srnu me bharatarsabha

abhyasad ramate yatra

duhkhantam ca nigacchati

yat tad agre visam iva

pariname ‘mrtopamam

tat sukham sattvikam proktam

atma-buddhi-prasada-jam

O best of the Bhāratas, now please hear from Me about the three kinds of happiness which the conditioned soul enjoys, and by which he sometimes comes to the end of all distress. That which in the beginning may be just like poison but at the end is just like nectar and which awakens one to self-realization is said to be happiness in the mode of goodness.

yat tad agre ‘mrtopamam

pariname visam iva

tat sukham rajasam smrtam

viṣaya—objects of sense; indriya—senses; saṁyogāt—combination; yat—that; tat—which; agre—in the beginning; amṛta-upamam—just like nectar; pariṇāme—at the end; viṣam iva—like poison; tat—that; sukham—happiness; rājasam—in the mode of passion; smṛtam—is considered.

That happiness which is derived from contact of the senses with their objects and which appears like nectar at first but poison at the end is said to be of the nature of passion.

sukham mohanam atmanah

nidralasya-pramadottham

tat tamasam udahrtam

yat—that which; agre—in the beginning; ca—also; anubandhe—by binding; ca—also; sukham—happiness; mohanam—illusion; ātmanaḥ—of the sel