18.36 Three kinds of happiness Krishna speaks

सुखं त्विदानीं त्रिविधं श्रृणु मे भरतर्षभ
अभ्यासाद्रमते यत्र दुःखान्तं च निगच्छति

sukhaṁ tv idānīṁ tri-vidhaṁ śhṛiṇu me bharatarṣhabha
abhyāsād ramate yatra duḥkhāntaṁ cha nigachchhati
yat tad agre viṣham iva pariṇāme ‘mṛitopamam
tat sukhaṁ sāttvikaṁ proktam ātma-buddhi-prasāda-jam

Now hear from me of the three kinds of happiness, best of the Bharatas.

Explanation

Three kinds of happiness.

The last of the threefold divisions, and the one that makes the scheme worth having.

Everything so far has graded what a person does or judges. Grading happiness is a stranger project, and the two verses that follow are the most useful in the chapter.

Word by word

sukham: happiness
tu: but
idānīm: now
tri-vidham: of three kinds
śhṛiṇu: hear
me: from me
bharata-ṛiṣhabha: Arjun, the best of the Bharatas
abhyāsāt: by practice
ramate: rejoices
yatra: in which
duḥkha-antam: end of all suffering
cha: and
nigachchhati: reaches yat—which
tat: that
agre: at first
viṣham iva: like poison
pariṇāme: in the end
amṛita-upamam: like nectar
tat: that
sukham: happiness
sāttvikam: in the mode of goodness
proktam: is said to be
ātma-buddhi: situated in self-knowledge
prasāda-jam: generated by the pure intellect