automatic that pleasure comes gradually and for the pleasure to come gradually there is some effort required some time required, some energy required and of course not all pleasure that we get habituated to that will lead to the end of sorrow sometimes some pleasure is the beginning of sorrow and some pleasure is the end of sorrow for those who get involved in sensual pleasures especially say pleasure of alcohol then that pleasure may be the beginning of their sorrow earlier they were doing so much they were enjoying life so much they were living life reasonably well without the entanglement of this so called pleasure but now it becomes like a constant nagging desire which pulls them wherever they go they constantly feel dragged to enjoy and they just can’t give up that enjoyment so what to do in such a situation practically speaking there is not much that anyone can do now they got entangled the desire becomes like a noose which binds so some pleasures can be the end of, can be the start of sorrow so if we contrast that some pleasure is the womb of misery if you consider if you consider yoni, womb now what is when a woman has just become pregnant initially the pregnancy may not even show but the child in the womb that child is going to grow and is going to emerge now of course some people may try to medically terminate pregnancy but with respect to pleasure sensual pleasure it being the womb of misery there is no abortion that is possible it is going to simply captivate them it is simply going to delude them and there is just no way out of that so it is going to bring the misery some pleasure can be the beginning of sorrow but some pleasure can be the end of sorrow say for example if somebody has developed unhealthy unhealthy habit of alcoholism as a way of dealing with their loneliness their social triggers if they can, if they develop a good relationship with some good person say if they become they associate with devotees and they develop a strong relationship with devotees or they even develop a healthy habit such as journaling by which they learn to process their emotions their sense of loneliness in a more healthy way then whenever that feeling that oh I am so lonely hits them they immediately start the process of they start writing a journal and they gradually but surely emerge free from their unhealthy habit so this positive habit will not only if it is a friendship it will help them develop a healthy happy relationship if it is journaling it may help them in self discovery so now for any such habit Abhyasa Dramate Yatra one has to endeavor one has to practice initially investing in a relationship may seem just like a waste of time but if somebody keeps investing consistently then they will grow relationships are like plants when we plant them initially we have to water them, we have to take care of them but eventually they will shelter us so Abhyasa Dramate Yatra we have to develop a taste for it of course from the ultimate spiritual perspective there is no Dukkhaantam Chanigachyati there is no end of sorrow by doing anything material healthy friendship or habit of self, of journaling these are we could say relatively speaking habits in goodness and they may enable us to process our own emotions better and thus we won’t get so carried away by our emotions ultimately we all need to develop a taste for Krishna taste for Krishna means that we need to habituate ourselves to the practice of connecting with Krishna in 12.9 it is said that Chittam Samadhatam Nashaknamasi Maistiram Abhyasa Yogena Tato Mam Ikshaptam Dhananjaya even if we are not spontaneously attracted to Krishna still we can become conscientiously attracted to Krishna by practicing Sadhana Bhakti by endeavouring to fix our mind on him by such endeavour gradually we will move closer and closer to him and ultimately we will attain him ultimately we will become absorbed in him so that is our endeavour it’s a taste now with respect to the taste for Krishna Bhakti the soul has the potential to love Krishna and to the extent the soul moves forward steadily connecting with Krishna again and again the attraction to Krishna becomes stronger and stronger and thus ultimately we attain Krishna we attain Krishna means we become completely absorbed in him so Vishwanath Chaturthi Thakur in his commentary explains that this Abhyasa Dharmate Yatra Dukkhaantam Nitya Nigachyate this phrase can also apply specifically to the next verse that is 18.37 which is talking about happiness in the mode of goodness यत्तदग्रेविशमिव परिणामे अमृतोपमं तृत्सुखं सात्विकं ब्रोक्तं आत्मबुद्धिः प्रसादजम् so when we cultivate happiness in the mode of goodness it may taste like poison in the beginning and it may require some effort to penetrate through that poison but if we persevere with diligence and resilience diligence means we move forward steadily and resilience means sometimes the inner resistance will be so great that we may knock down but we rise again and we start we resume the practice of bhakti and gradually by this we will go beyond the initial layer of poison and come to the level of nectar and thus as we become self-realized आत्मभुद्धिः प्रसादजम् we understand ourselves as souls as parts of Krishna and then we will become liberated then we will go beyond the illusions of this world to ultimately attain Krishna so अभ्यासादर्मतेयत्र दुखान्तं चनिगच्छति each one of us has to cultivate the habit the pleasure will come through practice so we need to have a purpose and then we need to have practice and then we will get pleasure the purpose we can say is self-realization God-realization and then as we practice the process of bhakti with the purpose of developing love for Krishna then gradually inevitably we will attain Krishna and thus our our miseries will come to an end