BG 18.36-37 (1972)

Sau%& iTvdaNaq& i}aivDa& é*<<au Mae >arTazR>a ) A>YaaSaad]MaTae Ya}a du"%aNTa& c iNaGaC^iTa )) 36 )) YatadGa]e ivziMav Pair<<aaMae_Ma*TaaePaMaMa( ) TaTSau%& Saaitvk&- Pa[ae¢-MaaTMabuiÖPa[SaadJaMa( )) 37 ))

sukhaṁ tv idānīṁ tri-vidhaṁ śṛṇu me bharatarṣabha abhyāsād ramate yatra duḥkhāntaṁ ca nigacchati

yat tad agre viṣam iva pariṇāme 'mṛtopamam tat sukhaṁ sāttvikaṁ proktam ātma-buddhi-prasāda-jam

sukham—happiness; tu—but; idānīm—now; tri-vidham—three kinds; śṛṇu—hear; me—from Me; bharatarṣabha—O best amongst the Bhāratas; abhyāsāt—by practice; ramate—enjoyer; yatra—where; duḥkha—distress; antam—end; ca—also; nigacchati—gains; yat—that which; tat—that; agre—in the beginning; viṣam iva—like poison; pariṇāme—at the end; amṛta—nectar; upamam—compared to; tat—that; sukham—happiness; sāttvikam—in the mode of goodness; proktam—is said; ātma—self; buddhi—intelligence; prasāda-jam—satisfactory.

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.

A conditioned soul tries to enjoy material happiness again and again. Thus he chews the chewed, but, sometimes, in the course of such enjoyment, he becomes relieved from material entanglement by association with a great soul. In other words, a conditioned soul is always engaged in some type of sense gratification, but when he understands by good association that it is only a repetition of the same thing, and he is awakened to his real Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he is sometimes relieved from such repetitive so-called happiness.

In the pursuit of self-realization, one has to follow many rules and regulations to control the mind and the senses and to concentrate the mind on the Self. All these procedures are very difficult, bitter like poison, but if one is successful in following the regulations and comes to the transcendental position, he begins to drink real nectar, and he enjoys life.