Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 18, Verse 37

यत्तदग्रे विषमिव परिणामेऽमृतोपमम् । तत्सुखं सात्त्विकं प्रोक्तमात्मबुद्धिप्रसादजम्

yattadagre viṣamiva pariṇāme'mṛtopamam | tatsukhaṃ sāttvikaṃ proktamātmabuddhiprasādajam

Translation

That which is like poison at first, like nectar at the end, that pleasure is declared to be Sāttvic, born of the purity of one's own mind.

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

yat

which

tat

that

agre

in beginning

viṣam

poison

iva

like

pariṇāme

in end

amṛtopamam

nectar, simile, whose, it

tat

that

sukham

pleasure

sāttvikam

sāttvic

proktam

is called

ātmabuddhiprasādajam

of the Self, of knowledge (reason), from the placidity, born

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

Like poison at first: on its first occurrence it is attended with pain as it is preceded by much trouble in the acquisition of jñāna, of vairāgya, of dhyāna and samādhi. At the end, the pleasure is like nectar, arising from mature knowledge and indifference to external objects. Born of the purity of one's own buddhi or antaḥ-karaṇa; or, born of the perfectly clear knowledge of the Self.